Summary
- Margot Robbie, a talented and sought-after actress, had a plan to work with her idol Quentin Tarantino, reaching out to him after gaining recognition for her role in "I, Tonya."
- Tarantino received Robbie's letter around the time he was finishing the script for "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood," which featured a smaller but integral role for Sharon Tate.
- Although Robbie faced backlash for working with Tarantino, she had to consider his reputation and the controversy surrounding Uma Thurman's experience on the set of "Kill Bill," ultimately deciding to move forward.
Margot Robbie is one of the most sought-after leading ladies today given her talent and audience draw that have many of her films grossing over $100 million. From her recent success in Barbie and Babylon, not to mention her talent being seen early on in the TV series Neighbours and the outstanding job done playing opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street, Robbie has shown she can tackle any genre thrown her way with ease.
However, when Robbie was starting off in the entertainment industry and refused to date other actors, she struggled like many other up-and-coming actors do. It was during this time that Robbie decided that if she were to ever have a resume impressive enough, she would reach out to a Hollywood icon that she had admired from afar for years. As much as she adored Harrison Ford, he was not the icon; that person was none other than Quentin Tarantino.
Between her hard work and the progressively meatier roles she was landing, Robbie believed that after 10 years in the industry, it was time to make her move to get on Tarantino's radar. Little did Robbie know that by putting her plan into action, she would have fate to thank for her epic collaboration with Tarantino.
Margot Robbie Is A Huge Quentin Tarantino Fan And Had A Plan To Work With Him
Robbie is an actor who has fans who adore her and want to meet her. The same can be said about Tarantino for Robbie who has been a fan of the director for years, a fandom that Robbie gushes about any opportunity she gets because she believes Tarantino is insanely talented.
"I’ve always been a huge—huge—Tarantino fan," Robbie explained. "I love his movies. Love them."
Because of this, Robbie put a plan into action to try and work with Tarantino when she thought she had the acting chops worthy enough to do so. This came after being in the entertainment industry for a decade.
But when she received Oscar buzz for her film, I, Tonya, Robbie finally believed that the time was right to reach out to Tarantino, not knowing if he would ever receive her correspondence or not.
"I wrote him and said, 'I adore your films, and I would love to work with you in some capacity. Or any capacity'."
At the time, Robbie had no idea that Tarantino was working on casting a new film. Not only was he in pre-production on his film, but Robbie's name had already been mentioned to the Kill Bill director.
When the letter reached Tarantino, it was like fate stepped in to help usher the film along.
How Fate Intervened To Cast Margot Robbie In 'Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood'
Around the time that Tarantino was finishing up the script for Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood, according to Vogue, the letter that Robbie had written to him came across his desk. In the script, Sharon Tate, the actress who was murdered by the Manson Family, was a smaller but integral part of the storyline.
Those close to Tarantino who had read the script wondered if he was considering Robbie for the role. That in conjunction with the "spooky" timing made Tarantino reach out to Robbie and a short time later she was reading the script at his kitchen table.
"Right towards the end of finishing up the script, out of the blue, I got a letter, and it was from Margot," Tarantino explained. "She said she’s a big fan of my films and she would love an opportunity to be in one of my movies. I took that as a good sign."
Tarantino went on to say, "One of the luckiest things that happened to me in the course of making the movie was to make it right now and have Margot out there. I mean, she was such perfect casting that I didn’t have a second choice."
Robbie took the role even though she did not have many lines in the film. However, that did not deter in the slightest, understanding why Tarantino wrote Tate's role as he did.
"The moments that I got onscreen gave an opportunity to honor Sharon and the lightness," Robbie explained.
"The tragedy, ultimately, was the loss of innocence, and to really show those wonderful sides of her, could be adequately done without speaking. I did feel like I got a lot of time to explore the character, even without dialogue specifically.
Robbie went on to say, "Rarely do I get an opportunity to spend so much time on my own as a character, going through a day-to-day existence. I actually really appreciated the exercise and felt that I could deliver what I wanted to onscreen."
While Robbie had an experience of a lifetime while working with Tarantino, she ultimately received backlash for being in his film as a result of the experience Uma Thurman had with the director of Kill Bill.
Margot Robbie Received Backlash For Working With Quentin Tarantino
Before Robbie signed on to work with Tarantino she had to think long and hard about his reputation, specifically when it came to working with female actors. Namely, Thurman had been put in the position of doing a stunt against her will to get the shot that Tarantino wanted on Kill Bill.
After being reassured that Thurman had forgiven Tarantino for what had happened between them, Robbie went forward and worked with the controversial director.
"It was my lifelong dream [to work with Tarantino], and I got to do it, and it makes me sad if people might hold that against me despite everything else I’m doing," Robbie explained to Vogue.
Hold it against Robbie, fans did. The backlash came as a result of Robbie starting her production company, LuckyChap to make films that placed women more prominently both in front and behind the camera.
"I don’t know how to say what I feel about it, because I’m so grateful to be in a position of power and to have more creative control [as a producer] when that is embraced and encouraged now," Robbie noted.
"At the same time, I grew up adoring movies that were the result of the previous version of Hollywood, and aspiring to be a part of it, so to have those dreams come true also feels incredibly satisfying. I don’t know. Maybe I’m having my cake and eating it too."
Fortunately, Robbie's performance was well received by critics and those who were against her working with Tarantino did not hold it against her for long, likely because Tarantino was so remorseful about the position he put Thurman in.
Robbie was able to have a lifelong dream of hers come true, all while recognizing what more she wanted for female actors at the same time.
