Jacob Elordi wanted to “take a break” from acting until ‘Wuthering Heights’ director Emerald Fennell asked him to star in the adaptation

Jacob Elordi has revealed he planned to “take a break” from acting until receiving a text from Wuthering Heights director Emerald Fennell asking him to star in the adaptation.

• READ MORE: Why Jacob Elordi is Hollywood’s number one to watch

Fennell’s third film will see her write, direct and produce the new version of Emily Bronte’s classic novel, following 2020’s Promising Young Woman and 2023’s Saltburn, the latter of which she worked on with Elordi.

The Euphoria actor has now shared he had planned to take some time away from acting before she got in touch about the role of Heathcliff. “I was really lucky,” Elordi told IndieWire. “I was going to take a break for a while, and then Emerald just very simply texted me, and you can’t run from that text.”

Shooting for the film recently wrapped, with Elordi starring alongside Margot Robbie as Catherine Earnshaw. Touching on working with the I, Tonya actress – who appeared alongside Fennell in 2023’s summer blockbuster Barbie – Elordi said she was “incredible in the film.”

“She’s a livewire,” he added. “I’m so, so excited for people to see it,” he said. “She’s a beautiful actor and she gave so, so much.”

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Fans, however, have so far been less than enthused. Back in February, a timely first look at the film was shared by Warner Bros on Valentine’s Day, featuring fingers prying into an open mouth beside blades of grass. The close-up was captioned: “Happy Valentine’s Day. See you on 02.14.26.”

The reception to the first glimpse at the film was largely negative, with some questioning its erotic tone. “So she just wants to make it sexy?” asked one X/Twitter user. “That’s the reason for making an adaptation?” Another added: “Here goes Hollywood over sexualizing everything,” while one user bluntly put it: “Emily Bronte is tossing and turning in her grave.”

Similarly, when news of the adaptation broke, both Robbie and Elordi’s casting proved divisive, with Elordi’s role proving most controversial.

The book details the tumultuous relationship between Catherine and Heathcliff after they meet while living at the titular residence, however, Elordi’s casting has received significant backlash because of Heathcliff’s ethnicity, as he is described as “dark skinned” in the book.

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Dr Claire O’Callaghan, editor-in-chief of the official journal of the Brontë Society, previously told the Telegraph: “I guess the danger of this – of casting a white actor – particularly in the cultural climate, is that it overlooks the ambiguity that’s there.”

There have been numerous screen adaptations of Wuthering Heights, including director William Wyler’s 1939 version that starred Laurence Olivier and Merle Oberon. More recent versions include a 2009 miniseries for ITV starring Tom Hardy and Charlotte Riley and a 2011 feature starring Kaya Scodelario and James Howson.

Meanwhile, Elordi is currently filming the highly anticipated third season of HBO’s Euphoria.

Since the show’s last season, some of the cast have exited the project – Storm Reid, who played Rue’s younger sister in the series, departed in November, and Barbie Ferreira, who played Kat Hernandez, left in 2022. It has previously been confirmed that major cast members like Sydney Sweeney, Elordi and Hunter Schafer are all returning.

The post Jacob Elordi wanted to “take a break” from acting until ‘Wuthering Heights’ director Emerald Fennell asked him to star in the adaptation appeared first on NME.