Heathcliff: Joaquin Pheonix or Orlando Bloom (they both have that tormented look, dark and handsome and can transform into any character)
Catherine: Kate Winslet (she has soft features which would contrast with Joaquin's hard features. That could cause them to appear to have chemistry. Also, she has that old fashioned classic beauty.)
I think i would like someone closer to the actual ages of Heathcliff and Cathy, and someone who's closer to Heathcliff's ethnicity. So I guess Reece Ritchie and Tamsin Egerton or Kaya Scodelario.
How about Eva Green? People constantly mention the sort of mysterious-gothic look she has. i could picture her in a corset (without the scary eyeliner, though). and she has that sort of wiry fierceness to pull off cathy's wildness.
And Cillian Murphy - great at portraying raw, distraught characters, yet able to make them sympathetic and 3D. I think he'd be a great Heathcliff.
Eva Green and Cillian Murphy - i can totally see it!
Now, who would be a good Catherine (the second) and Hareton? (my personal favorite) A blonde actress able to alternate between spoiled and precocious, and a bulky, awkward-but-cuddly actor for Hareton.....thing is, the trend for young actors today are the boyish, slender kind.
Abby Cornish for Isabella. And Sienna Miller, I know she's got a trashy rep, but the fact is, she was really good in THe Edge of Love and Casanova. I think she'd make a good Cathy the daughter. Ryan Phillipe, I think would make a good Edgar Linton. He has that delicate, aristocratic look to him, and he's played several roles portraying the contemporary New York upper-class elitist, so I suppose going back a few centuries wouldn't be too much of a stretch.
Either way, they need to cast actors who look like they're in their twenties. I hate it when they do the "oh, they were twenty in the book, but its okay if we have late-thirties-looking actors". I think this is a detail that is actually extremely important to the book - that the most pivotal plotlines revolved around the characters when they were in their late teens/early twenties.
There has been both grat and really insane suggestions and here's my thoughts on them:
HEATHCLIFF: Joaquin Phoenix: Really good choice actually - I can totally see him playing the role. Johnny Depp: He IS a great actor, but I don't think he looks the part (BUT if Keira would play Cathy he'd be a great choice - they have great chemistry!) Gerard Butler: Probably a good choice, but I'm not convinced if he could play a truly passionate character.. Cilian Murphy: Looks waay too crazy, Heathcliff is supposed to be good-looking. Johnathan Rhys-Meyers: I think he might be too young and looks too "polished" (but he'd might make a good Edgar). Christian Bale: I kind of like the idea, but they would have to give him a "rough" makeover! Orlando Bloom: Can not act.
CATHY: Natalie Portman: I think she is the best choice. She's young, she's beautiful, she's a REALLY good actress! Keira Knightley: She's goot a good look and she's British, but the acting skills are so-so. Kate Winslet: Even though shes a great actress she's a bit too old and I don't think Cathy should have blonde hair. Rachel Weitz: Kind of good, but too old... Rosamund Pike: Cathy? No. Isabella? Hell yeah. Angelina Jolie: I actually cant imagine her in the role, but it's not the worst idea I've ever heard. Lindsay Lohan: American, ugly and a TERRIBLE actress. A big no-no.
So I'd probably go with Joaquin Phoenix as Heathcliff and Natalie Portman as Cathy.
Actually, a better idea would be to get kids to play both these characters(since they were both young. Catherine especially), & to get an actual Gypsy to play Heathcliff(since Heathcliff was a Gypsy orphan who was adopted by Earnshaw).
I would have liked to have seen Gary Oldman and Winona Ryder in the 1992 version, for the up coming one I'll go with Joaquin Phoenix and Natalie Portman.