Margot Robbie said that she gets why her Wuthering Heights character Catherine Earnshaw chose to live a life of luxury instead of staying with her true love, Heathcliff.

Robbie told Blavity/Shadow and Act Film/TV columnist, Sharronda Williams, that she wasn’t sure how director Emerald Fennell would get audiences on board with Catherine leaving Heathcliff for a life at Thrushcross Grange. She said, “I know Heathcliff left when she was about to take back the proposal and all that kind of stuff, so it was a timing thing as well. But then she goes to Thrushcross, and she does kind of start trying to live this life and tries to embrace it. The tragedy there is the minute she finally accepts it is when Heathcliff comes back, and it’s like, no, she’s just accepted this new life, and so it’s kind of like the tragedy continues.”

Experiencing Thrushcross Grange changed her mind

“But I remember thinking, ‘She could never be swayed by all the pretty things, no matter how materialistic she is or what societal pressures are being put on her, she loves Heathcliff so much, she could never be swayed by a big fancy house,’” she continued. “And then I went to set, and I was like, ‘I take it back. I totally get it.’ We’d been shooting at the Wuthering set for like three weeks. All of my costumes stank like horse piss, ’cause the horses were pissing in the sets… and it was just dirty, and it was dark and all this kind of stuff. And then I went onto the Thrushcross Grange set, and it had thousands of real roses making a real garde,n and it just smelled amazing. And I was like, ‘OK, I think I understand. This is really nice.’”

Jacob Elordi reflects on Heathcliff’s emotional honesty

Jacob Elordi, who plays Heathcliff in the film, also said, in true Heathcliff fashion, that staying true to yourself includes being honest about your emotions.

“Put all your emotion [out] at the forefront. Wear it on your sleeve,” he said. “Be you to everyone. …Feel the way you feel. You gotta do it. You have like 30-something thousand days here from the moment you’re born. That’s it.”

Check out the full interview above. Wuthering Heights comes to theaters Feb. 13.