Actors find their inspiration in all sorts of places. Jared Leto has become famous for the way he tries to inhabit a character even when the camera is not rolling. Some, like Christian Bale, have been known to physically transform themselves in order to be in the right frame of mind. Margot Robbie has perhaps a somewhat different tactic, as she equates characters to animals and uses them to inspire her characters.
In an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show the Babylon star talked about her process. The actress has a movement coach, who works with her, and has since her Oscar nominated performance in I, Tonya. She explained how her performance as Tonya Harding was inspired by two animals, one off the ice, and one on it. Robbie said…
I didn’t go to drama school so I don’t know if this is something everyone does in drama school. But it’s something I discovered after, it’s something I actually started doing when I was on I, Tonya. So that was the first time… I was a pitbull. With her ice skates on, I wanted her heavy in the feet. I wanted the character to feel like the world was bearing down on her all the time. But then on the ice she’s a mustang, a wild horse.
It’s certainly not uncommon to compare people to animals, be it in the way they move or the way their attitude presents itself. And since so much of acting is portraying a character without words, it’s not that surprising to hear that an actor is using a coach to help with a character’s movement in the same way they might use a coach to learn a dialect or fight choreography.
And we have to say that as far as I, Tonya goes, it really sees to have worked. The actress got so into Tonya Harding as a pitbull that Robbie punched her co-star in the head
Of course, if you’re going to ask Margot Robbie about what animals inspired her characters, you have to ask about her current character, Nellie LaRoy in Damian Chazelle’s Babylon. She is also apparently two animals at once. Robbie continues…
She’s an octopus and a honey badger.
While I’m not sure anybody would have said while watching Babylon that Margot Robbie reminded them of an octopus, having now heard her say it, it does fit. And certainly, there is at least one scene in Babylon where Robbie’s character gets quite fierce and very much takes on the viciousness of the honey badger. As the actress explained…
They’re insane! The snake fight scene, that’s all honey badger. There are videos of honey badgers fighting snakes. There’s videos of honey badgers, which aren’t huge animals, fighting lions. And they have really thick skin, and they’re insane. She’s got very thick skin and fights anything and anyone at the drop of a hat.
It makes one want to go back and watch all of Margot Robbie’s roles and see what animals she may have been inspired by. You can see her play an octopus and a honey badger in Babylon now. I wonder what animal Barbie is?