Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights” is a classic tale of love, obsession and revenge. News of its 2026 movie adaptation by Emerald Fennell caught the attention of many interested in seeing Brontë’s words come to life on screen.
But the choice to cast Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, one of the film’s protagonists, has sparked controversy. Described in the books as a “dark-skinned gipsy” and a “Lascar” — meaning South Asian laborer — Brontë’s Heathcliff is associated with racial otherness. Throughout the novel, much of Heathcliff’s early struggles stem from the abuse and discrimination he faces, which is commonly interpreted to be fueled by racism.
“I think it’s definitely a marketing ploy,” said Tulane junior Molly Plunkett on the casting of Elordi. Plunkett said that when reading this novel, she felt Brontë was very intentional in writing Heathcliff as a non-white character.
“I do think the casting conflicts with what the author probably would have envisioned … if there is no mention of race included in the movie, then it changes the meaning,” she said.
Thomas Albrecht, professor of English at Tulane University, said he, too, felt that casting a non-white actor for this position would have been more textually accurate.
“He’s an outsider, and his dark skin is one of the ways in which his outsiderness is marked,” Albrecht said. “I can’t imagine that it wouldn’t have been compelling for audiences to see a non-white Heathcliff. I would have been interested in seeing that, personally.”
Fennell changed several other elements of the novel to draw more attention to the romantic relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff.
“It’s likely that what really sinks this movie, if the movie does sink, is maybe not just the casting of Heathcliff, but its overall interpretation of the novel,” said Albrecht. “It actually reduces something that’s genuinely radical and strange, the relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff, by reducing it to a mass market romance.”
The film, which was released in theaters Feb. 13, has thus far received highly polarized reviews.
The controversy surrounding the film reflects a broader debate over creative interpretation and the whitewashing of non-white characters. Similar backlash followed the initial casting of the white actress Odessa A’zion as a Mexican character in the upcoming “Deep Cuts.”