"Wuthering Heights'" Casting Director Shares Four-Word Response To Margot Robbie And Jacob Elordi Backlash

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03-05-2025

AP
Saltburn director Emerald Fennell is working on a brand new adaptation of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in the lead roles.
However, the casting of the upcoming film has already faced criticism, with some claiming the character of Heathcliff – who is described as having alternately Romany and Indian heritage, and who is written as 'dark-skinned' in the original gothic novel – has been ' whitewashed ' with the Euphoria star's casting.
Others reckon Margot is unconvincing as the book's teenage heroine, Catherine Earnshaw.
look at this 17 year old teenager in 1783 https://t.co/ItALyyWrYn
— naz ᓚᘏᗢ (@enchantednaz) March 23, 2025
Speaking at the Sands film festival in Scotland, the movie's casting director, Kharmel Cochrane, had a strong response to both critiques.
Per Deadline, the casting director said there is 'no need' to be completely true to the original text, claiming: 'It's just a book'.
Kharmel shared: '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.'
The casting director added: 'There's definitely going to be some English Lit fans that are not going to be happy. Wait until you see the set design, because that is even more shocking. And there may or may not be a dog collar in it'.
Some fans have responded poorly to the comment, with one sharing on X: 'so they saw the whitewashing backlash and proceeded to ignore it.'
so they saw the whitewashing backlash and proceeded to ignore it https://t.co/PqtvJ9zL1T pic.twitter.com/qGlnjawPsa
— ❤️‍🔥 (@nerdphobik) April 28, 2025
'But you really don't need to be accurate. It's just a book' STOP HIRING PEOPLE WHO DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE SOURCE MATERIAL
— 𝓔𝓶 💫 (@emkenobi) April 28, 2025
Previous Heathcliff actors in major productions of Wuthering Heights have included Ralph Fiennes, Timothy Dalton, Sir Laurence Olivier and Tom Hardy, while mixed-race actor James Howson also took the lead in a 2011 adaptation.
Much-loved movies like Bridget Jones' Diary and 10 Things I Hate About You have previously provided a far-from-loyal adaptation of Austen and Shakespeare 's texts, respectively.
Meanwhile, a Time film critic lauded Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet – which reimagined the story as being set in modern-day California – as 'one of the best Shakespeare adaptations'.