Margot Robbie's physical comedy is precise, and she gives even a cramped supporting part enough force to make us want more. We wish her directors were more willing to give her the time.
Fi1m perspective
In Barbie (2023), Margot Robbie drives a car with her knees up by the wheel. Sarah Greenwood has made the cars too small, and Robbie makes the awkwardness part of a life her character still considers perfect. The joke needs an actor willing to look uncomfortable without signalling that she knows it. Robbie supplies that, then makes a pair of heels touching the floor seem like a serious personal problem. Her physical comedy is exact enough to make the doll's first doubts funny.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) was her Hollywood breakthrough, playing Naomi Lapaglia opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. Martin Scorsese's comedy is funny enough to earn its three hours, though its attention stays firmly with its leading man. Robbie gives Naomi enough force to make that frustrating. There is time for another round of sex, drugs and extravagance, but rarely enough to let her take over.
The move towards choosing the material matters here. Robbie founded LuckyChap Entertainment in 2014, and I, Tonya (2017), in which she plays Tonya Harding, marked her first major producing credit through the company. She also produced Barbie, with women-centred stories a focus of LuckyChap's work. Producing cannot guarantee a good part, but it seems a sensible response to scripts that leave us wondering what she might have done with another scene.
Quentin Tarantino gives her little dialogue as Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019). We were moved by her pleasure in sitting in a cinema and watching an audience enjoy her work. Robbie makes that pleasure worth watching, but it cannot supply everything the script leaves out. We liked the company in this leisurely film; we still wanted Tate to have a proper conversation.
Greta Gerwig gives her more to work with in Barbie: a woman whose untroubled routine starts to fail her. Rodrigo Prieto's even lighting makes her look as much a toy as the world around her, so small changes in her behaviour register clearly. Robbie makes the awakening funny before the film begins explaining itself in speeches. Those speeches are duller than the jokes, and no amount of careful acting fixes that. Start with Barbie for the comedy, and allow for the lectures.
Biography
Margot Robbie is an Australian actress and producer. She was born on 2 July 1990 in Dalby, Queensland. She began her acting career in Australia, appearing as a regular on the television soap opera Neighbours from 2008 to 2011.
After moving to the United States, Robbie gained international recognition for her role in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). She has since appeared in films including The Big Short (2015), Suicide Squad (2016), I, Tonya (2017), Mary Queen of Scots (2018), Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) as Sharon Tate, Birds of Prey (2020), The Suicide Squad (2021), Babylon (2022) as Nellie LaRoy, and Barbie (2023) as the title character.
Robbie has produced films through her company LuckyChap Entertainment, including Saltburn (2023). She has received nominations for three Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and six British Academy Film Awards.
