Sometimes you go to events, you do write-ups, you file an article, but so does every other showbiz reporter - and quicker than you. Their reports make the paper, and yours waits in a CMS system for eternity... That's just life, darlings. What's sadder though: the piece never seeing the light of day, or posting it here on my blog? Who cares! See my take below of an evening with Margot Robbie, if you haven't already read something similar in a tabloid...
Bafta HQ hosted Hollywood sensation Margot Robbie for her Life in Pictures interview with Briony Hanson last night, making her the youngest actor invited to participate in the talk series.
From the beginning, Margot had her sights set on stardom. When producers refused to kill off her Neighbours character in case she didn’t make it in America, “that gave me all the drive I needed. I was like I love you all but I am gonna make it in America I promise you!” the actor recalls.
Robbie has fond memories of a trip to London and Cornwall for one of her early films, Richard Curtis’ About Time. “I remember flying here to do a table read and I think it was the Queen’s jubilee, the one before the platinum. A very fun weekend to be in London. Richard Curtis’ nieces took me out.” History doesn’t relate what the girls got up to on their night out.
Many consider Robbie’s big break as starring in Martin Scorsese's Wolf of Wall Street opposite Leonardo di Caprio. She admitted she needed some dutch courage before a scene with di Caprio in which her character appears semi-naked. “I had a couple shots of tequila for that,” she laughs.
Robbie described the film as “a bit of a free for all” and had lots of creative input. “The crazier you are the more Marty’s [Scorsese] gonna love it,” she says. Throughout filming, “he only ever gave me one direction and that was ‘can you be more on your toes?’” Robbie recalls. “I didn’t know if he meant figuratively or literally so I did a bit of both,” she says.
Despite the huge impact of her role in Wolf of Wall Street, it was only after watching back her performance in I, Tonya that she felt “OK I’m a good actor,” she says. This spurred her on to write a letter to Quentin Tarantino who would later cast her in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
“Being on a Quentin Tarantino set was a bucket list thing for me,” Robbie says. Even though some controversy surrounded the lack of lines she had in the film, “it didn’t bother me,” she says, because she knew the purpose of her character and how it supported the film.
When it came to playing a protagonist in Bombshell, Margot felt “horrified” by the time she finished reading the script. “I realised that I didn’t know the definition of sexual harassment and that shocked me.” Her production company prides itself on being female-led and telling stories about powerful women.
When she’s kicking arse as Harley Quinn, Robbie reflects, “it’s a ridiculous way to make a living. Like this is our job, we’re getting paid to do this.” Her favourite piece of memorabilia from the film is Quinn’s weapon of choice: “I have my Harley Quinn baseball bat next to my bed in case anyone breaks in,” she jokes.
Speaking about producing the hotly anticipated Barbie film, in which Robbie is also playing the eponymous heroine, she says, “I kept saying to boards of people ‘this is the most globally recognised word next to coca cola – everyone knows Barbie. This will hit. Give us more money for our budget!’”
Now it’s wrapped, she wants to keep the buzz from peaking too early: “The producing side of me is like can everyone just put a lid on the hype until we release this next summer.” Given that the film has already started a fashion trend called ‘Barbiecore’ before even hitting cinemas, that might be a hard ask.
Before Robbie dashed off with friends, Hanson asked her a parting question about what career she would be in, if it weren’t in the film industry. “Maybe I’d be a trapeze artist or a scuba diving instructor or a festival planner. As a kid I wanted to own hotels,” Robbie says. A life destined for adventure in any case.