HARPER’S BAZAAR AUSTRALIA – You couldn’t imagine two more opposite characters than Margot Robbie and Tonya Harding.

However the BAZAAR Australia March cover star was so convincing as the bad girl of ice skating that she hasn’t just floored critics and fans, she’s now also up for an Oscar.

No mean feat for an actress and producer who took on the project that had a small budget and an even smaller production schedule.

But I, Tonya is the little passion project that could for Robbie.

“As a producer I’m looking for amazing female roles,” she tells BAZAAR. “People in Hollywood are now making a conscious effort to provide female characters and female-driver content. But the next step is having female voices telling those stories, through female directors and writers.”

For her part as the leading lady and to morph into the first American woman to land a triple axel jump in competition, Robbie spent hours on the ice with choreographer Sarah Kawahara, who has, coincidentally, previously worked with Harding’s nemesis, Nancy Kerrigan. Despite also spending hours in the gym, Robbie was unable to push her petite frame to resemble Harding’s athletic form.

She also ages 29 years over the course of the film.

“We didn’t have a ton of money or time, so going down the prosthesis route daily to make my face shape and hairline resemble hers wasn’t an option,” she says. “So we altered our mindsets. We needed to embody her spirit.”

For Robbie that involved even more hours of training and studying with a movement coach and learning the Alexander Technique and the Animal Exercise, which focused on posture.

“Rolled shoulders, jutted jaw, heavy feet; Tonya was someone always on the defensive, but also searching for validation and affection, and she cared what people thought. Even though she pretended she didn’t,” Robbie says. (source)

Some outtakes from the beautiful Harper’s Bazaar Australia photoshoot have now been added to the gallery! More to come together with the scans as soon as we’ll get the issue! Enjoy for now 🙂