Jacob Elordi has spoken about how filming some of the more intense moments with Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights turned out to be far more “super technical” than people might assume.
Emerald Fennell’s new interpretation of Wuthering Heights arrived on February 14, and it’s already proving divisive.
Some viewers have welcomed it as a daring, modern-feeling spin on Emily Brontë’s classic, while others have argued it goes too far.
Either way, one aspect that’s hard to ignore is how frequently the film leans into heated, intense sexual tension and intimacy. Even with the final cut not being as explicit as some early chatter suggested, the steamy scenes are still a major talking point.
That kind of material also means actors have to carefully manage vulnerable, close-contact moments on set — something Elordi has now discussed, given he stars opposite Robbie.
Speaking to The Sun, Elordi described the immediacy once filming begins, saying that as soon as “Action” is called it was “like a horse at the race track – straight out of the gates”.
Still, the 28-year-old Euphoria actor argued that sex scenes aren’t as unusual as audiences might think when compared with other demanding sequences.
In his view, they’re “no different to choreographing a fight scene or a dance sequence” because of how “super-technical” they have to be.
Elordi also pointed to one particularly precise moment that stood out to him for how carefully it needed to be staged — and it wasn’t strictly a sex scene, even if it was still very intimate.
He referenced a scene where he is “on top” of Robbie “with [his] hands”.
According to Elordi, the blocking had to be planned step by step.
“Because, in that kind of light, you only have so much space to move,” he explained. “So what you do has to fit in the frame and work with the lighting.”
Although the film pushes the sensuality further than the novel and includes several sex scenes, it doesn’t actually feature nudity.
Robbie addressed that contrast in an interview with USA Today, calling it “funny” that “the most nudity there is” is “Jacob with his shirt off”.
“There’s no nudity whatsoever other than that. Sometimes, the most provocative moments are when the characters are fully clothed, because there’s just been so much buildup,” she added.
Elsewhere, in an interview with British Vogue, the Barbie actor framed the movie as more of a sweeping love story than something purely aimed at shock value, describing it as a “big, epic romance”.
“Not to say there aren’t sexual elements and that it’s not provocative – it definitely is provocative – but it’s more romantic than provocative. 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.”
She also credited Fennell’s filmmaking for that visceral impact, saying it’s “signature” to the director’s approach: “Whether it’s titillating or repulsion, her superpower is eliciting a physical response.”
If you haven’t watched it yet, the only real way to land on your own opinion is to see it for yourself.