Finally! Ecosse Film’s new version of “Wuthering Heights” has been in the works for years now, and the likes of John Maybury (“Love is the Devil”) and Peter Webber (“Girl With A Pearl Earring”) were attached to direct, until Andrea Arnold (“Fish Tank”) was appointed in January. Actors like Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Abbie Cornish, Gemma Arterton, Ed Westwick and Carey Mulligan have all been close to landing the lead roles over the years, but Arnold announced that she was looking for unknowns, and wouldn’t be a casting a star.
Well, sort of. It appears that the director has made a decision on her leading lady (the role of Cathy, for those whose reading habits are Bronte-free) and it’s someone who may be familiar to some audiences. A kindly reader pointed us towards the Twitter account of actress Kaya Scodelario, where she announces “i’m gonna be in the new Wuthering Heights film! as Cathy! should probs read the book… start filming next month, can’t wait!.”
Scodelario isn’t exactly a household name, but British viewers may know her as the character of Effie in the TV show “Skins,” which, as we reported a few weeks ago, is heading to the big screen. She started in a supporting role, as the sister of Tony (played by Nicholas Hoult (“A Single Man”)), before becoming the lead in the third and fourth seasons of the show. She also played Sam Rockwell’s teenage daughter in “Moon,” and plays Peshet in this weekend’s “Clash of the Titans” (this writer hasn’t seen it as yet, but we believe she’s a handmaiden of some kind…).
It’s important to note here that the actress is barely eighteen, making her ten years younger than Merle Oberon and Juliette Binoche were in the 1939 and 1992 film adaptations, so it suggests that Arnold is casting very young — the Zefferelli “Romeo & Juliet” version, as it were. We haven’t been hugely impressed by what we have seen of Scodelario’s work, but Arnold more than proved herself as an actor’s director with “Red Road” and “Fish Tank.” If she believes that Scodelario is right for the part, we’re inclined to believe her. Deadline reported a few days ago that the search was still on for an actor to play Heathcliff, but with shooting only a month away, we’d expect an announcement any day now.
