Book fans consider Wuthering Heights one of the greatest novels of English literature. Emily Brontë’s only novel follows Heathcliff and his passionate, destructive relationship with Catherine. Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, its casting director teases Wuthering Heights as “shocking” and that English Lit fans won’t be happy with it.
The Emily Brontë novel has had many film adaptations, with its most famous being from 1939 that stars Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. With Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie playing the leads for the 2026 version, casting director Kharmel Cochrane got real about the casting receiving criticism at a Q&A session at Scotland’s Sands Film Festival (via Deadline):
“There was one Instagram comment that said the casting director should be shot,” said Cochrane. “But just wait till you see it, and then you can decide whether you want to shoot me or not. But you really don’t need to be accurate. It’s just a book. That is not based on real life. It’s all art.”
It’s possible that the heat coming from casting could be over Jacob Elordi’s skin color. Emily Brontë wrote Heathcliff as a “dark-skinned gipsy” in her novel. A Black actor was first cast as Heathcliff in the 2011 version starring James Howson as the male lead. Margot Robbie would also be older than her character, Catherine, who is 18 in the novel. But it’s clear that Kharmel Cochrane saw something special in the two stars to carry the drama flick successfully.
What did Wuthering Heights’ casting director say about the Margot Robbie movie?
Casting director Kharmel Cochrane teased on how she would describe Emerald Fennell‘s new movie:
“Wait until you see the set design because that is even more shocking,” said Cochrane. “And there may or may not be a dog collar in it.”
This could mean that the animalistic nature of Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship may or may not be as brutally depicted as in the novel. Like most book-to-film adaptations, Kharmel Cochrane also teases that the 2026 interpretation may not satisfy beloved book fans:
“There’s definitely going to be some English Lit fans that are not going to be happy.”
While Kharmel Cochrane doesn’t say why, maybe the Emerald Fennell-directed film will follow the other adaptations in only adapting the first half of the novel that concentrates on Heathcliff and Catherine’s relationship. And given that Wuthering Heights is over 150 years old, the newest adaptation may need to update its outdated themes to better relate to modern audiences.
Audiences will get to see Emerald Fennell’s interpretation of Wuthering Heights in theaters on February 13th, 2026.
