Emerald Fennell Reveals Cut Scenes and Bold Creative Choices in ‘Wuthering Heights’ Adaptation

Director Emerald Fennell says some unusual details from her adaptation of Wuthering Heights were cut before the film’s February release.

Speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales, the Saltburn filmmaker said she wanted the movie to avoid the overly polished look common in period dramas. Fennell revealed she gave Margot Robbie’s character, Cathy, “extremely hairy armpits” to better reflect grooming standards of the late 1700s, but the scene showing them was removed from the final cut.

Fennell also discussed a scene involving a fish in gelatin, saying the idea came after seeing a real fish in aspic and imagining how a sexually frustrated character might react to it. She said several versions of the fish were tested before deciding to use a real one, and joked that Robbie had to repeat the scene with 12 fish.

The director said embracing awkwardness and “being cringe” is an important part of her creative style. She criticized what she called a cultural fear of sincerity and said she prefers to fully commit to bold ideas.

Fennell previously told Entertainment Weekly that her adaptation was inspired more by the feeling and memories of reading Emily Brontë’s novel as a teenager than by strict loyalty to the original story. She added that the limits of a feature film forced her to cut characters and storylines, saying a 10-hour miniseries would have allowed a fuller version of the novel.