For context, many feel that 34-year-old Margot is too old to play 18-year-old Catherine Earnshaw, while Jacob is probably too white to play Heathcliff, the foster son of the Earnshaw family, who is described early in the book as “dark-skinned.”
All in all, the consensus is that neither Jacob nor Margot, who are both Australian, are the right fit for the roles based on how they’re described in the book. And now, off the back of the first batch of photographs of the pair together in costume on set, the film’s casting director has weighed in on the widespread criticism.
Speaking at a Q&A session during the Sands Film Festival in Scotland over the weekend, Kharmel Cochrane — who notably worked with Jacob and Margot on Emerald’s Saltburn in 2023 — argued that the actors don’t need to look exactly how the characters are described in the original text because “it’s just a book.”
“There was one Instagram comment that said the casting director should be shot,” she said, talking about the backlash more specifically. “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.”
Aside from the castings, Kharmel hinted at some potentially “even more shocking” differences between the book and upcoming film, saying, “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,” she teased. “And there may or may not be a dog collar in it.”
Well, as a former English Lit student, that was a liiiittle painful to hear — and it sounds like I’m not the only one feeling odd about Kharmel’s latest comments. Many fans on X have pointed out that it’s a bold choice to describe Wuthering Heights as “just a book,” when you consider that it was Emily Brontë’s only novel, published at a time when very few women’s writing saw the light of day, and is widely lauded as a masterpiece.
On top of that, Kharmel’s quips about the reactions of “English Lit fans” are also bound to “alienate” what will likely be the movie’s primary audience of — you guessed it — English Lit fans.
I have to say, I’m with the people on this one. What do you think of her comments? Is it arrogance, or are they just enjoying pushing the boundaries of making a movie adaptation? LMK your thoughts.