Margot Robbie's first time teaming up with director Emerald Fennell in an acting capacity. She had previously served as a producer on Fennell's first two feature-length films, Lupaava nuori nainen (2020) and Saltburn (2023).
Margot Robbie, aged 34 during filming, was considerably older than the novel's portrayal of Catherine Earnshaw, who was approximately 19 or 20 at the time of her death.
The project sparked a bidding war before production began, with numerous competing studios keen to secure the film. In the end, Warner Bros. emerged victorious, partly because they pledged a cinema release.
Alison Oliver and Jacob Elordi portrayed siblings in Fennell's preceding feature film, Saltburn (2023).
The cast features two Academy Award nominees: Hong Chau and Margot Robbie.
Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi both appeared in Luca Guadagnino's short film Chanel N°5: See You at 5 (2024), which was made for the 2024 Chanel No. 5 perfume campaign, although they did not appear together on screen.
When Emerald Fennell cast for her feature debut, Promising Young Woman (2020), many felt the lead part suited the sort of characters Margot Robbie had by then become associated with. Robbie, who served as a producer on the picture, has said the production believed that casting someone like Carey Mulligan, widely recognised for her work in period dramas, was a bold yet appropriate choice for the material. Here, Robbie appears in a period drama directed by Fennell, much like the projects Mulligan often takes on.
