The Sports Dream Margot Robbie Could Never Realize

Margot Robbie got her first big break on the Australian soap series "Neighbours" in 2008, per IMDb, and has since made a huge name for herself in Hollywood. The Aussie beauty has starred in hit movies such as "The Wolf of Wall Street," "The Legend of Tarzan," and "Suicide Squad." 

Back in 2020, Robbie admitted in an interview with Charlize Theron for V magazine that while she could have stayed in Australia and enjoyed the moderate success she had on "Neighbours," she wanted something more for herself. "Many of my castmates on that show had worked there for 30 years, and I could have had a very comfortable, nice life [by doing that]. But I knew I didn't want that."

And while Robbie has never made it a secret that she also has a country gal side to her — she's admitted to seeing both kangaroos outside her window and snakes in her house to Vanity Fair — there's another side that some of her fans don't know about. Robbie admits that she missed out on a huge sports dream she once had simply because of where she grew up in Australia.

According to Vanity Fair, Margot Robbie said that she grew up in Dalby, Queensland, Australia, where she lived the kind of country life that you'd expect to see in a small, rural town. In 2016, she told Jetset magazine that her best childhood memories were outdoors. "I'm happiest when I'm surfing or out on the farm hunting wild pigs ... or riding around on motorbikes," she said.

Because she lived Down Under, Robbie didn't get to experience the kind of winter sports that other people her age enjoyed in places like Canada or even the U.S. That was a huge problem for the future Hollywood star because she was a huge hockey fan growing up. "Well, I always wanted to play ice hockey back in Australia. I'm not sure why, but we didn't have any ice where I lived. It was very hot, a coastal town," she told MTV in a 2014 interview. "So I played field hockey."

However, Robbie said that when she made the move from Australia to the U.S., she joined a hockey team and played until her schedule got in the way. She explained, "When I was contracted to a show, I wasn't able to play. I was living in New York, and the Rangers were my default team." Later, adding, "And not just by default, but also because they're the best team ever." That said, hockey isn't Robbie's only connection to the ice.

In 2017, Margot Robbie played controversial figure skater Tonya Harding in the critically acclaimed movie "I, Tonya." In a joint interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Robbie said that it was Harding who helped her with her ice skating in preparation for the film. 

When it came to learning how to do some of the skating techniques that were required for the film, Robbie said that she had some reservations. "When you're a kid, you're fearless, but starting at 26 years old, I had a lot of fear," she explained in a separate Hollywood Reporter interview. That said, the Hollywood star didn't give up on the figure skating lessons. She shared, "I just thought I was never going to get them, and then, one day, it just clicked."

Now, as far as Robbie's hockey skills are concerned, she does admit that there's definitely some room for improvement. "I don't want to be misleading and make you think I'm really good at ice hockey. I'm terrible, but I really like it," she admitted to W magazine in 2016. Even if Robbie says that she's still got a lot of work to do on her hockey skills, there's no doubt that her fans would still watch her take the lead in a hockey-centric film in the future. Until that happens, we'll keep our fingers crossed.