Margot Robbie has played an Olympic figure skater, a baseball bat-wielding anti-hero, and the “hottest blonde ever.” But her most demanding performance is still to come.
“I’ve never worked that hard in my life,” Robbie told the Wall Street Journal about her role in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, where she plays “fully animalistic” 1920s actress Nellie LaRoy. “[I was] shattered by the end of that job.” She channeled two animals to prepare for the part: an octopus (“She could be both fluid and transformative”) and a honey badger (“She is ready for a fight — constantly. They’re just so thick skinned”).
Chazelle praised Robbie for being “utterly fearless,” adding, “There’s this sort of ravenous physical bravado to her. On the other hand, she’s also the most technically skilled thespian you could hope to work with as a director.”
Robbie, who will follow her role in Babylon by portraying Barbie in the most important movie of 2023, also discussed the “hottest blonde ever” designation, which is how her The Wolf of Wall Street character was described in the script. “I was going to have to show people that I could do something different,” she said. “I didn’t want to get pigeonholed.”
Babylon comes out on December 23.
(Via the Wall Street Journal)