Margot Robbie might have only just made her first steps into the world of producing, helping to bring the Golden Globe nominated I, Tonya to the big screen earlier this month.
But she already has a clear vision of the sort of films that she wants to see on the big-screen in the near future, something that she pointed out when I sat down to talk to the actress/producer at the end of last month.
“You need to mix it up. And there’s an appetite for it. Films like ‘Deadpool’ blowing up the box office just shows that people are sick of seeing the same old stuff. They respond positively to stuff that’s new and breaks the mold.”
Robbie admitted that part of the reason she is attracted to such unique projects is that she usually gets really “bored” reading through so many scripts, most of which are formulaic.
“I read thousands of scripts. Especially now that I am a producer. It is hard to stay engaged if it is so formulaic that you know where it is going.”
For “I, Tonya,” though, Robbie admitted that she had “no idea” where the film was heading when she read it, adding, “All of these characters were larger than life. They had absurdities, and they were very damaged and tragic. They felt real. And outlandish. All at the same time. That’s a brilliant, brilliant combination if you can pull it off.”
Robbie, who will play Queen Elizabeth I opposite Saoirse Ronan in “Mary Queen Of Scots” next year, also admitted that when it comes to characters, she is “always attracted to those that I think I am nothing like.”
“When I first read the script I think there is nothing in there like me. But as soon as I dive into it and try to work out who they are, why they react the way they do, I always find things in common with them. Whether it is Queen Elizabeth I or Tonya Harding, even though we grew up in completely different surroundings and situations.”
But how exactly did Robbie get into producing?
“It really just started because I met two of my best friends on a project in Belgium. They are both Assistant Directors, and they said they wanted to produce one day. I said, ‘I want to hopefully direct one day. So let’s do our projects together’.”
“Then a year later, an AD friend of theirs’ script was just sitting on the bench. And he was struggling to get it made, because he was a first time director and no-one was willing to give him a chance. It was a very unconventional script.”
“Again, nonlinear, outlandish characters, and everything that I love about scripts. I thought it was genius. Just because people hadn’t seen it before doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t. And I was like, ‘We’ll make it. Fu** it.’ I’ve been pitching that for a long time.”
Robbie’s brazen attitude to filmmaking isn’t only a breath of fresh air, but it is clearly reaping huge rewards, too. “I, Tonya” hasn’t just been met with sterling reviews, but Robbie, Allison Janney, and the film itself have received Golden Globe nominations, too. For Robbie, though, this is clearly just the start.
