Margot Robbie Says Jacob Elordi ‘Actually Broke’ a Chair Filming Wuthering Heights

On the set of Wuthering Heights, things got intense — so intense that even the furniture didn’t survive.

In a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Margot Robbie revealed that her co-star Jacob Elordi actually broke a chair while filming one of the movie’s most explosive scenes.

The upcoming adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel stars Robbie, 35, as Catherine and Elordi, 28, as Heathcliff — childhood friends whose passionate bond turns into a doomed love story. Director Emerald Fennell has described her take on the 1847 novel as “primal” and “sexual,” and from the sounds of it, the cast fully committed to that vision.

One of the earliest scenes they filmed shows Heathcliff smashing a chair to build a fire for Cathy. According to Fennell, the moment wasn’t just powerful for the characters — it stunned the entire crew.

“I looked around and all of these professionals, women and men, were agape,” Fennell told the Los Angeles Times. “Everyone felt the same way as Cathy. That’s what I was looking for every day.”

Robbie confirmed the chaos was real.

“He actually broke the chair,” she said, adding that her shocked reaction in the scene wasn’t acting. “It is my genuine reaction.”

Fennell explained that she encouraged her cast to push boundaries throughout filming. “There was so much screaming every day,” she said. “I always want people to have permission to go too far, to do something that’s in bad taste, that’s not subtle. I’m really interested in pushing until that squeaking point where you’re like, ‘OK, that’s too far.’ It takes a lot of bravery to do that.”

Robbie said that approach suits her perfectly.

“What I like about working with Emerald is: I like going too far,” the Barbie actress said. “My instinct is to go really hard and then have someone tell me to pull it back. She rarely tells me to pull it back.”

Instead, Fennell often pushed her even further. “She wants the maximalist version and I relish that,” Robbie said. “She would say, ‘Now you’re in a sensible period film.’ And then she’d say, ‘Now do it like you’re Ursula the sea witch.’”

The film, which also stars Hong Chau, Shazad Latif, Alison Oliver, Martin Clunes and Ewan Mitchell, promises heightened emotions and raw performances. Robbie previously shared that preparing for the movie’s steamy scenes felt no different from tackling the rest of the demanding script.

“The movie kind of demands a lot of all of us,” she said at the Los Angeles premiere. “My character essentially cries in every single scene, but no, it was a joy. I loved playing a character who kind of swings from one wild emotion to the other in an instant.”

Based on Emily Brontë’s 1847 novel, Wuthering Heights follows Heathcliff and Catherine as their deep connection is tested by social class and personal choices, leading to heartbreak and obsession.

This bold new adaptation hits theaters on Feb. 13 — and if a broken chair is any indication, audiences should brace themselves for a fiery ride.