Margot Robbie nearly quit acting due to ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ fame
While Margot Robbie is now a household name, the actor was not always at the forefront of our minds, beginning the long and tumultuous journey into Hollywood as a teenager on the Australian TV show Neighbours. After working her way into the film industry with a role in Pan Am in the United States, she was offered a breakthrough role in Martin Scorsese’s 2013 film The Wolf of Wall Street, which launched her to global stardom after playing the titular blonde bombshell and love interest of Jordan Belfort.
The Wolf of Wall Street, Scorsese’s highly stylised biopic, follows the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort, a man who found colossal financial success through stockbroking but suffered a huge hit after the Wall Street crash, charting his journey to maintain power at any cost. It’s a tale of greed and excess, with Scorsese critiquing the American Dream and the lengths that people will go to to obtain it. The film was met with equal parts acclaim and criticism, with some people taking issue with the somewhat glorified portrayal of Belfort that seemed to put him on a pedestal instead of actually critiquing him, slightly worshipping his lifestyle and careless approach towards his wealth.
However, Robbie is spectacular in the role, with an instantaneous star quality that has been compared to the likes of Katherine Hepburn, demanding your complete attention as she takes on the magnetic Naomi Lapaglia with her Southern drawl and fiery temper.
While it was seen as the role of a lifetime, Robbie later revealed how she struggled with being suddenly plunged into the spotlight. Fans might think that her arrival in Hollywood was very sudden due to not being privy to the long journey behind the scenes, but that wasn’t the case at all.
When asked about this, Robbie explained, “Something was happening in those early stages, and it was all pretty awful. I remember saying to my mom, ‘I don’t think I want to do this.’ And she just looked at me, completely straight-faced, and was like, ‘Darling, I think it’s too late not to.’ That’s when I realised the only way was forward.”
For many people in the industry, there comes a point of no return in which the only way out is through. Many actors have struggled with a similar phenomenon, with people like Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones also describing the shock of going from being known by nobody to having hordes of fans who are following them and prying for information about their private lives.
Fame is invasive and borderline abusive, and while people in the public eye aren’t allowed to complain about it, it is undoubtedly a strange and dehumanising experience that strips you of your right to privacy. But despite the initial struggles with this, Robbie persevered, going on to produce and star in some of the most influential films in recent years.
