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After fans of Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë criticized Emerald Fennell’s adaptation starring Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie, she has continued to defend her vision.
By Olivia Evans Feb 17, 2026 7:46 PM | Updated 1 hour ago
Margot Robbie Shares Insight Into Intimate Scenes With ‘Wuthering Heights’ Costar Jacob Elordi
Whatever Wuthering Heights’ soul is made of, Emerald Fennell’s and Emily Brontë’s are not the same.
As the writer and director of the new adaptation starring Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff and Margot Robbie as Catherine received plentiful criticism for the film, she has attempted to share her approach to developing the beloved classic—and that’s why she added quotation marks to officially call her movie “Wuthering Heights.”
“You can’t adapt a book as difficult and complicated and difficult as this book,” Emerald explained in a recent interview with Fandango. “I can’t say I’m making Wuthering Heights. It’s not possible. What I can say is I’m making a version of it.”
Indeed, as many audience members familiar with the book continue to note the discrepancies—including changing the ending, Cathy’s literal ‘skin room’ made from visuals of Margot’s actual skin and limiting the Isabella Linton character—Emerald had emphasized that she was not attempting to make a true adaptation.
“There was a version I remembered reading that isn’t quite real,” she explained. “And there’s a version where I wanted stuff to happen that never happened. And so it’s Wuthering Heights and it isn’t.”
And while Emerald said she “always wanted to adapt” the novel, inspiration didn’t strike her until she literally found her Heathcliff when she worked with Jacob on 2024’s Saltburn.
“Jacob was playing Felix in Saltburn and obviously in the mid noughties, the sideburn was quite a big moment,” Emerald recalled, “and when I first saw him in the haircut, I realized he looked exactly like the Heathcliff on my well, well worn copy of Wuthering Heights that I’ve had since I was a teenager.”
Meanwhile, critics have also pushed back on Jacob’s casting entirely, as some scholars believe that Emily originally wrote Heathcliff—who is described in the text “dark skinned”—as Black.
Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images
“I think the thing is everyone who loves this book has such a personal connection to it, and so you can only ever make the movie that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it,” Emerald told The Hollywood Reporter when asked about her choice to cast Jacob. “I don’t know, I think I was focusing on the pseudo-masochistic elements of it.”
For Margot—also a producer on the film—she always saw the movie as something entirely different from the novel.
“I hadn’t read the book before reading the script,” Margot told Fandango, adding of the film, “This is Emerald making you feel the way the book made her feel when she read it when she was younger.”
For more of Margot’s interpretation, keep reading for her best “Wuthering Heights” press tour looks…
(E! News and Fandango are both part of the Versant Media family.)
Photo by Don Arnold/WireImage
Back Down Under
Returning to her native Australia in corseted style in a custom Ashi Studio Couture dress for the Feb. 12 Sydney premiere.
Dave Benett/WireImage
Across the Pond
In custom Dilara Findikoglu for the London premiere Feb. 5.
Dave Benett/WireImage
Period Piece
In vintage John Galliano at a London photocall on Feb. 4, 2026.
Neil Mockford/GC Images
Corset Cool
In Dilara Findikoglu while heading to the BBC Radio Studios in London on Feb. 4, 2026.
Pierre Mouton/Getty Images for Warner Bros Pictures / Partipris
Good Night
In custom Thom Browne while posing with costar Jacob Elordi at Paris Sacré-Coeur Feb. 2, 2026.
Aurore Marechal/Getty Images
Bringing the Drama
In Chanel at Wuthering Heights' Paris premiere on Feb. 2, 2026.
Unique Nicole/FilmMagic
A Vision in Red
In Schiaparelli and Cartier necklace at the movie's Los Angeles premiere on Jan. 28, 2026.
David Jon/Getty Images to Warner Bros. Pictures
This Look Has Teeth
In Dilara Findikoglu at the film's photocall at Los Angeles Jan. 28, 2026.
PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images
A Lacy Look
In McQueen SS26 RTW while appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Jan. 26, 2026.
Andrew Mukamal/Instagram
A Necklace Worth a 1,000 Words
In Roberto Cavalli and styled by Andrew Mukamal.
Andrew Mukamal/Instagram
In Fine Feather
In Victoria Beckham SS26 RTW.
Andrew Mukamal/Instagram
Birds of a Feather...
In Victoria Beckham SS26 RTW.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images for SiriusXM
... Flock Together
In Markgong while posing with Charli XCX and Jacob on Jan. 28, 2026.
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