The one movie Margot Robbie absolutely had to make: “I’ve never felt that way about a script”
When La La Land was released in 2017, the world became enamoured with the love story of Mia and Sebastien, swept up in the all-consuming romance between two struggling artists as they attempt to balance their relationship with the weight of their dreams. After becoming the youngest director to win an Academy Award for ‘Best Director’ and the film garnered multiple awards, including for ‘Best Original Score’ and ‘Best Actress’, global audiences eagerly awaited Damien Chazelle’s next project.
When it was announced that he would direct a Hollywood epic set during the transition from silent to talking pictures, describing it as the passion project he has always wanted to make, there was one actor most excited about his next screen venture.
After bursting onto the scene with The Wolf of Wall Street in 2013, Margot Robbie seemed to have an abundance of indescribable star quality that quickly escalated her to global stardom. Later, she became an industry titan through her production company Lucky Chap and through countless electric performances. The Australian actor is never afraid to push the boat out, often playing larger-than-life characters in I, Tonya, Barbie, and Suicide Squad.
However, one of her most spectacular and dazzling performances was in Babylon, playing a character loosely based on the silent film star Clara Bow. Widely considered a misunderstood masterpiece, the film tells the story of Nellie Laroy, an aspiring actor who finds her way into Hollywood during a particularly tumultuous time in the industry, showing the glamour, excess and outrageous behaviour that made old Hollywood feel like a wildly out of control house party.
The pendulum swings between the extreme highs and lows of working in the entertainment industry and how the film industry is ultimately designed to chew people up and spit them back out. One of the characters sadly laments that no matter how big he appears on the big screen, Hollywood will never truly need him, and the industry is a machine that exploits the dreams and ambitions of all who try to enter it.
It’s a sobering and wildly entertaining story, and it’s because of this reason that Robbie was desperate to work with Chazelle after the script landed on her desk. When describing the early process of joining the project, Robbie said, “When I got the script for Babylon, I felt I had to do it. I’ve never felt that way about a script. I was frantic—at one point, I suggested showing up at the director’s house. When we eventually met, I said, “I have to play this character—she’s mine.”
Robbie certainly made LaRoy her own, showing her to simultaneously be the life of the party and a royal pain to any producer, leaving a string of chaos in her wake wherever she goes. She brings an infectious energy to the film that makes it impossible for any dreamers not to want to be a part of the same club, no matter how detrimental and painful it might be. Chazelle is an advocate for those with huge ambitions and ideas, providing a voice for the dreamers who aren’t quite living in the real world with everyone else.
