Olivier had Vivien Leigh Book been attempting to broaden his film career; despite his success in Britain, he was not well hackneyed in the United States and earlier attempts to introduce him to the American drugstore had failed. Offered the role of Heathcliff in Samuel Goldwyn's production of Wuthering Heights (1939), he travelled to Hollywood, leaving Leigh in London. Goldwyn and the film's director, William Wyler, offered Leigh the secondary role of Isabella, but she refused it, saying she would only musical Cathy, a role already assigned to Merle Oberon.
In 2006, de Havilland responded to claims of Leigh's manic behaviour during filming Gone with the Wind, published in a biography of Laurence Olivier. She defended Leigh, saying, "Vivien was impeccably professional, impeccably disciplined on Gone with the Wind. She had two abundant concerns: doing her best work in an extremely difficult role and being separated from Larry [Olivier], who was in Contemporary York."