Everything We Know About Margot Robbie
The blonde bombshell who brought "Barbie" to life is none other than Margot Robbie. The 2023 film took the world by storm that July, and it's easy to see why. Barbie dolls launched in 1959 and have been a part of childhoods for as long as many can remember. As the famous Aqua song goes, "Imagination, life is your creation," and it feels like that within the world of Barbie. Many of us feel a sense of nostalgia for Barbie — when playing with the iconic dolls opened up a world of possibilities. The brand has faced its fair share of criticism, however, often being accused of promoting exclusivity and an unrealistic beauty standard. But Barbie ultimately evolved and shifted to reflect a different reality, from a slim, blonde, blue-eyed bombshell to dolls that feature women and men of all shapes, sizes, and races.
Robbie fits the Barbie version that many know all too well: exceptionally gorgeous, slender, with a bright white smile and long blonde locks. While she may be a sight for sore eyes (and even more so in her head-to-toe Barbie-themed attire), there's more to her than meets the eye. The Australian actor has had a successful career that speaks for itself, but there are many things fans don't know about the star. Her early years were a far cry from the impeccably dressed icon of femininity that she plays on screen. She's creative, intelligent, determined, and honest — judging from what she shares with the rest of the world.
This is everything we know about our Barbie — Margot Robbie.
Margot Robbie and her husband are business partners
Not only is Margot Robbie a star on screen, but the Academy Award-nominated actor is also a successful film producer. Robbie founded her production company LuckyChap Entertainment alongside her husband, Tom Ackerley, in 2014, with a feminist-centric goal. "The Wolf of Wall Street" star wanted to tell stories in which women were the focus. One of LuckyChap's most successful films was "I, Tonya," in which Robbie portrayed the lead role of a former Olympic skater who was infamously embroiled in an assailant's attack on her opponent before competition. The film, based on the true story of the skating controversy surrounding Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan, earned Robbie an Oscar nomination and was met with raving reviews.
Though Robbie took the lead in "I, Tonya," her company has been behind several projects where she worked behind the scenes. LuckyChap produced the Hulu series "Dollface," as well as the Netflix series "Maid." Both put women at the forefront, whether through trials and tribulations or in the power of the bond women share with each other. The actor's production company was also behind the hit 2023 film "Barbie," in which Robbie of course played the lead role of Barbie alongside Ryan Gosling as Ken.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2020, Robbie stated: "People immediately have an idea of, 'Oh, Margot is playing Barbie, I know what that is,' but our goal is to be like, 'Whatever you're thinking, we're going to give you something totally different — the thing you didn't know you wanted.'"
She landed a movie role by writing a fan letter
They say if you want something bad enough, nothing can stand in your way. Margot Robbie understood the assignment, taking her desire for a Hollywood role straight to pen and paper in a fan letter to film director Quentin Tarantino. In her 2019 cover story for Vogue, the "Barbie" star revealed she had always wanted to work with Tarantino, but was waiting for the moment she felt she was skilled enough as an actor to reach out. After the first glimpse of her portrayal in "I, Tonya," Robbie felt she had the chops. "So I wrote him and said, 'I adore your films, and I would love to work with you in some capacity. Or any capacity,'" the actor revealed.
Robbie's letter paid off, as Tarantino ultimately cast the star in his film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." The movie is a retelling of the story of Sharon Tate (played by Robbie), the late wife of Roman Polanski who was killed in the infamous Manson family murders. The film also revolves around a successful actor in the '60s who finds his star diminishing (Leonardo DiCaprio), faced with the task of trying to find meaningful roles in the dog-eat-dog-world of Los Angeles. Tarantino told Vogue he chose Robbie for the part because, "Margot looks like Sharon Tate. ... And she can convey Sharon's innocence and purity — those qualities are integral to the story."
Margot Robbie went to circus school
Margot Robbie knew she liked to perform at a young age, so much so that her mother put the aspiring actor in classes at a local circus school when she was just a child. Per her 2016 Vogue cover story, the goal was for Robbie to hone in on her star power, and by just eight years old, the "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" actor had achieved her trapeze certificate. While flying through the air and performing acrobatics weren't necessarily what she became known for, the skills stuck with her.
Robbie revealed that she was drawn to take trapeze classes again as an adult after she dreamt she was performing under the Big Top. "I couldn't stop thinking about that stupid dream," she said, noting how her mom ultimately found a place offering classes. "I feel like I missed my calling." During the Vogue interview, Robbie took interviewer Jonathan Van Meter along to a trapeze class. Her instructor admitted, "She's disgustingly good at it," referring to her ability to effortlessly glide through the air and switch positions without a glisten of sweat.
The movie star is obsessed with hockey
Margot Robbie may be the epitome of a girly girl playing the role of "Barbie," but the actor has a tomboy side. On "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in 2017, "The Legend of Tarzan" star revealed she's a huge hockey fan. "The first place I lived in America was New York," the Aussie star told Fallon. "So I was automatically a Rangers fan."
The actor, who often attends NHL games whenever she's in the Big Apple, has made the rounds on the Internet in photos featuring her enthusiastically supporting the team while decked out in Rangers gear. Robbie joked about her over-animated expressions in the sideline pics, saying, "I try and give myself a pep talk like, 'Don't be too animated' ... like, 'Keep it cool. Keep it cool,'" she admitted, noting how she finds herself in what she deemed "embarrassing" paparazzi snapshots shortly after. "But then at some point, I get swept up in the game. ... I get too into it."
Robbie revealed that she not only went so far as to join a hockey league when she wasn't under contract acting, but also said that her obsession with the sport even led her and a group of friends to dress up as players from "The Mighty Ducks" on Halloween one year in New York City. The only catch, she said, was having to leave her hockey stick at the door of the nightclub that night.
She took tequila shots before filming sex scenes with Leonardo DiCaprio
While some people dream about being in the presence of Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie admitted she needed a bit of liquid courage to star alongside him. Robbie played Naomi Lapaglia in "The Wolf of Wall Street," the wife of Jordan Belfort, played by DiCaprio. The 2013 film centered around the true story of Belfort's enormous fraud scheme working as the head honcho of a brokerage firm in the '90s, which defrauded investors out of millions of dollars. Belfort was ultimately sentenced to federal prison for his crimes, and he and his former wife — whose real name is Nadine Macaluso — divorced in 2005.
The film features sex scenes, drug-fueled debauchery, and over-the-top lavish parties that were central to Belfort's life at the height of his money schemes. Of filming one of these intimate scenes with the "Titanic" star, Robbie revealed in an interview with BAFTA, "I'm not gonna lie, yeah, I had a couple of shots of tequila before [shooting] that scene because I was very nervous. Very, very nervous."
It seemingly paid off, however. The film was met with rave reviews. It was also a massive accomplishment for Robbie, in particular, as she revealed she didn't know what to expect starring in her first American film, which ended up being nominated for five Oscars, including one for best picture, but ultimately failed to land an award.
Margot Robbie is a huge Love Island fan
Everyone has their guilty pleasures — and what's wrong with a reality television binge-watching session every now and then? Margot Robbie would agree, as the "Suicide Squad" star is a big fan of "Love Island." The reality show is much like many others of its kind, in which single men and women are shipped off to a tropical location and must couple up or be voted off the so-called island.
Robbie has been open about her love for the reality show, revealing during a July 2023 KISS radio interview that she'd planned her birthday celebration around the series. Iain Stirling, the voice behind the show, even recorded a special intro for the actor after he discovered how much she followed it. After the KISS hosts surprised the "Barbie" star by playing the recording for her, Robbie excitedly admitted, "I like want to make that my ringtone or something." Robbie, who previously lived in the UK with her husband, Tom Ackerley, explained to The Sun in 2022 that the reality show gives her a sense of nostalgia. "'Love Island' reminds me of living in London — watching it with my girlfriends when everybody was home from work," she said.
As such, the "Love Island" superfan took things a step further when she played a part in casting former "Love Island" star Chris Taylor in the "Barbie" movie. Taylor told LADbible (via the Daily Mail) that he landed a small cameo role in the hit film after meeting Robbie alongside several other castmates at a movie premiere years prior.
The actor isn't big on dieting
With a slender figure that fits perfectly into her Barbie-curated looks, it might be hard to believe that Margot Robbie doesn't follow a strict diet. In a 2014 interview with British GQ, the actor admitted, "I don't have a very good diet. I love beer, fries, burgers, but if I have to get in a bikini then I eat carrot sticks for three days." Robbie went on to add, "I'm one extreme or the other. I'm not good at doing moderation. I get miserable if I don't eat. I can't just have a salad every day and half a glass of wine every second day. Can't do it."
Following her breakout role in "The Wolf of Wall Street," things changed for Robbie. While she may be keen on bar food, she later had to get her fitness level up for more physically demanding movie roles, such as when she played an Olympic figure-skater in 2017's "I, Tonya." During filming, Robbie had to undergo a strict fitness regimen. "I spent a lot of time in the gym, trying to build muscle mass for 'I, Tonya,'" Robbie told Body + Soul, adding that while she practiced skating for several months, working out for a few hours a day five times a week.
On top of her skating schedule, Robbie revealed that her training included things like weightlifting and sit-ups, stating, "It's all the stuff you know you're meant to do, but just can never be bothered to do, although ice skating itself was a huge part of it."
Margot Robbie gave Cara Delevingne a tattoo
Margot Robbie has four tattoos that we know about — but how she got some of them is quite the story. In 2020, the star revealed on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" that she actually has her own tattoo gun and even inked up her fellow "Suicide Squad" cast members while on set. In particular, Robbie and her co-star Cara Delevingne got matching smiley faces on their toes that they tattooed on each other, with Robbie calling it "toe emojis." She also revealed, "On the first 'Suicide Squad,' we did 'Skwad' tattoos, and it became a bit of a thing. ... Everyone got it. People, like, honestly, in lighting setups would just pop into the trailer and get one. ... Mine's on my foot right here. I did my own one."
Robbie previously revealed on "The Graham Norton Show" in 2017 that she's given tiny tattoos to nearly 100 other people with a tattoo gun she bought off of eBay. The actor even inked a member of the production team during the interview with his very own "toe emoji." During this bit, she quipped, "I'm not particularly good, but I like doing it." However, she's since put down the tattoo gun. In addition to her tattoos to commemorate "Suicide Squad," Robbie has a small anchor tattoo on her foot as well as a tiny cross on her wrist.
The Barbie star once faked her own death
Margot Robbie tried her hand at acting at an early age — when she faked her own death to avoid her babysitter. The "Birds of Prey" actor revealed in a 2022 interview with UNILAD that she concocted an elaborate scheme to try and scare the woman who was filling in for her regular babysitter. To make the woman (whom Robbie detested) pay for making her take a bath, the actor explained, "I went and I took a giant kitchen knife and ketchup and I lay naked on the tiles outside the bathroom, covered myself in ketchup, and put the knife next to me." Robbie added, "I committed. I lay there for 40 minutes on these cold tiles." How's that for method acting? Ultimately, Robbie's performance went as planned. "Eventually, she did come, and I almost gave her a heart attack," she said, noting of the babysitter, "She didn't come back."
Robbie's faked bathroom death as a kid wasn't the only prank the actor pulled. "I also once practiced like a pratfall on the cinema stairs at the shopping center where I'm from, and people started calling an ambulance. So I guess I was a bit of a dramatic child," she joked on "The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show" in July 2023.
Margot Robbie grew up on a farm
Margot Robbie's upbringing was anything but the glitz and glam depicted in her "Barbie" role. The Queensland native told People in July 2023 that playing with dolls wasn't exactly her favorite pastime as a child. "I didn't personally have any that I can recall," Robbie revealed. "My sister did and I remember my cousin did. I would play with my cousins', but I wasn't actually that much of a Barbie girl as a kid." Though she sports some epic pink heels in the movie, Robbie recalled playing in the mud as a kid in her hometown on the Northeast coast of Australia, and that any dolls she did own were often neglected or tossed aside.
The star is the daughter of a wealthy sugarcane tycoon, and she grew up on a rural farm. However, her father left her family when she was a child, leaving her to be raised by her mother. Robbie's relationship with him is seemingly strained, with the star telling Harper's Bazaar in 2016, "None. Nothing. I'm not like him at all," when asked if they share any similarities.
Robbie got her break at 17, after moving to Melbourne and hiring an agent to start her acting career. The actor recalled being broke and sleeping on couches in her early years, noting to Harper's Bazaar that it wasn't until she landed a role in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" that her life began to turn around. Robbie would leave for Los Angeles a few years later, and the rest is Barbieland — er, Hollywood — history.