The performance that left Margot Robbie “bawling”
It seems to be mandatory that any fast-rising star is obligated to sign on for an effects-heavy blockbuster shortly after securing their mainstream breakthrough, and for Margot Robbie, that came when she made her big-budget debut in 2016’s The Legend of Tarzan.
Veteran Harry Potter director David Yates’ swing at Edgar Rice Burroughs’ creation came during the brief period Hollywood decided that mounting expensive adaptations of centuries-old books with a coat of CGI-heavy paint was an avenue worth exploring, although the end result was a lot more Dracula Untold than Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes.
One thing that can’t be argued with was the exquisite casting, which roped in a bevvy of A-listers, Academy Award winners, and rising stars. Joining Robbie and Alexander Skarsgård’s title hero were Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Djimon Hounsou, Jim Broadbent, and genuine knight of the realm Simon Russell Beale, among others.
From a pedigree standpoint, The Legend of Tarzan had all the tools required to succeed until it turned out to be a rampantly forgettable period-set romp. A formulaic plot, leaden pacing, and an absence of any standout action sequences rendered it resolutely underwhelming, something that was reflected in how it played among audiences.
It was far from a flop, but a return of just over $350million in ticket sales against a $180m project rendered the profit margins razor-thin, nuking any notion of sequels anybody might have held. For Robbie, though, working with such a stacked cast was what drew her to the production initially.
“For me, the chance to work with this cast was one of the most exciting things about this project,” she said, which is fair enough considering the array of talent on display. However, she was left in floods of tears by one performance in particular, which was all the stranger when she didn’t even share any screen time with the performer in question.
“I didn’t have any scenes with Djimon, but he’s just a phenomenal actor and so strong in this role that when I saw the film, I was just bawling watching his performance,” she explained. “I thought, ‘My God, he’s on screen for just a short amount of time, and he’s already got me in tears.”
In The Legend of Tarzan, the Oscar-nominated Hounsou plays Chief Mbonga, the leader of Opar’s secretive Leopard Society, a very real group that existed and operated in West Africa between 1890 and 1935. Within the context of the film, Mbonga’s people control the diamond region, and he wants revenge on the title hero for the death of his son before he finds himself battling back against the manipulations of Waltz’s Léon Rom.
That’s not to say he isn’t typically solid in the role, but Robbie was surely in the minority of people being left blubbering wrecks by such a mediocre film.
