SINGAPORE \u2013 Wuthering Heights the movie has a runtime of two hours and 16 minutes, during which lead actors Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi do a lot of yearning, kissing and licking.<\/p>\n
Just in case that was not enough to demonstrate the pair\u2019s unbridled passion for each other, Wuthering Heights the press tour has been packed with a similar kind of high-octave pining too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elordi has spoken of their \u201cmutual obsession\u201d in interviews, which, if you can believe it, is actually one of the milder things to have come out of this media blitz. <\/p>\n
Margot Robbie (right) and Jacob Elordi\u2019s on-screen connection seems to have spilt over onto the red carpet. <\/p>\n
PHOTO: WBEI<\/p>\n
Consider also the time he filled Robbie\u2019s room with roses on Valentine\u2019s Day in 2025, which prompted her to think (and tell Vogue magazine): \u201cOh, he\u2019s probably a very good boyfriend.\u201d <\/p>\n
And the matching rings they got, inscribed with one of the book\u2019s most iconic quotes: \u201cWhatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.\u201d The film, for the uninitiated, is based on the 1847 Emily Bronte novel of the same name.<\/p>\n
No wonder Robbie told American ticketing company Fandango that she had become \u201cco-dependent\u201d on Elordi, likening herself to a \u201ckid without their blanket\u201d when he was not watching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That is all very well and good, except that Robbie is married \u2013 to a producer on the movie, no less \u2013 and mother to a one-year-old boy. So, why is she so determined to convince viewers that she is besotted with her co-star?\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
With Wuthering Heights \u2013 now showing in Singapore cinemas \u2013 topping the North American box office, it seems the Tinseltown tradition of \u201cshowmance\u201d is still working its charm. <\/p>\n
A showmance is a relationship between two actors that typically lasts for the duration of the promotional cycle. Though the term was popularised by American reality show Big Brother in 2001, it is by no means a new phenomenon. <\/p>\n
In the 1940s, studios were said to stage dates or force actors into sham relationships for promotional purposes. For instance, American actress Elizabeth Taylor reportedly dated college football star Glenn Davis on the advice of Hollywood publicists, while Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney were photographed going out together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eight decades on, the rumour mill continues to churn. <\/p>\n
In the last three years alone, it has spat out other emotionally ambiguous pairings: Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie (Heated Rivalry, 2025); Pamela Anderson and Liam Neeson (The Naked Gun, 2025); Zoe Kravitz and Austin Butler (Caught Stealing, 2025); Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande (Wicked, 2024; Wicked: For Good, 2025); Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell (Anyone But You, 2023).<\/p>\n
Connor Storrie (left) and Hudson Williams at the premiere of Heated Rivalry in Toronto, Ontario, on Nov 24, 2025. <\/p>\n
PHOTO: AFP<\/p>\n
To industry observers, the rationale is obvious: Who does not love love?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr Bertha Chin, a senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore who researches celebrity culture in Hollywood, says: \u201cI think it\u2019s quite clear that during promotions, these actors are asked, or it\u2019s been written into their contract, that they have to play this role, which is synonymous with the characters they\u2019re playing in a film.\u201d<\/p>\n
And when the chemistry between co-stars becomes a selling point in and of itself, it makes it easier for studios to market franchises, and even unrelated projects involving the same pairings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Erotica app Quinn, for example, hopped swiftly onto the Heated Rivalry bandwagon, roping the hockey romance\u2019s two leads into a project just weeks after the viral series\u2019 premiere in November. It parlayed Williams and Storrie\u2019s on-screen chemistry and off-screen best-friendship into audio gold, this time as feuding fae princes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Do these pairings actually sell a project? It certainly seems to have helped in the case of the Williams and Storrie-narrated story Ember & Ice. Each episode has racked up around a million plays. In contrast, other Quinn projects voiced by celebrities rarely exceed 400,000 plays.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it could backfire too. On platforms like Reddit, commenters have denounced Robbie and Elordi\u2019s press tour antics as so obnoxious, they no longer want to see the movie. <\/p>\n
Either way, nothing gets tongues wagging like the possibility of illicit attraction. <\/p>\n
Robbie\u2019s backpedalling \u2013 she later told Glamour Magazine UK that the \u201cwhole co-dependency thing has been really taken out of context and blown way up\u201d \u2013 came after much ink had already been spilt on the press tour. Most op-eds have been bewildered, many exasperated, but all contribute to the buzz surrounding the movie. Any press is good press, as the adage goes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nowadays, to promote his or her new movie or TV show, your favourite actor might sit down to take a lie detector test, read thirst tweets or suffer through 10 levels of hot wings. Sometimes, he or she gets to nibble on fried chicken instead, though the trade-off is having to flirt with the host.\u00a0<\/p>\n