Emerald Fennell’s casting for her new Wuthering Heights has already drawn much scrutiny. Beyond the apparent “whitewashing” of Heathcliff by casting Jacob Elordi, there is also the fact that 35-year-old Margot Robbie is playing a woman 20 years younger. Additionally, both leads are Australian, not British—and certainly not from Yorkshire. Fennell has defended her choices as a “personal fantasy,” but amid all the debate over the film’s many deviations from the book, the loss of regional authenticity risks being overlooked.
Wuthering Heights, one of the world’s most celebrated novels, is inseparable from the wild landscape of the Yorkshire moors. Yet screen adaptations have consistently neglected the local identity of its central character. In every major adaptation, from Merle Oberon in 1939 to Kaya Scodelario in 2011, not one Cathy has been portrayed by a Yorkshirewoman—let alone an actor from Bradford, the cultural heart of the novel’s setting and the city where it was written.
Fennell’s latest version continues this pattern, sidelining northern talent at a moment that could have been pivotal for elevating underrepresented voices. The film’s sole Bradford-born actor, Jessica Knappett, plays Mrs. Burton, a servant role.
Casting Wuthering Heights without regard for its regional specificity is not a neutral creative decision. While Fennell may find Robbie “so beautiful, and interesting and surprising,” such star-driven choices frustratingly dismiss the environment that shaped Cathy’s character. Cathy isn’t just placed within a landscape; she is symbiotically formed by it.
Amber Barry, a PhD researcher in Victorian literature at King’s College London, notes: “The Yorkshire moors are essential to Cathy and Heathcliff’s story, especially within the context of working-class struggles at the time. Can we call this Wuthering Heights if such a crucial setting is reduced to a flat, vaguely gothic backdrop?”
As a Bradford-born actor, I have experienced barriers in the arts firsthand, and I believe casting choices like Fennell’s uphold a system that undervalues northern women. Of course, acting is a transformative craft—performers are expected to inhabit lives far from their own, myself included. But the issue isn’t that actors shouldn’t stretch beyond their own experiences. The question is broader: when a major production adapts a novel deeply rooted in landscape, dialect, and cultural identity, why are those from that region so often denied such life-changing opportunities? It’s not about choosing between A-listers and regionally authentic actors, but about asking why so few actors from Bradford have ever gained the visibility to be considered in the first place.
Structural biases in training, access, industry networks, and commissioning maintain this inequality. For example, research shows that almost a third of BAFTA-nominated actors were privately educated. While star power attracts audiences and financing, there is room to platform emerging regional talent alongside established actors.
Bradford’s socioeconomic context only deepens this disparity. The district ranks as the 12th most deprived in England, fourth for income deprivation, and fifth for employment, with 19.8% of households in fuel poverty, 40% of children living below the poverty line, and 12% of working-age residents lacking formal qualifications. Roles like Cathy Earnshaw, so intrinsically tied to Yorkshire, could have offered a rare rejection of this systemic neglect.The marginalization of northern actors represents a career-defining opportunity for talent from underrepresented backgrounds. Hollywood’s preference for star power over geographic authenticity reveals a deeper industry bias. In UK film, women hold only about 30% of cast roles, with northern women often confined to stereotypical or comedic parts rather than complex, upper-middle-class characters like Cathy. Northern portrayals in film and TV rely on narrow, familiar tropes that reinforce prejudice instead of offering nuance.
While individual portrayals may seem harmless, together they create a pattern where northern characters—especially women—are depicted as working-class, comic, chaotic, or intellectually limited, and seldom cast as romantic leads. A Channel 4 report found northern accents were twice as likely to be labeled working-class and far less likely to be used in ads for aspirational products like luxury goods. The report concluded that working-class representation in advertising is both scarce and poorly handled, undermining the industry’s goal of promoting aspiration and strengthening the link between prestige and non-northern identities.
Wuthering Heights is not the only issue, but it is another setback for those consistently limited by society’s expectations. When Cathy says, “I’m sure I should be myself were I once among the heather on those hills,” she expresses a truth that resonates deeply with me: this landscape has shaped my identity, as it has for many others. That is exactly why continued underrepresentation feels so profoundly exclusionary.
Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions About Casting in Wuthering Heights Adaptations
Beginner General Questions
1 What are Wuthering slights
This is a playful term a pun on Wuthering Heights used to describe the perceived snub or reluctance of filmmakers to cast actors with authentic Yorkshire accents and backgrounds in major roles particularly that of Cathy Earnshaw
2 Why is Yorkshire important to Wuthering Heights
The novel is deeply rooted in the Yorkshire moors The harsh wild landscape is essentially a main character that shapes the personalities and destinies of Cathy and Heathcliff The local dialect and cultural identity are integral to the storys authenticity
3 Has a Yorkshire actor ever played Cathy in a major film
In major bigbudget film adaptations its very rare Most highprofile Cathys like Merle Oberon Juliette Binoche or Kaya Scodelario were not from Yorkshire However Yorkshire actors have played the role in stage productions and lesserknown TV versions
4 Whats the main argument FOR casting a Yorkshire actress as Cathy
Proponents argue it brings an innate authentic understanding of the place accent and bonedeep connection to the moors that an outsider might struggle to replicate Its about cultural authenticity and honoring the source material
Advanced IndustryFocused Questions
5 Is it just about the accent Cant an actor just learn it
While a good actor can learn an accent the argument goes beyond pronunciation Its about the subtle cultural mannerisms the embodied sense of place and an organic nonperformative quality that comes from having that background Critics say a learned accent can sometimes feel like a layer added on not emanating from within
6 Are filmmakers reluctant or are there other practical reasons
Industry professionals often cite marketability and financing Bigname internationally recognized stars are seen as necessary to secure global distribution and funding This is often a bigger priority for studios than regional authenticity
7 Doesnt this happen with other regional stories too
Absolutely This is a common issue in global cinemathink of a nonScottish actor playing William Wallace
