Robbie earning her wings
From Harley Quinn to Bombshell, actress finds power in her characters
At 29, Oscar-nominated Margot Robbie knows exactly what she wants: a long career, disparate roles, success as a producer and a chance to keep playing Gotham’s craziest anti-hero, Harley Quinn.
“I just love her sense of humour,” Robbie says. “I’ve always thought how she loves to provoke the people around her using her knowledge as a psychiatrist is such a fun aspect to her character.”
Quinn, who first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series in the early 1990s, was a scene stealer in 2016’s Suicide Squad. Shortly before that film’s release, Robbie was already thinking of ways the Mistress of Mayhem could unleash her brand of candy-coloured chaos in a spinoff movie.
But given that the character is tied so closely to Mr. J — a.k.a. the Joker — Robbie knew she wanted to explore a story away from that character, perhaps with some of the other female anti-heroes inhabiting Gotham City.
The afternoon after Birds of Prey’s première, Robbie spoke about why Harley holds such a special place in her heart.
Q After Suicide Squad, audiences really dug your interpretation of Harley Quinn. What made you fall in love with her? A I liked that she was deeply flawed and complicated with her relationship with the Joker. She was in love with someone who treated her so badly. That was baffling to me and it took me a minute to figure that one out. In Birds of Prey, we wanted to see what would happen when Harley doesn’t have that perceived protection of being Mr. J’s girl. At the beginning of the movie, they break up and she is shocked to learn that half of Gotham wants to kill her and now that the Joker is not around they feel free to go ahead and do that. Throughout the course of the film, she tries to find her feet, be an independent woman. She’s not feeling it yet. Ultimately, it’s about her understanding that she doesn’t need a man’s protection — she can handle herself pretty (well) on her own. Of course, she also acts as a catalyst of chaos — as she often does — her actions have a domino effect that brings a bunch of disparate storylines to a head.
Q After Suicide Squad there was talk of a Harley Quinn/ Joker movie. Gotham City
Sirens was another one we heard about. Why did you gravitate to the Birds of Prey storyline?
A I can’t speak on the behalf of those other stories, but I pitched the idea of a girl gang film fourand-a-half years ago when we were still making Suicide Squad. It’s something that I felt there was a lack of in the market. On a character level, I felt that Harley was a girl’s girl and she wanted a group of girlfriends. I knew I didn’t want to stop playing her, but I really wanted it to be a female ensemble. So on a personal level and a professional level, I was really craving that. I don’t know what (the studio’s) plans are or what else they’re hoping to do. I love, love, love the relationship between Harley and Joker. It’s fascinating to me. But I also really love the relationship Harley has with Poison Ivy in the comics, both the storyline that portrays them as a romantic couple and the ones that show them as friends. Either way, that’s something I’d be keen to explore. But the thing I pitched and that I really wanted to explore was this storyline.
Q You’re up for an Oscar this Sunday for your work in Bombshell. That film showed a newsroom environment that was plagued by sexual harassment. Did what happen in that movie come as a surprise to you?
A I guess, yes and no. It’s shocking when you put yourself in the shoes of someone who had that happen to them. But then again, when you stand back and consider the big picture, I’m not surprised when you see these stories of men taking advantage of women and holding their careers hostage. I think it’s something that women have an innate understanding of as we move through life. We’ve all had that moment where we realize that maybe the deck is stacked against us one way or another. Exploring it through a situation that happened to be true is extremely horrifying, but I’m glad that the movie got put out into the world and it’s giving audience members — particularly male audience members — a chance to feel what that is like. If they can feel what it’s like to stand in (my character’s) shoes in that moment where she’s standing in Roger (Ailes’s) office when he asks her to raise her skirt, that’s a wonderful thing. If we can provide more empathy for each other in this world, that’s only ever going to be a good thing.