Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as Cathy and Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering HeightsWhether it’s people swooning over Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s on-screen romance or critics furiously speaking out against the changes made from the original book, Wuthering Heights is the film the whole world is talking about right now.Based on Emily Brontë’s iconic gothic novel, Emerald Fennell’s new movie follows the story of Cathy and Heathcliff, two childhood friends who become star-crossed lovers, only for their toxic bond to lead to their downfall.Divisive though the film may be, Wuthering Heights has all the hallmarks of Emerald Fennell’s past work, from the elaborate costumes to the meticulous detail of the sets.For those who’ve already seen it, we’ve pulled together some surprising facts on how this latest take on Wuthering Heights made its way to the big screen…Emerald Fennell chose to adapt Wuthering Heights because she was obsessed with the novel as a teenager – though that also came with its own issues.Speaking at the Brontë Women’s Writing festival in September 2025, Emerald recounted how the iconic gothic novel had “cracked [her] open” when she first read it at the age of 14.However, her reverence for the source material also made adapting it for the big screen all the more difficult.Emerald Fennell with Wuthering Heights stars Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie earlier this month“[It is] an act of extreme masochism to try and make a film of something that means this much to you,” she shared. “There’s an enormous amount of sado-masochism in this book. There’s a reason people were deeply shocked by it.”During a subsequent appearance on the Penguin podcast, Emerald revealed she had re-read the book almost yearly since first discovering it as a teen, and was still impressed at how timeless the story was. “The thing that strikes you [is] how humane and how timeless something is, and how much you feel that people have always sort of been the same,” she told interviewer Rhianna Dhillon.Part of the appeal of the book for the filmmaker was the lack of consensus on whether it’s a toxic love story or a transcendental romance.“Wuthering Heights is the ultimate book club book,” she told W Magazine, “because everyone can argue about it till the cows come home. And so I’m always just like, ‘You tell me’.”The film is actually called “Wuthering Heights” – with added quotation marks – because director Emerald Fennell penned her script from memoryMuch has been said about the changes the Oscar-winning filmmaker has made to the beloved source material, with some critics even branding the movie a “mockery of a classic”.Alongside chopping the entire second half of the novel, one of the biggest changes Emerald made to the book is removing several minor characters, so the film focuses entirely on Cathy and Heathcliff. Emerald admitted this came about when she started writing the script for Wuthering Heights from memory, as she wanted her film to be a “response and interpretation to that book and to the feeling of it” rather than a faithful adaptation.“I think the things that I remembered were both real and not real,” she told Entertainment Weekly. “So there was a certain amount of wish fulfillment in there, and there were whole characters that I’d sort of forgotten or consolidated.”During her chat on the Penguin podcast, Emerald admitted she loved adaptations that “exist as a response,” rather than a straight-up adaptation.“For me, it was always about saying, ‘this is a sister or a cousin to the original text’,” she remarked. “It can’t be a twin.”When the poster dropped, fans wanted to know why the film was called “Wuthering Heights” with quotation marks, which she explained was because the film is so different from the “untouchable” source material.“I wanted to say early on […] I can’t make a perfect thing out of this because it’s too difficult, but I can hopefully make some people feel the same way that I felt when I read it,” she told Penguin Penguin.One very significant Wuthering Heights character is missing from the filmWhile numerous characters from the book are missing in Emerald’s movie, the absence that has drawn the most criticism is that of Hindley Earnshaw.Emerald has explained that Cathy’s brother, Hindley, was not featured in her film so the narrative could focus more on the central romance. Hindley’s antagonist role within the story is instead replaced by Martin Clunes’ Mr. Earnshaw, whose character is tweaked considerably in this adaptation.Martin Clunes plays a reimagined version of Mr Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights“Hindley still exists, I believe, but in the form of Earnshaw,” Emerald told Entertainment Weekly.“It’s such a complicated structure, the novel, that really it would have been very, very difficult to turn that into a coherent movie because it would just be much more time.”Emerald Fennell wanted to make the story’s ending more dramatic, so she made some big structural changes to Wuthering HeightsOf all the changes Emerald made to the source material, one of the biggest is undoubtedly the ending. While in the film, Cathy dies of sepsis before she ever has the chance to see Heathcliff again, in the book, she does get to see her lover one last time.Emerald explained to Entertainment Weekly that this edit was “partly structural” – but there was something else behind the decision.“We talk a lot about Romeo & Juliet,” she pointed out. “And, obviously, when we meet Isabella, she’s talking about that kind of story and about that missed thing, and I feel so much that Cathy and Heathcliff’s [romance] was about missing each other.”In Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff does not get a chance to see Cathy again before she diesEmerald Fennell had Jacob Elordi in mind to play Heathcliff from day one – for one very specific reasonJacob Elordi’s casting as Heathcliff caused significant backlash, with many declaring it to be a case of “whitewashing” a character many believe was written as a person of colour in the novel.Opening up about the controversial decision to cast Jacob in the role last year, Emerald claimed she first had the idea to cast Jacob while they were still working together on Saltburn, after noticing that he “looked exactly like the illustration of Heathcliff on the first [copy of Wuthering Heights] that I read”.“It was so awful because I so wanted to scream,” she told the BBC. “[That would not have been] the professional thing to do, obviously.”She added: “I had been thinking about making [a film version of Wuthering Heights], and it seemed to me he had the thing… he’s a very surprising actor.”Reacting more directly to the “whitewashing” accusations in January 2026, the Promising Young Woman director defended her choice, telling The Hollywood Reporter: “Everyone who loves this book has such a personal connection to it, and so, you can only ever kind of make the movie that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it.”Jacob Elordi in Saltburn – his first collaboration with Wuthering Heights director Emerald FennellWhile Jacob has not yet addressed the controversy, he did tell Vogue Australia that playing Heathcliff caused him to doubt himself.More recently, Jacob defended the changes Emerald made to the novel more generally, describing the film as “her vision”, and echoing her past claim that it was based on “the images that came to her head” when she read the book as a teen.“Someone else’s interpretation of a great piece of art is what I am interested in,” he said.Margot Robbie suggested herself for the role of Cathy in Wuthering HeightsMargot and Emerald Fennell’s professional relationship began when the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood actor’s production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, became an early backer of the director, producing her films Promising Young Woman and Saltburn.Jacob had already been cast in Wuthering Heights by the time Emerald’s script landed on Margot’s desk, and the Barbie star was instantly captivated and felt connected to Cathy.“I both understood her and didn’t, in a way that drew me to her. It’s this puzzle you have to work out,” she told Vogue.So, Margot threw her hat in the ring to play the role, although she didn’t “want Emerald to feel like she had to say yes”.“I’ve always wanted to be one of Emerald’s actors and fortunately, she felt the same way. It worked out wonderfully,” she mentioned on The Graham Norton show.Emerald seemingly didn’t need too much convincing, instantly casting the Oscar-nominated actor.“Margot comes with big dick energy. That’s what Cathy needs,” the British director told Vogue.Wuthering Heights star Alison Oliver was offered the role of Isabella by textWuthering Heights has been divisive among critics and audiences, but one thing that has been near-unanimously praised is Alison Oliver’s portrayal of Isabella.The Irish actor previously worked with Emerald Fennell in Saltburn, where she played the spoilt-but-complicated sister of Jacob Elordi’s Felix.Emerald was so impressed with Alison’s work in her previous film that she offered her the role of Isabella via text, to which Alison immediately replied with a “yes”.“I just love her so much that I would do anything she was doing,” Alison told Elle.Alison Oliver at the premiere of Wuthering Heights earlier this monthCharli XCX was sent the script after only meeting Emerald Fennell onceAlison Oliver wasn’t the only person involved in Wuthering Heights to be asked to participate over text.Charli XCX, who soundtracked the gothic romance, got a message out of the blue from Emerald Fennell, despite only meeting the director once.“I had heard through the grapevine that she was making an adaptation of Wuthering Heights, and so when she sent me the script to read, I devoured it instantly,” Charli wrote on her Substack in November 2025. “I was in London at the time, it was freezing and miserable and getting dark at around 4pm, which felt fitting.”The Grammy winner recalled: “I began to sink into this reimagined world of Wuthering Heights and I suddenly began to feel… inspired.”While it was Emerald’s idea for Charli to contribute a song to the soundtrack, it was the singer who suggested a whole companion album could work, too.“I wanted to dive into persona, into a world that felt undeniably raw, wild, sexual, gothic, British, tortured and full of actual real sentences, punctuation and grammar,” the Brat star explained.Charli XCXJacob Elordi’s beard had to be tested to make sure it could handle the Yorkshire weatherWhen audiences first see Jacob Elordi in character as Heathcliff, he has long scruffy hair and a beard.Although Jacob was able to grow his own beard, Wuthering Heights was filmed out of order, meaning the makeup team had to recreate his real facial hair in some scenes by laying on every individual hair by hand. And because much of the film takes place on the wet, windy moors, the team had to test-run the fake beard to ensure it could handle the conditions.“It was a very kind of nail-biting [experience],” hair and makeup department head, Sian Miller, told Variety. “And Emerald, outside the studio at Elstree, got the effects guys to hose him with, I likened it to a water cannon with a Rolls-Royce engine.”Later, when Heathcliff returns in the film, he has had a glow-up, appearing clean-shaven with a new sleek haircut, prompting the nickname “Darcy Elordi” behind the scenes, in a nod to Pride & Prejudice.“[Jacob] has great hair to work with and the sideburns. We just knew it was going to suit him, and he would look amazing,” Miller revealed to Variety.Because Wuthering Heights was not filmed in order, Jacob Elordi needed to don a fake beard for certain scenesJacob Elordi used poetry to help him master that Northern accentAustralian actor Jacob Elordi had already been praised for his accent work in both Saltburn and Frankenstein, but his impressive Yorkshire accent in Wuthering Heights still came as a surprise to many viewers.Around the film’s release, he told the BBC how he religiously practiced the very specific Northern English accent in the bath.“I like the ‘meks’ and the ‘teks’, instead of ‘take’. I like the ‘M-E-K’, ‘T-E-K’,” he explained of the Yorkshire dialect.The former Euphoria actor teamed up with dialect coach William Conacher – who worked on Oppenheimer and Nosferatu – and listened to Ted Hughes’ poem Lovesong to help him work on the accent.“You don’t want the dialogue from the script to become dull by repetition, so you try to avoid getting too much into it,” Conacher told The Observer. “We went through the poem a lot, and there are patterns that you work out and there are rules.“It’s easy to fall into the trap of doing a general wash of northernness… I think I pushed it in a direction that was stronger than Jacob was originally intending.”Historical accuracy came second to emotion when it came to Wuthering Heights’ costumesWhile some critics have called out Wuthering Heights’ costumes for not being accurate to its 1800s setting, Emerald has insisted that silhouette and overall vibe were more important factors to her than achieving realism.She pointed out to the V&A: “We’re not making a realistic costume. We’re referencing it as a costume. It’s only a period drama, to a point. The suspension of disbelief is why it’s so fun.”The team behind Cathy’s elaborate costumes for Wuthering Heights say they made 45 to 50 looks for Margot to wear in the film, which were more inspired by 1950s melodrama, fairytales and paperback book covers than Brontë’s source novel.“Our references ranged from Elizabethan through to Georgian and Victorian, and from paintings and historical dress to contemporary fashion and representations of period costume in 20th-century films,” Oscar-winning costume designer Jacqueline Durran told Vogue.“The challenge was to distill that into looks that told the story that Emerald wanted to tell.”Emerald Fennell had an unusual inspiration for a certain period-inappropriate dress in Wuthering HeightsOne look that has especially been called out for being anachronistic to the period is the so-called “cellophane dress”.Margot Robbie’s “cellophane dress” has proved divisive among Wuthering Heights viewersMade from beautiful, iridescent fabric, it was criticised by many for being more Barbie than Cathy Earnshaw.Emerald had a very specific vision in mind when speaking to Jacqueline Durran about creating the garment, which was worn on Cathy’s wedding night.The gown was inspired by a 1950s photo Emerald had of a woman wrapped up in cellophane with a bow around the middle, with Durran telling Vogue: “It’s about Cathy being a gift on her wedding night, making herself a gift.”Cathy’s hair mimics the different stages of her life over the course of Wuthering HeightsMargot wore more than 35 styles of hair throughout Wuthering Heights, which help tell the story as much as the script and the performances.“It’s really about trying to show as many emotions and as many stages of the story arc as possible, and hair really sings out, and says so much about people and where they’re at and what’s going on,” Miller explained to Variety.At dinner, after she first marries Edgar, Cathy has a unique halo braid – but behind the scenes it had a much more colourful nickname.“I’d seen something reminiscent of this style in my search – this plait at the back of the head. I thought, ‘If I make it smaller and we dress the hair around it.’ We just called it a ‘Vagina plait’,” Miller revealed.“That’s what’s great about working with Emerald, you show her things, ‘Oh, vagina plait. Yes, I love that.’ And we gave the hairstyles names. We really spur each other on.”Margot Robbie’s hairstyles in Wuthering Heights echo Cathy’s character developmentAnother style Cathy wore in the film – which people are already recreating all over TikTok – is a braided look with a red ribbon entwined through the hair. This look was softer and more subtle than the style Cathy wore previously, indicating she had grown up.“There are ribbons in there, and they match the ribbons on the rose dress,” Davies added.Wuthering Heights’ opening scene was originally thought to be much more graphicWuthering Heights begins with a gallows scene, in which a young Cathy and Nelly watch a man being hanged. The unidentified man kicks his legs as he dies, with his thin robe failing to hide his erection.It’s a pretty unusual way to start a period romance, but the director has made it clear she wanted to create a specific atmosphere early on in the film. “With the first moments of a film, you need to set the tone and say what it is,” Emerald told USA Today. “This is a deeply felt romance. But I also wanted people to understand that it would be surprising and darkly funny and perhaps stranger than they would expect.”This opening sequence was allegedly much more shocking in the version shown at early test screenings, with one report claiming it included a shot of a nun masturbating and fondling the hanged man’s erection.According to The Telegraph, this scene prompted some viewers to walk out in disgust. Emerald Fennell has not addressed these rumours about her opening scene, so it’s unclear whether she edited the final cut in light of these test screenings, or if these early reports were inaccurate or exaggerated. Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights opens with a public hanging, in stark contrast to the original novelEmerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights was filmed on the actual Yorkshire moorsAnyone who has read Brontë’s novel knows that the Yorkshire moors are almost as important to the story as Cathy and Heathcliff’s love. While the Wuthering Heights property is not a real location, the film was actually shot in Yorkshire.Multiple scenes – including the opening, in which a horse-drawn carriage trundles through a narrow valley – were filmed at the remains of Yorkshire’s early 19th-century lead mining industry, known as Old Gang Smelt Mill.Other parts of the movie were also filmed in Bouldershaw Lane, Booze Moore and Melbecks Moor in Swaledale. You can see these locations in the external shots, where Cathy paces the fields in billowing gowns, surrounded by fog.Much of Wuthering Heights was actually filmed in the Yorkshire moorsThe rock where Cathy waits for Heathcliff is Healaugh Crag, a jutting formation found on the Reeth Estate in North Yorkshire. However, there were some scenes not filmed in Yorkshire.The hanging scene, for example, was filmed at Knole House in Kent, with the 500-year-old National Trust property appearing at the start of the adaptation and later doubling as Gretna Green when Heathcliff and Isabella elope. Some interior shots – as well as select moments just outside Wuthering Heights – were filmed at Leavesden Studios and Sky Studios Elstree in Hertfordshire, home of projects like Harry Potter and Barbie.Wuthering Heights’ infamous ‘skin room’ is based on Margot Robbie’s actual complexionOne of the most memorable sets in this new adaptation is the “skin room” at Thurshcross Grange, where the walls and floor mimic Cathy’s complexion (veins, moles, and all). In fact, this design is based on Margot Robbie’s own skin.“For that, we took photocopies of Margot’s arm, printed that onto stretchy fabric, padded it and laid latex over the top,” production designer Suzie Davies told Vogue.Cathy’s bedroom in Wuthering Heights is inspired by Margot Robbie’s actual skintoneIn an interview with the V&A, Emerald said she saw the Lintons’ home as a body more than a building, where the walls could glisten, bulge and even host leeches.She claimed: “If you look a bit closer, there are hairs growing out of the moles. That’s what the Gothic is to me, and that’s what interests me – pulling a hair out of a mole in a wall.”In a Variety interview, Davies added: “We had a go at doing her belly button as well, above the fireplace, but that looked a little bit too weird, believe it or not.” In the closing scene of the film, there’s an overhead shot of Cathy lying on the bed, where you can see veins running across the entire room.“We printed her veins and everything into the carpet as well, just for that top shot,” Davies explained.Jacob Elordi improvised one of the film’s most low-key romantic momentsDuring one romantic scene in which Heathcliff and Cathy get caught in the rain, he covers her face so they can speak without her getting water in her eyes. This scene was actually improvised by Jacob Elordi during rehearsals.Heathcliff shields Cathy’s eyes from the rain in Wuthering Heights, in a moment that was actually improvised by Jacob ElordiIn a recent interview with Screen Rant, Margot revealed that her co-star instinctively moved to cover her face from the spray of the rain machine, and the director loved the gesture so much that she asked him to do it in the film.Margot described the moment as “one of the most romantic things I’ve ever experienced”, although Jacob admitted he didn’t see why the women were swooning over his actions – as he thought it was actually a “rude” gesture.Emerald Fennell took inspiration from reality TV when making Wuthering HeightsWhen making an epic Gothic romance like Wuthering Heights, Emerald Fennell found inspiration in an unusual place.Alongside citing cinematic pioneers Powell and Pressburger, the legendary artist and filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, she name-checked one popular reality TV show as a major influence on her script.“What I’m always reminded of when I watch shows like First Dates is how transparent we all are,” she said during the V&A panel.“No matter how in our minds we think we’re really clever, – and not showing that we love someone, or that we’re angry – people aren’t good actors.”Margot Robbie recreated Kate Bush’s iconic Wuthering Heights choreography behind the scenes – in full costumeIf you’ve had Kate Bush’s 1978 song, Wuthering Heights, stuck in your head since seeing the new film, you’re clearly not the only one.In a clip shared by dialect coach William Conache, Margot recreated Kate’s iconic music video choreography, in full costume, in the Yorkshire moors. “Cathy may not have a great time in the movie but we had a lovely time making it,” Conache wrote his social media caption. “Here is the joyous Margot on our last day of shooting.”View this post on InstagramWuthering Heights is in cinemas now.READ MORE:Wuthering Heights Director Addresses One Of The Film’s Most Controversial ScenesWuthering Heights Director Explains What The Outrageous Opening Scene Is All About7 Wuthering Heights Adaptations Available For You To Stream Right Now HuffPost UK – Athena2 – All Entries (Public) Read More