Wuthering Heights on the Spotlight: The Hidden Double-Guardians Behind Emerald Fennell’s Hit
The Unsung Backbone of 2026’s Most Talked-About Film
3 hours ago
Naomi Clarke and Jasmine Sandhar, BBC Newsbeat
Warner Bros
Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Heights may have sparked strong opinions, yet it undeniably sparked conversation across reviews, columns, and social feeds alike.
From heated critiques to thoughtful think-pieces, everyone seemed eager to weigh in on this literary reimagining.
And one particular shot—a close, candlelit view of Heathcliff’s broad, scarred back during an intimate moment—set off a torrent of chatter and guessing games among fans.
That moment became a fixation for viewers who’d dissect Jacob Elordi’s portrayal of the tormented anti-hero opposite Margot Robbie’s Cathy to the point of obsession.
But there’s a strong possibility that the face viewers saw wasn’t actually Elordi in that scene.
BBC Newsbeat spoke with the film’s body doubles—the behind-the-scenes heroes who helped realize Fennell’s Brontë adaptation—to learn how these sequences were achieved.
Warner Bros
In a running joke-worthy moment for interview questions, Bo Ponomari’s answer stands out.
"Do you have a hairy back?" the Ukrainian actor-turned-double recalls, before landing the role as Elordi’s stand-in for Wuthering Heights, having previously collaborated with Pedro Pascal on Kingsman: The Golden Circle.
Though he stands roughly nine inches shorter than the towering star, producers found his physique sufficiently similar to step in.
Ponomari recalls spending about an hour in makeup, applying prosthetic scars to his back, with Fennell carefully confirming that the effects matched Elordi’s appearance.
On set, his responsibilities included assisting the crew with camera angles, lighting tests, and offering alternate takes when Elordi was busy with other shots.
Still, he admits he isn’t sure whether the audience ever saw his back in the final cut.
Ponomari explains that the final product is often a blend—parts feature the main actor, others rely on a stunt performer or body double.
Bo Ponomari
Why do we even need body doubles?
Ponomari explains that large film productions split work between first and second units.
"The first unit handles the crucial moments—dialogue, close-ups of the actor’s face, emotional scenes—while the second unit handles stunts or scenes that don’t require the actor present."
That’s where doubles, hand doubles, and back doubles come into play.
The approach helps crews stay on schedule and control costs, but doubles are also used when actors cannot—or choose not to—perform a scene.
"Some actors have personal or religious reasons not to do certain shots, and that’s perfectly valid," Ponomari notes. "You’ve got a team of actors and doubles who are willing to fill those roles."
Yet, believe it or not, Ponomari’s stint as a stand-in might not be the film’s most surprising double job.
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Lucy London is 25 years old but stood in for a 14-year-old during filming.
Given the rules limiting how long child actors can work and Lucy’s height of 5 feet (1.5 meters), she’s often asked to stand in for younger performers.
In Wuthering Heights she doubled for young Cathy, played by teenager Charlotte Mellington.
London finds stepping into a child’s part liberating.
"As adults, we overthink how we come across and how others perceive us. Children don’t do that as much—it's a lot of fun."
She adds that playing a kid for a day on a film set can be a refreshing change of pace.
"It’s a win-win situation, really."
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It’s long been known that stunt performers handle the most dangerous moments where a lead could be harmed.
But as Nikita Mitchell explains, this isn’t limited to high-octane action sequences.
Mitchell, a British stunt performer who also worked with Margot Robbie on Wuthering Heights after collaborating with her on 2023’s Barbie, notes that doubles can train extensively with stars—sometimes for weeks or months—to perfectly mirror their movements on camera.
Robbie, she says, is "quite brave" about performing many of her own stunts, and she hints that if she hadn’t pursued acting, she might have gone into stunts.
Nonetheless, Mitchell did step in for some of Wuthering Heights’ more perilous moments to protect Robbie’s safety.
Her duties included testing harnesses and wires beforehand and ensuring Cathy’s safety during challenging scenes—such as a cliff-edge moment and a scene where Cathy is knocked into a tree by Heathcliff.
Mitchell also physically took the fall for Robbie in a scene where Cathy tumbles from a wall while surveying the grounds of her future husband Edgar Linton’s mansion.
She describes the fall as an eight- to ten-foot drop (roughly 2.4 to 3 meters), explaining that she’s tackled much higher drops before, all while suspended on wires.
Like Ponomari, she acknowledges it can be disappointing when audiences never see the work that went into a scene, but she treats it as part of the job.
And whether or not these moments make the final cut, stunt performers and doubles are paid for their time on a daily basis.
Listen to Newsbeat live (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbcradioone) at 12:45 and 17:45 on weekdays—or catch up here (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006wkry/episodes/player).
