Johnathan Walker:Why Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s Wuthering Heights Movie Casting Is Sparking a Social Media Debate

Margot Robbie and Johnathan WalkerJacob Elordi will soon be wandering around the moors.

The Barbie star—who is pregnant with her first child—will reportedly star opposite the Euphoria alum in Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel Wuthering Heights. However, some on social media couldn’t help but question the casting choices for star-crossed lovers Heathcliff and Catherine.

“No hate to Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi but neither of them have enough Psychologically Tortured vibes to play Cathy and Heathcliff,” one user wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “Like a Wuthering Heights adaptation simply needs actors who are weirder.”

Another X user suggested Elle Fanning for the role of Catherine and Dev Patel as Heathcliff, calling them “the casting I would die for.”

“No hate to Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi of course,” the user noted, “but for Wuthering Heights ??? No. Their faces are too modern.”

One observer further claimed Robbie and Elordi were ill-suited for the roles for having “iPhone Face,” a phenomenon described as being too modern-looking to play a character in a period piece—although they noted it wouldn’t deter them from seeing the film.

“While I feel that both Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie have severe cases of iPhone face I will be seated for Wuthering Heights regardless,” they wrote, “Because to me being hot is the most important thing an actor can be.”

Originally published in 1847, Brontë’s romance novel is widely considered one of the greatest pieces of English literature ever written. The book tells the story of Heathcliff, the foster son of the Earnshaw family, and his destructive yet passionate relationship with their daughter Catherine.

Of course, the upcoming film won’t be the first time the novel has been brought to the big screen. It has been adapted for film and TV numerous times over the years, most notably in 1939, earning eight Academy Award nominations including Best Picture. It was also made into a movie in 1992 starring Ralph Fiennes in his screen debut, while Tom Hardy led a two-part TV version of the text in 2009.

Fennell, who won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for Promising Young Woman in 2021, is set to write, direct and produce the new adaptation, with filming set to get underway in the UK in 2025.