Margot Robbie talks her brutal, Oscar-worthy turn in I, Tonya

TIME OUT NEW YORK – In I, Tonya—as high-octane and thrilling as biopics come—Margot Robbie skates into the role of a lifetime

Stamina, flair, toughness: Anyone who tells you acting isn’t a lot like playing sports hasn’t spent much time doing either. Ever since holding her own against a manic Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, Margot Robbie could never be confused for anything less than a fearless competitor. But her latest performance seriously ups the ante: As the disgraced Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding—forever tarnished by her association with the 1994 off-ice attack on Nancy Kerrigan—the 27-year-old actor pulls off one of the most daring feats of empathy of the year. Directed by Craig Gillespie and coproduced by Robbie herself, I, Tonya is a supercharged Scorsesian rise-and-fall sports movie: trashy, funny, devastating and anchored by a star turn that will be talked about long beyond awards season. Born in Australia before living in Brooklyn, London and most recently Los Angeles, Robbie calls herself a gypsy; “home” is a free-floating concept for her. During a relatively quiet moment before the Oscar whirlwind, we connected with Robbie to talk about lacing up for 17-hour shooting days, the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the enigma at the heart of her latest triumph.
Continue reading

Margot Robbie on Being a Harry Potter Nerd and Not Taking Jared Leto’s Scent Suggestions

While Vanity Fair may find Margot Robbie “too fresh to be pegged,” she’s pretty willing to do it herself — at least when it comes to Harry Potter. “I manipulated the answers,” she said, when I ask the admitted Potter nerd (on Jimmy Kimmel, she showed a photo of herself at 13 with glasses, braces, and holding a cup of tea and a Harry Potter book), whether she’s ever taken a Sorting Hat quiz. During a press day from London as the new face of deep Euphoria Calvin Klein, I forgot to ask Robbie what her patronus would be, but I did find out where she thinks the Sorting Hat would place her, the weird smell Jared Leto thought the Joker would have, and her thoughts on not putting down other women.

Did you play a specific character in the deep Euphoria shoot?
That was the tricky part. With any kind of photo shoot or campaign, they want to see you be yourself, but what I do at work is to play someone else. Photo shoots are terrifying. Photographers are like, “Just show me you!” and I’m like, “Oh, me? I wouldn’t be doing this. I wouldn’t be sprawled out on a couch like this. I would be in a tracksuit.”

But Francis Lawrence, a film director, did the campaign, so it was so much easier for me to sit down with him and say, “Okay, so here’s the concept. This is where you are. This is what you’re thinking.” We’re blurring the lines between fantasy and reality so you can associate things with your own experiences and you can kind of fabricate the world you’re in at the same time.

What was your first scent memory?
I remember being a kid and seeing my mom’s perfumes lined up on the bathroom bench. I was definitely aware that only older women — grown-up women — wore perfume. I was so thrilled at the idea that I was going to be grown up and be able to wear perfume, too. Whenever I smell my mum, I feel like a little kid again.
Continue reading