Wuthering Heights casting director says ‘English Lit fans not going to be happy’

Kharmel Cochrane says set design is ‘even more shocking’

The casting director of Emerald Fennell’s forthcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights has responded to criticism of the film’s leads saying that there is “no need to be accurate” since the source material is “just a book”.

The new adaptation of the 1850 Emily Brontë classic, famously made into a song by Kate Bush, will be directed by Fennell, whose first film Promising Young Woman earned her an Oscar for best original screenplay.

Brontë's novel follows the relationship between the families Earnshaw and Linton in rural Yorkshire around 1770 and the tumultuous relationship between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, an orphan fostered by her father.

In September last year, news that Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi had been cast as Catherine and Heathcliff was met with disapproval from fans as they felt the actors were the wrong age and race.

However, casting director Kharmel Cochrane has doubled down on the casting and said that the set design is “even more shocking”.

News that Margot Robbie had been cast as Catherine was met with disapproval from fans (AFP via Getty)

“There was one Instagram comment that said the casting director should be shot,” Cochrane said at the Sands Film Festival in St Andrews, Scotland, according to Deadline.

“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.

“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.”

Jacob Elordi will star as Heathcliff in ‘Wuthering Heights’ (Sony Pictures)

Cochrane’s statement has been met with backlash as well, with fans questioning the point of an adaptation that disregards the source material entirely.

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“So they saw the whitewashing backlash and proceeded to ignore it,” said one person on X.

“‘It’s just a book that is not based in real life’ about Wuthering Heights. A classic book that famously talks about class politics, racism & the patriarchal system of the time,” said another.

When Elordi, best known for roles in Euphoria and Priscilla, was announced as Heathcliff, the casting was heavily criticised as the character in the books is described as having dark hair, dark eyes and dark skin, and is believed to be from a Roma or Gypsy background.

The Independent’s film critic Clarisse Loughrey asked: “Did anyone actually read the book before deciding this?”

Another user on X wrote: “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!”

The film received further criticism in March after photos of Robbie on set in a white silk wedding dress made its way online.

Fans brought up the fact that her dress was wrong for the time period the novel was set in and reiterated that Robbie didn’t resemble the character.

“Why is she wearing an Eighties wedding dress?” one person asked. Another said: “I love her but she's not the right choice to play Cathy and the visual is not fitting the book.”