Margot Robbie on ‘Babylon’: “There’s a dizzying amount of debauchery”
Margot Robbie is set to star in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, an all-snorting, all-dancing tribute to 1920s Hollywood that’s expected to make The Wolf of Wall Street look tame in comparison. During a recent interview, Robbie explained that the project is one of the most riotous films she’s ever been in.
As the director of both Whiplash and La La Land, Damien Chazelle has already developed a reputation for being something of a jazz aficionado. This next venture will see him step back to the jazz age of the 1920s.
Starring Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, Jean Smart, and Tobey Maguire, Babylon follows a set of Fitzgeraldian hedonists as they traverse Hollywood on the brink of the sound film era. Judging from the teaser trailer, it looks unlikely that depravity and excess will be in short supply.
Speaking to Empire, Robbie noted that Chazelle’s maximalist approach to filmmaking reminded her of working with Martin Scorsese. “I remember being on set for [The Wolf Of Wall Street] and thinking, ‘I’ll never be in a film as crazy as this ever again,” she said.
Robbie continued: “And then I made Babylon. There’s a dizzying amount of debauchery. One of the most disturbing, chaotic scenes I’ve ever witnessed is in this film, and it involves a fight with a snake. I won’t tell you who wins or loses that fight, but trust me, it’s insane.”
It looks like we’re in for one hell of a ride. In that same interview, Chazelle explained why he wanted to focus on 1920s Hollywood: “Hollywood back then was a place where, from the most depraved animalistic behaviour, emerged these works of art that were so beautiful and alluring. 1920s Hollywood really was a cesspool of vice, hubris and excess. We tried to put that on screen. All of it.”
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