Jacob Elordi, the 28-year-old Australian actor, has revealed his rather unusual method for perfecting his Northern accent for the upcoming film Wuthering Heights: practicing in the bath. Elordi stars as Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's new adaptation of Emily Brontë's classic novel, opposite Margot Robbie, 35, who plays Catherine. The film is set to release on February 13, 2026.
Elordi told BBC News that he honed the accent through relentless repetition in his bathroom. "I just practise it in the bath, over and over and over and over," he explained. He also shared his fondness for specific local pronunciations, particularly the way some Northerners pronounce "take" as "mek" or "tek," spelling it out as "M-E-K, T-E-K".
The new adaptation of Wuthering Heights has already generated buzz and some controversy ahead of its release. According to Just Jared, some of the backlash stems from discrepancies between the characters' ages in the book and Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi's real-life ages. However, many fans are impressed with Elordi's commitment to the Yorkshire accent. One Twitter user wrote, "Jacob Elordi's northern accent has finished me off hahahaha," while another added, "I would like to appreciate Jacob Elordi at least trying a Yorkshire accent, dunno what the f*** Margot is doing". It seems Robbie has opted for a more general British accent in the film.
At the London premiere on Thursday night, crowds gathered to see the two Australian stars. Elordi also confirmed rumors that he had sent flowers to Robbie's dressing room on Valentine's Day. Robbie noted that their shared Australian background helped them bond during the making of Wuthering Heights. "Yeah, it was certainly nice to work with someone who's from somewhere so close to where I'm from," she said. She also stated that everyone on set "really bonded on this job" and were "so excited to be executing [Fennell's] vision".
Elordi has been busy with a variety of roles, including his role as The Creature in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein. He also stars in Euphoria Season 3 and has an upcoming project with Ridley Scott on The Dog Stars. Elordi mentioned on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that both Frankenstein's creature and Heathcliff have a Yorkshire accent and similar wigs, which sometimes caused confusion. He also admitted to taking a memento from each set; for Kissing Booth 3, he took a twin reflex camera, and for Wuthering Heights, he took Heathcliff's tooth.
Emerald Fennell is known for her unique and potentially controversial approach to storytelling, as seen in her previous film, Saltburn. She has spoken about adding her own stamp to the gothic story of Wuthering Heights, acknowledging that she couldn't hope to replicate the greatness of the book. Instead, she aimed to create a film that evoked the same feelings the book inspired in her.