THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER – “I get excited with every character when there’s a skill set you get to learn for it. We’re so lucky and spoiled in that they get someone really good to teach you how to do it too,” Margot Robbie told The Hollywood Reporter during their Live Roundtable, when discussing how she prepared to play world class ice skater, Tonya Harding in I, Tonya. “When I did Focus, I had a real-life pick-pocket teach me how to pick-pocket.”

“But that’s mechanical preparation, Robbie told THR. “You put the hours in and it pays off, but if I hadn’t done all the work before-hand, I would just be too scared.”

“I’ve watched every single piece of footage there is on [Tonya Harding] a thousand times over. I had her voice in my i-Pod, I’d go to sleep listening to her. I lived in Tonya land for a long time,” Robbie told THR of her continued preparation for the role. Robbie intentionally chose to not meet Harding during her preparation so she could keep “[Tonya] and the character separate.”

“Once I decided exactly how I was going to play the character, how I was going to play every single beat, then I went to meet her.” What was it like to meet the infamous ice skater? “She was, all things considered, really, really understanding about it.”

Robbie joined in the discussion on the harassment scandals in Hollywood and the rapidly changing culture. “On one hand, you have a great opportunity,” said Robbie of the platform she and other actresses have been awarded, “but on the other hand you have a great responsibility to handle it appropriately and bring something positive out of a horrible situation. I think it’s a very individual thing.”

“I’ve never spoken to so many actresses that I’ve never met, than I have in the last couple months. Actresses — who if I met them, I’d be starstruck — are reaching out to be like, ‘Hey, there’s a group of us having a conversation about this, do you want to be involved?’ There is a sense of community, which is really wonderful, and it’s sad that that had to come out of a horrible situation, but there is a support network there and ready.”

The full Live Roundtable airs on SundanceTV, Sunday, Mar. 4. Tune in to THR.com/roundtables for more roundtables featuring talent from the year’s top films. (source)

LOS ANGELES TIMES – As part of the recent lead actress Envelope Roundtable, actress Margot Robbie talked about her work on the darkly comic biopic “I, Tonya.” Having grown up in Australia, Robbie wasn’t aware of the infamous saga of figure skater Tonya Harding. So she was able to approach the performance with a fresh perspective.

“In hindsight, I’m really grateful I wasn’t aware of the situation, or I didn’t know who any of these people were going into it, so I could really approach it with no preconceived notions or judgment,” she said. “I quickly found out that everyone had passed judgment on her.”

Check some portraits taken during the roundtable session in our gallery! (thanks to I Heart Saoirse for the help!)