Margot Robbie has defended Jacob Elordi's casting in Wuthering Heights.
The Wolf of Wall Street star is playing Cathy opposite Jacob as Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's new big screen adaptation of Emily Bronte's 1847 novel of the same name and the casting of the leading man was met with some scepticism from fans of the book, but Margot is adamant the director got it right when she chose Jacob to play the brooding antihero.
Margot told British Vogue magazine: "I get it [the backlash]. There’s nothing else to go off at this point until people see the movie ...
"I saw him play Heathcliff. And he is Heathcliff. I’d say, just wait. Trust me, you’ll be happy."
Margot went on to insist Jacob follows in the footsteps of other actors who have played Heathcliff and compared him to another acting great - Daniel Day-Lewis.
She added: "It’s a character that has this lineage of other great actors who’ve played him, from Laurence Olivier to Richard Burton and Ralph Fiennes to Tom Hardy.
"To be a part of that is special. He’s incredible and I believe in him so much. I honestly think he’s our generation’s Daniel Day-Lewis."
In the Vogue piece, director Fennell also defended her decision to cast Margot as Cathy even though she looks different to the version of the character described in the nodel.
Fennell told the publication: " Cathy is a star. She’s willful, mean, a recreational sadist, a provocateur. She engages in cruelty in a way that is disturbing and fascinating.
"It was about finding someone who you would forgive in spite of yourself, someone who literally everyone in the world would understand why you love her.
"It’s difficult to find that supersized star power. Margot comes with big d*** energy. That’s what Cathy needs."
Margot also played down suggestions the film is going to be a very raunchy version of the tale.
She added: "This is a big epic romance. It’s just been so long since we’ve had one – maybe The Notebook, also The English Patient.
"You have to go back decades. It’s that feeling when your chest swells or it’s like someone’s punched you in the guts and the air leaves your body.
"That’s a signature of Emerald’s. Whether it’s titillating or repulsion, her superpower is eliciting a physical response."
Wuthering Heights hits cinemas in February.
