Fennell’s Wuthering Heights will be led by Margot Robbie (Catherine) and Saltburn star Jacob Elordi (Heathcliff), actors who raised eyebrows for a number of reasons upon their announcement. Fans of the novel protested that the 34-year-old Barbie actor was too old to play the teenage Catherine, while Elordi was an odd choice for a character described in the original text as “dark-skinned.” While both are perfectly capable performers who’ve proven their ability to do a variety of accents, it’s also a little bit funny to cast not one but two Australians in a story so heavily dependent on its pastoral British setting.
To these frustrated readers, Cochrane essentially says to suck it up. “There’s definitely going to be some English Lit fans that are not going to be happy,” she told Deadline. “There was one Instagram comment that said the casting director should be shot… 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.”
Fashion majors might also have some things to say about that. While yes, they haven’t seen the film, many have already seen Catherine’s wedding dress in a leaked set photo. Like the “English Lit fans,” they were not happy about it. Margot Robbie was pictured wearing a poofy, off-the-shoulder number that’s completely wrong for the real-life fashion trends of the era. (You can read more about the details on Vogue.) If that pisses you off, try to steel for this next bit. “Wait until you see the set design, because that is even more shocking,” Cochrane said. “And there may or may not be a dog collar in it.”
