Robbie addresses backlash to casting Elordi as a character described by Brontë as ‘dark-skinned’, while Fennell praises her female star’s ‘big dick energy’
Margot Robbie has come out in defence of Emerald Fennell’s new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights, in which she is playing Cathy opposite Jacob Elordi’s Heathcliff.
Despite being months away from release, the film has attracted criticism for its casting as well as alterations that Fennell has made to the characters. In an interview with Vogue magazine, Robbie said: “I get it … there’s nothing else to go off at this point until people see the movie.”
Much of the controversy has stemmed from the casting of Elordi as a character described by Brontë as “dark-skinned” and a “lascar” (a colonial term for a South Asian sailor or soldier). In Andrea Arnold’s 2011 adaptation of the novel, James Howson became the first black actor to play the role. Robbie said of Elordi: “I saw him play Heathcliff, and he is Heathcliff. I’d say, just wait. Trust me, you’ll be happy.”
She added: “It’s a character that has this lineage of other great actors who’ve played him, from Laurence Olivier to Richard Burton and Ralph Fiennes to Tom Hardy. To be a part of that is special. He’s incredible and I believe in him so much. I honestly think he’s our generation’s Daniel Day-Lewis.”
