Barbie star Margot Robbie has become a household name. A decade in Hollywood and going, and Robbie’s star only keeps rising higher and shining brighter. But her debut Hollywood film almost made her quit acting!
Robbie nearly walked away from acting following her breakout role in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street. At just 22 years old, Robbie portrayed the role of Naomi Lapaglia, a character that demanded both depth and charisma. She delivered an unforgettable performance that left audiences and critics in awe. However, the sudden and overwhelming fame that came with the film took a toll on her mental and emotional well-being.
In an earlier interview, Robbie candidly shared her experiences during those early days of stardom. She revealed that the immediate and intense fame that followed The Wolf of Wall Street was something she was not emotionally prepared for. The loss of privacy and the constant scrutiny of the paparazzi left her feeling vulnerable and overwhelmed. It was during this challenging period that she seriously contemplated quitting acting altogether.
Robbie reminisced to Vanity Fair’s Rebecca Ford, “Something was happening in those early stages, and it was all pretty awful, and I remember saying to my mom, ‘I don’t think I want to do this.’ And she just looked at me, completely straight-faced, and was like, ‘Darling, I think it’s too late not to.’ That’s when I realised the only way was forward.”
Despite her initial reservations and fears of being typecast, Robbie has since grown into a versatile actress, defying industry expectations. Hollywood often has a tendency to pigeonhole actors, especially young talents like Robbie, into specific roles.
One of her main concerns during the filming of The Wolf of Wall Street was the character’s description as “the hottest blonde ever” in the screenplay. Robbie feared that audiences would be disappointed. She told Wonderland Magazine, “I was acutely aware that the line in the screenplay was ‘the hottest blonde ever.’ I’m clearly not the hottest blonde ever,” the “Barbie” actress said. “I was just terrified that people would see the movie and think ‘Ugh! She’s not that great.’”
We are glad that she chose to push through her fears and anxiety because, as Greta Gerwig put it, Margot Robbie is nothing short of magic. In the same Vanity Fair interview, Gerwig remembered the surreal experience of Robbie somehow moving at a different framerate, “Once, I wanted to capture Margot in slow motion but have everything else move fast, so I went up to her and said, ‘Could you move at 48 frames per second, even though we’re shooting in 24 frames per second and everyone else will be moving at regular speed?’ She did some calculation behind her eyes and then fucking did it. She literally moved at a higher frame rate. I don’t know what category that goes into other than magic.”
Margot Robbie’s journey from nearly quitting acting to becoming one of Hollywood’s most sought-after and respected actors is what movies are made of.
