Martin Scorsese compares Margot Robbie to two Hollywood legends
There are very few actors that remain as universally as adored as Margot Robbie. Over her relatively brief career, the Australian actor has maintained a laudable creative consistency whilst never foregoing her position as one of the most approachable actors in Hollywood. Duly, this is an aspect that her fans hope will never change, as Robbie has made her name as a force for good, both creatively and personally.
Although she has only been a present fixture of Hollywood for a decade, Robbie has lent her talents to an array of celebrated titles. Having famously broken through as Naomi Lapaglia in The Wolf of Wall Street, Robbie quickly demonstrated that she was not to be typecast – nor was she to simply slip into the role of a supporting actor. Instead, Robbie has continued to refine her craft as the saving grace of the Suicide Squad films and starred in the likes of I, Tonya, Mary Queen of Scots and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. She is also due to feature in Damien Chazelle’s upcoming flick Babylon, and, judging by the Hollywood buzz, it appears as though Margot Robbie is about to deliver yet another brilliant performance.
In fact, Margot Robbie is lauded by many for a myriad of reasons. Consistently defying expectations and challenging the established conventions of what a female A-lister should be, Robbie has forged her own path. Outside of staying away from the limelight, she has also discussed her love of shock metal outfit Slipknot and her desire to one day direct a video for the band OK Go, a somewhat niche outfit that not many of her acting peers will be aware of.
Elsewhere, in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Robbie also revealed that she was hoping to develop a sixth, more “female-led” Pirates of the Carribean film. However, unfortunately, those plans have now been shipwrecked. That said, the desire reflects just how much Robbie attempts to use her elevated position for powerful change.
Interestingly, the lengthy interview with Vanity Fair also revealed something another aspect of Margot Robbie’s personality in the shape of her unrelenting work ethic. Now, we already know that she is acutely-self aware and is, by all accounts, a hoot to be around, but the revelations contained in the piece by way of her friends and collaborators confirm the extent of her talent – and her unflinching dedication to her craft.
“Her superpower and the thing that makes her a once-in-a-generation talent is that she can do everything,” Christina Hodson, her good friend and a Birds of Prey writer, said. “If you watch Margot learn a new skill, it’s pretty terrifying. When we did stunts for Birds of Prey, the stunt teams would show something to her once. She tries it once, and by the second time, she’s better than them.”
Adding to this, Allison Janney, Robbie’s co-star in I, Tonya, told the writer that she reminds her of the late Katharine Hepburn, another non-conformist who helped to level the playing field for women. Notably, Hepburn masterminded her own comeback when she put together The Philadelphia Story simply because she was unhappy with the film roles the studio was offering her. Hepburn was also one of the first women to wear trousers before they became fashionable and socially accepted.
However, the most glowing praise came from The Wolf of Wall Street director Martin Scorsese, who compared Robbie to two Hollywood legends: Carole Lombard and Joan Crawford. He said: “Like Lombard, she’s vivacious, strikingly beautiful, and she has a great sense of humour, about herself most of all. Like Crawford, she’s completely grounded and instantly commanding—she enters the frame and you pay attention to her.”
Scorsese clearly thinks very highly of Margot Robbie, as this was not the first time he’d compared her to Lombard and Crawford. Previously, the director also likened her to the great Ida Lupino. He opined: “Like no one else—that’s what Margot Robbie’s like. You’re asked this question a lot about actors – ‘What’s she like?’ – and I’ve never been able to give an answer I’m happy with. With Margot, you can recall some classic precedents: the comedic genius of Carole Lombard, for her all-bets-off feistiness; Joan Crawford, for her grounded, hardscrabble toughness; Ida Lupino, for her emotional daring.”
