JANE OF THE JUNGLE
Actress tackles classic role
If you doubt Margot Robbie’s range, check out her 2016 summer of diversity: anti-superhero flick Suicide Squad has the Aussie actress playing the demented Harley Quinn, while she’s Jane in The Legend of Tarzan. Robbie, 25, talks to Bob Thompson about talking on a classic movie role.
Q Did you discuss with the director how to make the Tarzan movie applicable to today’s tastes?
A We spoke with David (Yates) a lot about making the story relevant for people these days and giving them characters they would connect to.
Q How did you manage to do that with Jane?
A It was more about adjusting her point of view.
Q Did her backstory help?
A It really did. She grew up in the Congo, and then went to London, so it made sense that she didn’t want to conform, especially living in Victorian England.
Q What is Jane’s key personality trait?
A I didn’t want her to be submissive in any way, really.
Q But she’s devoted to Tarzan?
A Jane is very independent, but we also wanted to make Jane and Tarzan very dependent on each other.
Q How so?
A To make the relationship feel warranted, Jane has to be as strong-willed as Tarzan. Where he is physically strong, Jane is emotionally strong, so they need something from each other.
Q Is the love between them one of the reasons you wanted to play Jane?
A Yeah, I’m a sucker for a love story and I could see it in the script the first time I read it. I decided that you can be a strong woman who also happens to be in love with her husband.
Q How did you enjoy working opposite Christoph Waltz, who plays the villain?
A The funny thing is I spent more time in the movie with Christoph’s villain than I did with Alex’s Tarzan.
Q Was it a learning experience?
A Very much so. Christoph’s approach is very intellectually driven. He was developing his role to make it seem like a psychological battlefield between him and Jane.
Q Your dinner sequence with Christoph was effective. How was that to film?
A It was like playing a game of chess, always adjusting to the next player’s move.
Q Was it your idea to make Jane feisty when she’s held captive?
A Yeah, wherever possible, I was like, ‘Can I throw in some punches and kicks?’ I wanted her to be actively trying to escape instead of waiting passively to be rescued by Tarzan.
Q So you play Jane in a Tarzan film and psychopathic Harley in Suicide Squad. How’s that for mixing it up this summer?
A I know. It was so funny when we found out the release dates. They couldn’t be two characters more different.
Q Why do you say that?
A (Laughs) Yeah, well, Jane’s a little tanned, a redhead from the late 1880s, and emotionally composed. Harley’s pale white with white hair, covered in tattoos and a really crazy basket case.
Q Is that variety a career plan?
A When I first came to America, my Australian agent told me that I would be asked, ‘What do I want out of my career?’
Q And what was that?
A I summarized with three things I wanted — quality, versatility and longevity.
Q What’s your assessment so far?
A I guess we will find out in a decade if I achieve the third. Postmedia News bthompson@postmedia.com