Emerald Fennell has publicly addressed accusations of “whitewashing” following her decision to cast Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff in her forthcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights.
Speaking at the film’s world premiere at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Wednesday, the Oscar-winning British filmmaker defended her casting choice by emphasising the deeply personal nature of literary interpretation.
Ms Fennell explained: “The thing is, everyone who loves this book has such a personal connection to it, and so, you can only ever kind of make the movie that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it.”
The director, who previously helmed Saltburn and Promising Young Woman, described Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel as her “favourite book in the world” and admitted to being “fanatical” about the source material.
Jacob Elordi has been cast as Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights
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GETTYWhen asked specifically about casting a white actor in a role that Ms Brontë depicted as dark-skinned, Ms Fennell stood firm.
She told the Hollywood Reporter: “I don’t know, I think I was sort of focussing on the kind of sado-masochistic elements of it.”
The filmmaker suggested that the classic tale lends itself to endless reinterpretation, arguing that fresh versions could emerge annually without diminishing the story’s emotional power.
She continued: “The great thing about this movie is that it could be made every year and it would still be so moving and so interesting.”
The upcoming Wuthering Heights adaptation has come under fire
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WARNER BROTHERS“There are so many different takes. I think every year we should have a new one.”
In Ms Brontë’s original text, Heathcliff is portrayed as “dark-skinned” and faces ostracism due to his appearance, with the novel containing multiple references to his ethnically ambiguous background.
Despite these descriptions, the character has predominantly been portrayed by white performers throughout the history of screen adaptations.
The casting of Mr Elordi prompted criticism last year when his involvement was first announced, with many viewers accusing the production of whitewashing a character widely considered to be a person of colour.
Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights
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WARNER BROS
James Howson, who appeared in a 2011 film version of the novel, remains the notable exception to this pattern of casting choices.
The controversy reignited discussions about representation in period dramas and the interpretation of literary characters whose racial identity has long been debated by scholars.
Mr Elordi himself defended the adaptation’s approach, pointing out that the film is supposed to differ from the book and there are notable quotation marks in promotional materials to highlight this.
The Euphoria star said: “There are inverted commas for a reason. This is Emerald’s vision and these are the images that came to her head at 14 years old; somebody else’s interpretation of a great piece of art is what I’m interested in, new images, fresh images, original thoughts.”
Ms Fennell had previously revealed that she first considered Mr Elordi for the role whilst they collaborated on Saltburn, recalling that he bore a striking resemblance to the Heathcliff illustration on her childhood copy of the novel.
“It was so awful because I so wanted to scream,” she recalled of the moment. “Not the professional thing to do, obviously.”
Readers of the original novel were quick to share their views on social media, with many arguing that the role has been miscast and that the source material has been misunderstood.
“Making Wuthering Heights into an erotic ‘romance’ with a white Heathcliff is so egregious it should land her in director jail i’m so serious,” one critic wrote on X, while another penned: “Why are they whitewashing Wuthering heights? Eww.” (sic)
Jacob Elordi
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GETTY
However, others jumped to the defence of the film adaptation.
“Heathcliff was not written as a ‘person of colour’. How ridiculous,” one fan wrote on X, while another said: “He is not described as ‘a person of colour’ but as a gypsy. Kinda racist of you all to assume that all of us, Roma people, are exactly the same colour…”
“I don’t think it’s a big deal that she cast Jacob, but boy did she make it a big deal with this answer,” another commented.
A fourth fan added: “He is not a POC. He is described multiple times in the book as being white. He just has darker features than others around him, making his race slightly ambiguous in context of the time and place the book was written. People either didn’t read the book or lack literacy.”
Another quipped: “lmfao the one time they do the opposite and cast some white dude now it’s an issue all of a sudden.” (sic)
