Margot Robbie has had a meteoric rise to fame in the last decade. Born in the small town of Dalby, Queensland, Australia to Scottish parents, Robbie was one of four children who spent the majority of their upbringing on a farm owned by their grandparents before she moved to Melbourne in her late teens to chase the acting stardom she craved.
That came as she played the role of Donna Freedman in long-running television soap opera, Neighbours, a part she played for two years before landing in Hollywood, where she got the opportunity to play the role of Laura Cameron in the short-lived ABC TV series Pan-Am.
By then she had already turned the heads of other film executives, and in 2013 Robbie made her big screen debut in director Richard Curtis’s drama-fantasy film About Time, alongside Domnhall Gleeson, Bill Nighy, and Rachel McAdams.
Then, still aged just 23, as the feisty Naomi Lapaglia, she landed alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated The Wolf of Wall Street. Her performance earned rave reviews and allowed her to launch her own production company, LuckyChap Entertainment.
She has gone on to star in World War II romantic-drama Suite Francaise, Focus, Z for Zachariah, as well as a cameo in The Big Short, starring Brad Pitt, Steve Carrell, Christian Bale, and Ryan Gosling.
Suicide Squad and The Legend of Tarzan followed in 2016, but her most critically acclaimed role arrived in 2017 after her portrayal of Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding in the biopic I, Tonya. Robbie received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as Harding.
In Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, Robbie plays another real-life role as Sharon Tate, alongside DiCaprio and Pitt again. Her role as Tate is a layered part of the story about a faded television actor (Rick Dalton, played by DiCaprio) and his stunt double (Cliff Booth, Pitt’s character) who strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of the Golden Age of Hollywood in 1969 Los Angeles.
STRIPLV: This is a film you just have to watch in the theater, isn’t it? ROBBIE: I don’t think that anything compares with the community experience you get when you go to a cinema, those occasions when you’re sitting amongst fellow audience who don’t know what to expect, and you are all about to experience something together at the same time. It heightens your experience when you hear someone laughing and giggling next to you and gasp and bob their heads to the music. You’re never going to have that experience of watching a movie at home, especially if you’re on your own. Also, add to that the fact that it is shot on film and then projected, that is a truly cinematic experience. I know how different it is because I was fortunate enough to see it in person, but these sets aren’t added in post-production - this isn’t a CGI film; there was no green screen, there was no: “We’ll make it look like 1969 later, just use your imagination for now.” I was there, I got to see it, and I’m telling you when you sit there you get to feel that - you can feel the authenticity; you are truly transported to 1969. STRIPLV: You have worked with Leonardo DiCaprio before in The Wolf of Wall Street. Did you find working with him for a second time easier? ROBBIE: Yeah, he is brilliant, and I was so happy to be in a film with him again. Working with him the first time made me appreciate how animated and funny he is. Prior to that film, I had a slight impression from the bits of media that I had seen that he was very composed and cool. So, before getting to work with him on this movie, I was prepared for that. He is very intelligent, very comical. STRIPLV: What else stands out about Leo? ROBBIE: He is also a massive nerd when it comes to the environment, and he could probably tell you every extinct bird for the last 20 years. He also once made me watch this YouTube video which went on for 20 minutes about all of the endangered species of something or other, and I was just like: “I know you’re passionate about that, and that’s great, but I am so bored!” Also working with Brad Pitt was great, and I look forward to finding out the reaction when audiences watch it. It was wonderful to be involved with everyone there, working with such a humongous cast was really exciting. STRIPLV: How did you approach playing Sharon Tate in the movie? Did you do a lot of research, or were you more wanting to play her in your own way? ROBBIE: Both really. I did do a bit of research for the part and into her life. But at the same time, as an actor, my job is to understand what purpose our character serves to the story. So, more importantly, it was why was this character so important to the story and to me, and Quentin said to me that Sharon is the heartbeat of the story. I did very quickly build such empathy with her, and it was difficult to detach myself from her. STRIPLV: Why do you think that was? ROBBIE: I think when you are playing a real-life character, it really resonates that you are investing in something real. There is no reimaging of a character from a script; there is no putting your own imprint on the aspect of this person’s image, or voice, or actions. Essentially what you’re being asked to do is mirror what a person was really like, and that’s a huge ask because you are always conscious of not wanting to misrepresent them. Of course, as the process goes on, you do put bits of yourself into the role, because as an individual you need to take some ownership of that, but the investment you put in is very difficult to switch on and off. It’s really a case of becoming that person for however long is necessary, STRIPLV: You have a company that involves female empowerment. Is this something that you would like to do to help empower other female voices in Hollywood? Is that why you founded the company? ROBBIE: Yeah, there were many reasons, and the point of the company was always to promote women in film, whether it’s through the stories that we are telling or through working with female filmmakers, writers, directors, cinematographers. So, that’s always sort of been our mantra at the company, and it’s also a creative outlet for all of us. We love producing, and we love working together, and yeah, it’s going really well. STRIPLV: Is there a lot more stress involved when you’re responsible for the creative and financial side, as opposed to just going on the set and acting? ROBBIE: It’s a whole other world. There’s a lot of work involved in finding the financing and then there are always a lot of problems that you have to solve during the shooting. But I have a great team working with me, and it’s been very rewarding for me to get involved in indie film producing. It’s a huge challenge to make a film on a small budget, but I want to be able to keep finding as many interesting stories as possible. It has been something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. STRIPLV: What were you like as a kid, then? ROBBIE: I was really dramatic. Not in throwing tantrums, pulling my hair, well, not much, but I loved putting on shows, and there was always a show in my house. I was obsessed with movies with anything on TV, and whatever I saw I would re-enact for my mum who had enough on her plate running a house, looking after four kids, and I’d be pulling at her leg, “Mom, mom, watch my new show.” I’d even make my family pay to watch my shows, well, specifically my magic shows. No kidding. I would make up a bunch of magic tricks, they weren’t bad for a six-year-old, and then force them all to pay me to watch me do these tricks. And I would make them pay double if they wanted to know how I did them. STRIPLV: How much? ROBBIE: Like 50 cents. But it added up. STRIPLV: What was your go-to trick? ROBBIE: I used to make stuff disappear; that was my thing. STRIPLV: Like what? ROBBIE: Just anything really. I loved to see things disappear. STRIPLV: Sounds like you were a very shrewd kid? ROBBIE: Yeah, I like to think I was quite savvy. I remember stealing my older brother’s stuff and then setting up a stall down the road and selling it all, just terrible. (Laughs)