MARGOT ROBBIE - POWERHOUSE INTERVIEW By Lincoln D. Conway
At just 33, Margot Robbie worries she may be on a downward career trajectory. The evidence suggests otherwise, with the box office smash Barbie propelling the Aussie actress back into the box office elite.
And yet career anxiety and a sense of pessimism over her ability to continue to perform at the top of her game is there and is present, yet as she explains, it's perhaps the one thing that drives her forward harder and faster than anything else.
Robbie is most famous for her performances in not only blockbuster movies but independent films as well. The latter has seen her most recognized executions.
For the 2018 biopic-mockumentary I, Tonya, where she played the role of the film's central character, American figure skater Tonya Harding, Robbie received nominations from the Academy Awards, BAFTA, Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild.
The same four nominated her for their Best Actress in a Supporting Role category for Bombshell two years later. Performances in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Babylon were further recognized for nominations by BAFTA, the Golden Globes, and SAG.
The Queensland-born actress has been married to Tom Ackersley since 2016, and along with Josey McNamara and Sophie Kerr, co-founded production company LuckyChap Entertainment.
Through the enterprise, they produced the aforementioned I, Tonya, Promising Young Woman (2020), the Hulu series Dollface (2019-2022), and Netflix's miniseries Maid (2021).
STRIPLV: Congratulations on the success of Barbie! Incredibly, you produced the film and starred in it.
ROBBIE: I think it's every girl's dream to be Barbie and every adult's dream to make a girl's dream come true, so this does feel like a very special project. Barbie has been with so many girls growing up all over the globe, and we know just how vital it was that we got this just right. We're all thrilled with the outcome, and the audiences are too. It's something I've been busy working on for some time now, I think about five years, to be honest.
STRIPLV: Was it difficult to put such a young story into an adult context?
ROBBIE: Yes and no. It's a playful take on Barbie; it has to be. The film is about detaching expectations and transporting yourself into a different world, and that's what we did with this film. I'm very proud of it. I am so thankful and relieved that Greta agreed to direct. It was quite a stressful period when we were discussing who we wanted, and it's never a certainty that you're going to get the one you want. When Greta said yes, it was genuinely one of the happiest days of my life. You can't believe the amount of work which has gone into it. Many dreams will be realized.
STRIPLV: Asteroid City has done well, too. What was it like working with Tom Hanks, amongst others?
ROBBIE: There are no words. It's strange how actors exist for a long while and then, almost unnoticed, ascend into icon territory, and Tom Hanks is definitely at that level. He has such a calmness, such a presence, so much kindness, but huge professionalism. I was in awe of him before we did the film, and I am even more in awe of him now.
STRIPLV: Your movie Babylon was the ultimate tale of Hollywood excess in an era when the brakes were off as far as how people lived and partied.
ROBBIE: It was a golden era, that's for sure. It was that post-war period when people were getting back their energy and ambition when success was seen as a good thing, not a bad thing. It was a race to the top, and it didn't come packaged with any notion of guilt or shame. People could just go out there and pursue the dreams they wanted. It is about effort and reward. Of course, not everything works that way, and I think we're more aware of that in this generation.
STRIPLV: Do you reward yourself enough?
ROBBIE: Yes and no. In the current era, it seems we all have to hold back our pursuit of anything that means self-reward. I admire the societal view that we need to look after each other. I just worry about how genuine it is, and I say that as someone who sees a lot of the things I talk about from both sides. I think it's okay to give ourselves a pat on the back and not feel bad about it or that we're taking something away from someone else."
STRIPLV: People have described the movie as a love letter and a criticism of the industry.
ROBBIE: I think that's about right. I like stories that challenge the perception. It's like the villain in a movie who you end up secretly backing. I think film should challenge our perceptions of what we see, and the movie definitely does that.
STRIPLV: Were you disappointed that Amsterdam didn't reflect in the box office the fact that everyone liked the movie's originality?
ROBBIE: It's interesting. Financiers will take a different view of a movie to everyone else, and understandably so. They are looking at the bottom line and a return on investment. For an actor, a director, a producer, and everyone else working on a movie, we gauge it on whether the potential of the project, from the basic material of a script, has been fulfilled artistically. Amsterdam was a really interesting break for me. It had humor, irreverence, and quirkiness that few of my movies have had, so speaking personally, I count it as one of my best successes.
STRIPLV: And an excellent filming location, too?
ROBBIE: It had its perks!
STRIPLV: Did you always want to be an actor?
ROBBIE: I did, but my parents were trying to steer me toward being a lawyer. I think I would have been good in the courtroom, but law wasn't where I saw myself. For a long time, they thought film was just a hobby of mine. They were surprised when they saw a poster of me on a huge building in Times Square. When I came to America that was the dream, to be in Times Square. I did it the hard way. I had to move across the other side of the world and did all those menial jobs before getting a break. I know I have been lucky in many ways, but I do believe as well that you make your own luck.
STRIPLV: You have resisted the option to revisit Harley Quinn when opportunities have come along to do so. Why is that?
ROBBIE: I've actually found it very therapeutic to step away from Harley, but it's also terrifying. It's like having all the security you ever need or crave set right in front of you, yet you find yourself tossing that out the window and then needing to replace it.
STRIPLV: So why do it?
ROBBIE: For me, it's about fear. It's about never accepting you need to take the easy option. Most actors need constant proof or reassurance that they've still got it, whatever "it" is. I am no different on that front. I need to keep taking chances because standing still with the same project or the same concept is, in fact, going backward, and I have already felt at certain moments that my career is at risk of a downward trajectory. It's fair to say I will do absolutely anything to avoid that from happening.
STRIPLV: Does this pursuit of always moving forward come from growing up around several siblings?
ROBBIE: You mean, can I blame it on them? I think the way we grew up was reflective of most other families. The general bickering and snapping, fighting over the front seat, fighting over clothes, fighting over toys, just fighting as all good families do. But we were always loving each other. I loved it. I look back at my upbringing, and it just makes me smile. We've all grown up so close. We're really tight.
STRIPLV: What were you like as a kid?
ROBBIE: I was really dramatic. Not in throwing tantrums or pulling my hair, well, not much, but I loved putting on shows. 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 it for my mom, who had enough on her plate running a house, looking after four kids, and all that.
STRIPLV: You used to put on shows but charge family members to watch them. It sounds like you were a shrewd kid cut out for this industry!
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!
STRIPLV: Do you sense your first Oscar win is just around the corner after two nominations?
ROBBIE: Who knows? For a long time, the nomination was the dream. I kind of worry that if I did win an Academy Award, I would tick off that childhood dream and wonder where I was going to go next. I mean, I'm sure I'd find somewhere, but when you dream of something, then you achieve that, and you can't top it. Well, it can be difficult to then think up a new target.
STRIPLV: That sounds like a scary personal conundrum.
ROBBIE: It is scary, but fear has played a role in where I've got to today. I know that sounds strange because I always play quite loud, confident, bombastic characters, but the fragility of the industry and of being an actor is there all the time. And the reality is it goes so far beyond past success or bank balance. Actors are exhibitionists, and for as long as the exhibition is running, everything is fine. But once people stop coming to watch the show, the exhibit is useless, and rejection, ultimate rejection, is a familiar but horrible feeling for any actor.
STRIPLV: But you secretly want to win, though? Come on, be honest.
ROBBIE: Being nominated has always felt like winning for me. It means more people go to see it; it keeps the conversation going, but yes, I guess I would like to win at some point!
Five reasons to love Margot Robbie even more
ONE
Tequila at sunrise
For Robbie to feel at ease and confident in front of the cameras for her sex scene with Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, the actress downed three tequila shots at 9 a.m.
TWO
Naked ambition
In a scene from the same film, when Robbie's character Naomi Lapaglia is seducing DiCaprio's Jordan Belfort, Scorsese suggested that she should open the door to her apartment wearing a robe. However, Robbie said it wasn't bold enough and insisted on being naked. The scene was shot how she wanted it to be.
THREE
Classy in public, comfortable off-duty
While it's common to see the Australian actress in some of the most fabulous and expensive designer fashions at movie premieres and awards ceremonies, Robbie is far more at home in shorts and t-shirts when away from photographers and extended media.
FOUR
Clothes off only on-screen
One of Hugh Hefner's last requests for a Playboy shoot was for "that one from Wolf of Wall Street," to which his wishes were rebuffed by Robbie. Although she said she isn't coy about her body, shunning her clothes for a gentlemen's magazine has never been on her agenda.
FIVE
Diet? What diet?
Robbie admits that her diet has never been the best, and even if she has to lose weight for a role, it's not an intense effort. She loves burgers, fries, waffles, and chocolate and is partial to a few beers. The actress said she trimmed down for the Barbie role by eating carrot sticks for a few days!