‘Wuthering Heights’ Stars Alison Oliver and Hong Chau on Adapting the Classic Novel (Exclusive)

Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights, is getting a swoony new screen adaptation. Directed by Emerald Fennell, and starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, the film will once again bring viewers into the tumultuous relationship between Catherine Earnshaw (Robbie) and Heathcliff (Elordi), set against the backdrop of England’s gothic moors.

But bringing the book to the screen for a modern day audience was its own process, stars Alison Oliver and Hong Chau explained to PEOPLE at the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Jan. 28.

Oliver, 28, who plays Isabella Linton, explained that she was familiar with the original novel, but was drawn to Fennell’s take on the book.

“With a book that dense and that complex, I think anyone who’s wanting to adapt it, you kind of have to zoom in and focus on the bits of it that you want to examine,” Oliver, who made her feature film debut in Fennell’s 2023 movie Saltburn, explained. “I think Emerald has such a specific vision and point of view … Because I knew her before, I just was like, ‘Oh, this is so brilliant, the way she’s deciding to do this.’ I just love what she’s done.”

Chau, who plays Nelly Dean, said she never envisioned herself working on “a period movie based on a classic British novel that people hold so dear,” and has purposefully not read Brontë’s book.

“I want some distance from the movie and this whole experience and to be able to experience the book as its own thing,” the actress, 46, said.

Fennell, 40, has opened up about her vision for the film, telling BBC News in September 2025 that she wants her adaptation to channel the book in a way “that made me feel like I felt when I first read it.” But the director is also taking a modern approach, as seen with the movie’s soundtrack by Charli xcx.

“It’s so funny on set when Emerald would give us directions. She would explain it in such a modern way and it was very casual,” Chau said. “And then you would have to try to internalize that and still deliver a more formal version and have all of those motivations underneath. That was the really tricky part of not making it feel too modern, because there are so many other things going on that will do that work for us.”

Wuthering Heights follows Catherine and Heathcliff, who first meet as children when the Earnshaw family takes the orphaned Heathcliff into their home. Over the years, their relationship spirals into one of darkness and obsession.

Elordi, 28, previously poke about the connection he and Robbie felt with their characters in an interview with Fandango published on Jan. 14.

“There’d be a moment where we’d be running hand-in-hand through the moors, maybe not even in the scene, just setting it up, where I’d look across at her and she’d be looking at me and you really realized you are looking at Catherine and she was looking at Heathcliff,” the Frankenstein star said. “And in that moment, we really were a part of their love, for real.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“You can almost imagine that the spirit of this love that Brontë created is sort of floating around there,” Elordi added. “It really did feel like we were catching little pieces of that unrequited love.”

Wuthering Heights premieres in theaters on Feb. 13.