The director of the latest Wuthering Heights adaptation, Emerald Fennell, has expressed regret that a scene featuring Margot Robbie's unshaven armpits did not make the final cut of the film. Speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales on Friday, Fennell explained that the scene was intended to highlight the historical inaccuracy of smooth skin in period dramas.
Historical Realism in Period Films
Fennell noted that women in adaptations of works by authors like Jane Austen are often depicted with hairless underarms, which she finds unrealistic. "They're all kind of hairless like eels. I'm like: 'What's going on? It's completely mad,'" she said. The director emphasized that Cathy's unshaven armpits were "so important" to her portrayal of the character.
Robbie's character, Cathy, had "extremely hairy armpits" in the 2026 adaptation of Emily Brontë's gothic novel. However, "unfortunately the scene that we see them didn't make it in there," Fennell admitted.
Behind the Scenes: Skin Room and Fish Scene
During the festival talk, Fennell also discussed other notable elements of the film, including the infamous "skin room" and the "fish scene." The skin room, where Cathy's husband Edgar Linton decorates her bedroom with walls resembling her skin, prompted Fennell to joke that marketing meetings considered asking paint company Farrow & Ball to create a "Cathy's skin" themed color. Additionally, Robbie was asked to send close-up images of the underside of her wrist to replicate her veins on the walls.
The "fish scene" involved Cathy sticking her finger into a dead fish's mouth. Fennell explained the inspiration: "I saw a fish in aspic and I thought: 'I want to stick my finger in its mouth.' And then I was like, 'Well, I think if you were trapped, and you were extremely sexually frustrated, the first thing you'd do is …'" The director revealed that multiple fish were used—some real, some fake—and that Robbie had to perform the scene with 12 different fish.
Directorial Philosophy and Future Plans
Fennell described her adaptation as a "sister, not a twin" of the original novel, acknowledging that she "couldn't make" the book exactly as written. She emphasized the importance of embracing awkwardness and earnestness in her work. "Being embarrassing, being cringe is a really big thing for me," she said. "Especially now in our culture, we are so phobic and terrified of being cringe, or being earnest, and so we've got this deadening ambivalence about everything."
The director also shared that she is taking a break from filmmaking to focus on jigsaw puzzles, spending time with family, disconnecting from the internet, and reading novels by Sarah J. Maas. However, she hinted at a future project: "And I'm coming up secretly with something so depraved, so profoundly evil, that nobody's going to make it."
The film, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, was released on Valentine's Day this year and has generated significant discussion for its bold and unconventional approach to the classic story.
