The director of the 2026 adaptation of Wuthering Heights, Emerald Fennell, has expressed regret that a scene depicting Margot Robbie's character Cathy with visibly hairy armpits did not make the final cut. Speaking at the Hay festival in Wales, Fennell highlighted the importance of historical accuracy in period dramas, noting that women in such adaptations are often anachronistically portrayed with clean-shaven underarms.
A Missed Opportunity for Realism
Fennell explained that the scene, which showed Cathy with "extremely hairy armpits," was shot but ultimately excluded from the film. She lamented this omission, stating, "It was so important to me. I often wonder where are the razors that these women are using?" when watching Jane Austen adaptations. "They're all kind of hairless like eels. I'm like: 'What's going on? It's completely mad.'"
The Director's Vision
Fennell described her adaptation as a "sister, not a twin" of Emily Brontë's gothic novel, adding that she "couldn't make" the original because "it's so brilliant." The film, starring Robbie alongside Jacob Elordi, was released on Valentine's Day this year and has garnered attention for its bold, sexed-up interpretation.
Notable Scenes and Creative Choices
During the festival, Fennell also discussed the infamous "skin room" — a bespoke bedroom designed by Cathy's husband, Edgar Linton, with walls resembling her skin. She joked that marketing meetings considered asking Farrow & Ball to create a Cathy's skin-themed paint color. To achieve the desired effect, Robbie was asked to send close-up images of the underside of her wrist so that her veins could be reproduced on the walls.
The Fish Scene
Another much-discussed moment is the "fish scene," where Cathy inserts her finger into a dead fish's mouth. Fennell revealed the inspiration: "I saw a fish in aspic and I thought: 'I want to stick my finger in its mouth.' Then I thought, if you were trapped and extremely sexually frustrated, the first thing you'd do is…" She described the process of testing various fish — with lipstick, real, and fake — before settling on a real fish. "Poor Margot. She had to do that. There were 12 of them."
Embracing Embarrassment
Fennell emphasized her directorial philosophy of embracing the cringe-worthy and earnest. "Being embarrassing, being cringe is a really big thing for me. 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. I want to get in and go for it, and push it off a cliff."
Future Projects
Currently taking a break from filmmaking, Fennell is focusing on jigsaw puzzles, spending time with family, disconnecting from the internet, and reading Sarah J Maas novels. However, she hinted at a future project: "I'm coming up secretly with something so depraved, so profoundly evil, that nobody's going to make it."
