HOW STAR JUST LOVES A PUB CRAWL AND A KEBAB Come on Barbie..lets go party
Oscar-nominated star Margot Robbie misses nights out in the UK and reveals why she decided to take on famous doll for latest movie role
SHE’S been a doctor, a teacher, a paratrooper and a lifeguard but the latest Barbie just loves a night on the town. Two-time Oscar-nominated actress Margot Robbie, 32, raised some eyebrows when she took on the role of the pinkloving girl’s favourite who, to some, embodies the blonde, thin and white ideal.
Known for playing unhinged Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad and her own spin-off movie, as well as that raunchy seduction scene in The Wolf of Wall Street, it seemed a strange choice for the Australian star who was nominated for an Oscar for I, Tonya and Bombshell.
But Margot isn’t like other Hollywood A-listers.
After going to the Wolf of Wall Street’s London premiere in 2013, she loved London so much, she moved there.
And in a new interview, she admitted: “The thing I miss most about living in The UK are pub crawls.
“In other countries, when you say you are going out for a couple of drinks, it means a couple of drinks – in the UK it means you’ll be out until 3am and you’re going to make random friends at the kebab shop.”
She stayed in a south London home with six pals for three years until she married English director Tom Ackerley in 2016 and they moved to Los Angeles.
And while many see Barbie as a bad role model for young girls, especially because of the negative influence she has over body image and beauty ideal, Margot defends the Mattel icon who was launched in 1959.
She argued: “Most little girls had Barbies, didn’t they? Barbie represents feminism, there is no question of that for me.
“The first Barbie surgeon was in the very early 70s, when very few females were applying for medical school. She was ahead of her time.”
Not much is known about the film – due next year – although if you hit Google, you will hear the voice she uses as well as her and Ryan Gosling, who plays Ken, on roller skates or wearing cowboy hats and a lot of pink.
Having played figure skater Tonya Harding, Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Queen Elizabeth I in Mary Queen of Scots, taking on the live-action version of the world’s most famous doll was an easy decision.
She said: “Bringing Barbie to life was something I couldn’t say no to.
“The world could do with some positivity right now and this movie is going to bring it.”
Despite the huge box office draw she’s become because of playing Harley Quinn in two Suicide Squad movies and Birds of Prey, it seems Hollywood A-listers don’t get the kind of scripts they want.
She said: “I didn’t want to pick up another script where I was the wife or girlfriend – the movie is called Barbie and I really hope she is going to be inspirational to females.”
Barbie wrapped at the weekend. As
well as Margot, it stars La La Land’s Ryan, 41, as her boyfriend Ken.
Last week, he teased that the abs-tastic hunk may look a million dollars but sounds down on his luck: “Ken’s got no money, he’s got no job, he’s got no car, he’s got no house. He’s going through some stuff.”
It also seems they won’t be the only Barbies and Kens. Scots actor and new Doctor Who star Ncuti Gatwa is rumoured to be a Ken, while Issa Rae and Hari Nef will play different Barbies.
Other names linked to the film include singer Dua Lipa, Will Ferrell and Derry Girls star Nicola Coughlan.
During filming, Love Island superfan Margot made sure she kept in touch with the latest series and has revealed her favourite – Paige Thorne, who had a rocky time with Jacques O’Neill and is currently coupled up with bad boy Adam Collard.
Margot said: “I do stay connected with Love Island – I am the biggest fan ever.
“My favourite this season is Paige – she has been the sweetest and most genuine from the start.
“Is she going to win? I am not sure she has ever been in the right couple to be able to but she is my winner for sure.”
It’s been an incredible decade of success for Margot, who played Donna Freedman in Neighbours from 2008 to 2011.
Margot, whose dad Doug has Scottish roots, said of her time on Neighbours, which ends on July 29 after 37 years: “It was a brilliant training ground. I used to sit down with 60 pages in my lap in a morning and just fly through it, read it once. Got it. I don’t think I could do that now.”
The world could do with some positivity right now and this movie is going to bring it MARGOT ROBBIE ON WHY SHE’S MAKING NEW FILM