Backlash Over Emerald Fennell’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ Casting Of Jacob Elordi As “Dark-Skinned” Heathcliff

On Monday, it was announced that Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie would star in Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights.”

Some reported backlash has occurred over Elordi’s casting as Heathcliff. The character’s ethnicity is ambiguous in Brontë’s 1847 novel, with “some consensus” that his description as a “dark-skinned gipsy” likely meant that he was not white.

People are calling for Elordi to step down from the role due to the “whitewashing.”

Michael Stewart, director of the Brontë Writing Centre, tells The Daily Telegraph: “With “Wuthering Heights”, you’ve had many years of white actors playing the more ambiguous ethnic character… But things are different now, the way we represent certain people in art and culture comes with a responsibility now that wasn’t there 20 years ago.”

Dr Claire O’Callaghan, editor-in-chief of the official journal of the Brontë Society, told the Telegraph: “I guess the danger of this – of casting a white actor – particularly in the cultural climate, is that it overlooks the ambiguity that’s there.”

It’s not just Brontë scholars who are peeved about Elordi’s casting. An X post, viewed more than 7.5M times, has gone viral: “Heathcliff is described as a dark-skinned brown man in the book and a major plot point is that he was subjected to racist abuse by his adopted family. But yeah sure Jacob Elordi is perfect!”

Clarisse Loughrey, The Independent film critic, asked: “Did anyone actually read the book before deciding this?” Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, another critic, added: “White Heathcliff and 34-year-old Cathy, and they both look like they belong on Instagram. I’m obsessed.”

Tom Hardy played the character in the 2009 television adaptation. Andrea Arnold did cast a “dark-skinned” actor (James Howson) as her Heatchliffe in the 2011 adaptation. Whereas the 1939, 1970, and 1992 version all had white actors playing the role.

Fennell’s film is privately funded. There’s no doubt in my mind that financing revolved around getting a star actor, such as Elordi, and that if he were to drop out then the whole thing would collapse. Both leads (Robbie and Elordi) are Australian which means the movie will be filmed in Australia and capture the 30 to 40% film tax incentive. It sure sounds like the project can’t go on without both of them starring in it.

The budget for the film is rumored to be around $75M.