Margot Robbie began her acting career in 2008 and has been stunning audiences ever since. With hit roles in a number of successful films, Robbie has been climbing her way up in becoming one of the biggest actresses in Hollywood. She's revealed some of the unique ways that she's been able to pull off her characters in the past, and just recently she discussed another one: emulating animals.
Here's more on Margot Robbie's "animal work" which has helped her prep for some of her biggest roles.
8 Margot Robbie Has Starred In A Number Of Big Films
Margot Robbie is an Australian actress and producer. She first began her career in film with the movie Vigilante (2008), and she's starred in a number of big roles since. All together, she's taken part in over 30 films to date. Most notably, Robbie's held some her biggest roles in The Wolf of Wall Street, her breakout role, as well as in Suicide Squad, I, Tonya, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Babylon.
7 She Said That Looking To Animals Helps Her Stay Grounded
In a recent episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, Margot Robbie revealed that she often turns to animals as a way to help get into character for her roles. She said that the method has helped her to stay grounded in her performance, explaining, "It's helpful because you do all this research, and you read all these books and watch all these films, and get all the facts about the real-life people at this time. Sometimes your head gets so clouded with statistics and facts and the history. But if you just revert back to the animal, then you can just be really, really instinctual."
6 She Began Doing This In I, Tonya
Margot Robbie went on to say in the interview that she began relying on this method for acting in 2017 for the film I, Tonya, for which she took on the lead role. She said, ‘I didn’t go to drama school, so I don’t know if this is something that everyone does in drama school. It’s something I actually started doing when I was on I, Tonya. So, that was the first time."
5 For Her Role In I, Tonya, She Looked To A Pitbull And A Mustang
For I, Tonya, Robbie took on the lead role of Tonya Harding, a figure skater that was involved in a crime against her competitor. The film offers a different perspective to the infamous story, and Robbie put on an incredible performance that earned her an Oscar nomination. She's even said that this was the role when she first realized she was a good actor.
In order to put on this incredible performance, Robbie said that she looked to a dog and a horse for inspiration, explaining, "I was a pitbull because they're very misunderstood. With her ice skates on, I wanted to be heavy on the feet… I wanted the character to feel like the world was bearing down on her all the time. But then, on the ice, she's a mustang, like a wild horse when she's ice skating. So she's two animals, really."
4 She Took After An Octopus And Honey Badger In Babylon
After I, Tonya, Robbie continued her method of looking to animals for inspiration. In the movie Babylon, for which she played Nellie LaRoy, she drew from a honey badger and an octopus. In the movie, Robbie's character fights off a rattlesnake, and Robbie said, "The snake fight scene? That's all honey badger. There are actual videos of honey badgers fighting snakes. There's videos of honey badgers, which aren't huge animals, fighting lions. And they have really thick skin. [Nellie] fights anything and anyone at the drop of a hat."
She also drew inspiration from an octopus, saying that the animal informed some of her scenes in which she was involved in "wild parties".
3 Other Actors Use This Method For Acting, Too
While Margot Robbie's strategy might seem to be out-of-the-box, basing characters on animals is actually a known method for acting. The technique is called "animal work," and it was largely pioneered by Russian acting teacher, Maria Ouspenskay. Many other actors have used the method before, including Chris Pratt, who based his Jurassic World character Owen, a dinosaur handler, on a dolphin. He said, “They lead with their foreheads."
In Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Jim Carrey also relied on this method, basing Ace off of birds, specifically “a parakeet or a cockatiel—a fancy, cocky, male bird." Carrey recalled a conversation with Sir Anthony Hopkins, saying, “Sir Anthony said, ‘Oh, my God, that’s what I did with Hannibal Lecter. I was a tarantula and a crocodile.’”
Other actors that have used this method include Bill Skarsgård who emulated hyenas, baboons, and monkeys in It and It Chapter Two, Jake Gyllenhaal who took after a coyote in Nightcrawler, Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire, who took after a gorilla, and Zoey Deutch, who has also used this method for many of her past roles.
2 Margot Robbie Also Prepares For Her Roles In Other Ways
In the past, Robbie has been known to do some other surprising things to prepare for her movie roles. Some of these include creating a fake Twitter account to research her role for Bombshell, hiding from her co-star to simulate the distance between the two characters in Mary Queen of Scots, and learning how to hold her breath for more than 5 minutes in prep for stunts in Suicide Squad.
All that said, although Margot never went to drama school and often relies on some more unique methods to pull off her roles, she still does go back to the basics. She said, “I also use a movement coach to help develop the part for Babylon, which co-stars Brad Pitt," showing that she does rely on more traditional methods for learning her parts, too.
1 Margot Robbie's Next Role Is Barbie
Margot Robbie's next big project is a lead role in the upcoming film Barbie, which is set to debut on July 21, 2023. Everything we know so far about the long-awaited Barbie movie points to it being another great film with Robbie at the center. It remains a mystery what animal she will take inspiration from for her character in this film, but we're excited to watch another star-studded performance!
