Jacob’s casting announcement has continued to draw some backlash, as Heathcliff in the books is written as “dark-skinned.” Despite the many instances in the book where the character is described as ethnically ambiguous and experiences ostracism for his skin color, white actors have continued to play the role in adaptations — the notable exception being James Howson, who starred in a 2011 film version.
In a new interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Emerald — who you might also recognize for her films Saltburn and Promising Young Woman — described the novel as her “favorite book in the world.” She said, “I knew right from the get-go I couldn’t ever hope to make anything that could even encompass the greatness of this book. All I could do was make a movie that made me feel the way the book made me feel, and therefore it just felt right to say it’s Wuthering Heights, and it isn’t.”
Specifically on the decision to cast a white actor as Heathcliff, she said, “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. I don’t know, I think I was focusing on the pseudo-masochistic elements of it.”
“The great thing about this movie is that it could be made every year and it would still be so moving and so interesting,” she added. “There are so many different takes. I think every year we should have a new one.”
Jacob himself said of the version, “There are inverted commas for a reason. This is Emerald’s vision and these are the images that came to her head at 14 years old; somebody else’s interpretation of a great piece of art is what I’m interested in — new images, fresh images, original thoughts.”
Let me know your own thoughts in the comments.