The role that made Margot Robbie feel like a terrible person: “I felt so awful”
Margot Robbie has enjoyed an electric career that only continues soar, becoming a once-in-a-generation movie star through her compelling and ever-evolving characters.
After starting out on the hit Australian soap Neighbours, the actor began hustling her way into Hollywood and a few years later, found herself being cast in Martin Scorsese’s modern epic, The Wolf of Wall Street. Since then, she has astounded audiences through her dazzling versatility and commitment to challenge, playing Mary Queen of Scots, Sharon Tate and Tonya Harding. As well as playing real-life historical figures and icons, she has also forged her own career as an equally successful producer, leading the production of Barbie and being the one to approach Greta Gerwig about writing the script, which is now one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
However, after the success of such a renowned film such as The Wolf of Wall Street, in which Robbie was essentially playing the love interest and fiery partner of Jordan Belfort, her next career move was crucial in shaping how she was viewed by the public, something she did expertly through her unexpected next move.
Suicide Squad was a highly anticipated film at the time of its release, reuniting many of the DC comic book characters for a collective story about the misfits banding together for one more mission. Directed by David Ayer, the film stars Jared Leto in his role of the Joker, Will Smith, Viola Davis, Ben Affleck and Cara Delevigne. The film follows the suicide squad, an antihero team of formerly incarcerated villains who take part in a high-risk mission for the United States government.
After being labelled as the next blonde bombshell after her performance in The Wolf of Wall Street, Robbie’s role in this film defied public expectations about her and carved out a new image. However, while it was pivotal within her filmography, she did take issue with some of her character’s mannerisms, struggling with her more abrasive qualities during improvised scenes.
When discussing this, Robbie described how the director asked her lean into Harley Quinn’s talent for manipulation and smooth-talking, saying, “Our director really encouraged me to hone in on that aspect of her, because it’s something doesn’t come to me naturally, but she feeds off that. So any opportunity in the rehearsal process where we did lots of improvising… you end up delving into quite deep places. The costars I’m working with, they’re feeding off real things, so my natural reaction is to leave it be or talk over it, but that’s not what Harley would do. If Harley saw they’ve shown a weak spot, she would, like a little scorpion tail, just get in there.”
Robbie said this was particularly difficult given the fact that she is a peace-maker in real life, saying, “I felt so awful [when] we did these scenes and I was saying awful things. Seeing that someone’s struggling with something in particular, and David’s looking at me like, ‘You better get in there, that’s your window of opportunity right there, take it!’ It feels really awful sometimes.”
