clownin’ around

Margot robbie is Harley Quinn

What role does harley play in the Squad?

The other characters are pretty serious, so in a lot of the scenes I play up the bubbly side, as opposed to the whole movie being really, really grim. But on the other hand, I had to dig pretty deep and go to some dark places.

how different are harley and Dr harleen Quinzel?

I didn’t want it to be a complete body swap, there needs to be a connection between the two, but there are subtle differences. [Harleen’s] not as outwardly crazy, but she’s still crazy in love and it’s making her act crazy – even though she’s trying to be rational about it all. And the accent’s slightly more pulled back when she’s working in the asylum.

how good are you with the baseball bat?

The baseball bat’s really heavy, actually. I hit myself in the head with the fake one the other night when we were doing a scene. I was like, “If that was the real one just then, I would have needed facial reconstruction.” It’s a dangerous weapon, but I’m getting good with it.

are superhero movies sexist?

It’s always a bit of a generalisation, but I wouldn’t even pigeonhole it just to comic book movies. I feel like a lot of movies you could say are sexist. A lot of the time I pick up a script and I love the male character and I’m not that excited about the female character. This project was probably the strongest example of me picking up a script where I was like, “I want the female character. That is the best character.” Harley Quinn is, in my opinion, the best character. If I could have picked one, I would have picked her anyway.