Margot Robbie: A Blond Beauty. Also, an all-rounded producer!

“Barbie” is undoubtedly the most successful film Hollywood has seen last Summer. In less than three weeks, “Barbie’s” global box office sales exceeded the billion USD mark. Meanwhile, internet search rate for "Barbie" and "Ken" on the newborn baby naming websites soared by 200%. Faced with this phenomenon, even Nolan’s "Oppenheimer" had to be bundled with it and promoted as "Barbieheimer".

Our protagonist in “Barbie”, Margot Robbie, sports a head of gold curly hair, a tight figure and exquisite facial features, much like a doll behind a shop window. When she tip toes, even the arch of her feet perfectly matches Barbie’s. The barbies live in a pink paradise, sunbathing on the beach during the day and partying at night; they are without worries without need to think about the meaning of life. Therefore, many believe that Margot is the very original Barbie; she is an undeniable flower vase.

To be fair, Margot Robbie certainly exemplifies the definition of “vase” perfectly. In "The Wolf of Wall Street", donning a pink wrap dress, she is the diva who tames Belfort (played by DiCaprio) with her long, curvaceous legs and stiletto heels. She is the stunning socialite lying naked in the bubble bath in "The Big Short"; the mesmerizingly beautiful Sharon Tate in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"; the assistant producer Kayla Pospisil in "Bombshell" who costars alongside Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman…each character she portrays is a beauty with extraordinary sexual charm.
But Margot Robbie’s charm is definitely not limited to her appearances; she is also thoughtful and courageous. She acted in and co-directed "Barbie", and received a combined total of 50 million USD (salary + box office dividends), and currently ranks 2nd in history (Number 1 is Reese Witherspoon, her representative works are "Legally Blonde" and "Big Little Lies"), Thus, she is not just Barbie, but also an ambitious heroine who possesses both wisdom and beauty.

01 From a “Flower Vase” contestant to Stereotypical Barbie

Margot Robbie once mentioned in an interview that due as she was poor before, she couldn't even remember if she ever owned a Barbie doll in her childhood. Her childhood was not smooth sailing at all. She was born in Queensland, Australia. Although her father was a farmer and later became a big shot in the sugar cane industry, he abandoned them when Margot Robbie was very young. Her mother took on the role of a supermom and singlehandedly raised Margot and her 3 siblings. I can feel the challenge and toughness of such a feat even by simply imagining it.

But Margot Robbie never gave up faith. She loved acting and dancing since she was a child. When she was eight, Margot Robbie learned to perform on the trapeze at a circus school. In high school, whilst studying drama, she worked three jobs outside school hours. In class, she participated in little performances, and joined drama festivals with the fullest enthusiasm. Even in the restaurant where she works, Margot Robbie can be seen reciting lines while washing dishes.
In order to pursue her acting dream, Margot Robbie moved to Melbourne as soon as she graduated from high school. Once there, she took on a job at a coffee shop, and auditioned as much as possible while she worked. After a string of dead ends, she finally landed a role in the soap opera "Neighbors". Initially, Margot Robbie only made a guest appearance on the show, but soon after, her name was included in the official cast list, and she became a regular actor. She took on the role for three years and eventually won the Logies Award for “Most Popular New Female Talent” in 2009.

So, how exactly popular was "Neighbors" during then? Since its launch in 1985, it has been releasing new seasons well into the 21st century and has been broadcasted in more than 50 countries around the world. At its peak, the number of viewers exceeded 100 million daily. For a 19-year-old teen to star in one of Australia's most successful TV series is an experience enough to satisfy and flabbergast anyone, but Margot Robbie did just stop there. Amidst her busy daytime shooting schedule, she squeezed time for acting classes and learned American pronunciation, all to prepare to enter Hollywood.

After her contract in Australia ended, Margot Robbie immediately moved to California. As a stranger in unfamiliar land, she naturally didn't land many roles at first; however, Robbie did not lose herself. She settled down, reviewed script contents carefully, and chose to take on supporting roles of quality stories, such as the stewardess Laura in the throwback TV series "Pan Am" and Tim's first girlfriend Charlotte in "About Time".

And God has always favored girls with talent and hard work; In 2013, the crew of "The Wolf of Wall Street" extended an olive branch to her. Margot Robbie shot to stardom with it, and audiences were presented with an extremely seductive and memorable character. But this The role was hard to come by. In the April 2015 issue of Harper's BAZAAR UK, she recounted the moment of her audition: “You have literally 30 seconds left in this room and if you don't do something impressive nothing will ever come of it. It's a once-in-a-lifetime chance, just take it." And so I start screaming at him and he's yelling back at me. And he's really scary. I can barely keep up. And he ends it saying, "You should be happy to have a husband like me. Now get over here and kiss me." So I walk up really close to his face and then I'm like, "Maybe I should kiss him. When else am I ever going to get a chance to kiss Leo DiCaprio, ever?" But another part of my brain clicks and I just go, Whack! I hit him in the face. And then I scream, "Fuck you!"

You can imagine… should the audition be successful, she will successfully win a major, career-changing role. If she fails, she will be regarded as an outlier and return to being a small fry in the industry. When the opportunity presented itself, Margot Robbie is not only ready appearance-wise, but comes with the wit and determination to make a big gamble for her dreams.

02 From Blonde Bombshell to Wild Beaut

Although "The Wolf of Wall Street" made Margot Robbie famous overnight, she didn't want to be synonymous with the term "blonde bombshell". She distanced herself from her relationship with Leonardo and refused the invitation to shoot for the cover of Playboy magazine. Furthermore, she dyed her blond hair brown, but audiences would not let it go. News headlines simply replaced "Blonde beauty Margot Robbie" with "Brown-haired beauty Margot Robbie".

Since the above methods did not work, Margot Robbie took more substantial actions. Robbie continued to star in films as a beaut, such as "The Big Short", "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" and "Barbie", all of which exuded her feminine charm to the extreme. Just as director Adam McKay has explained: “’With Margot, anything she’s going to do will be 24/7, head to toe,’ he says. ‘But what’s so cool about it is that there’s a sense of humor behind it. There’s a playfulness that’s kind of irresistible’”. For example, in “Barbie”, she is singing and partying on the dance floor, suddenly Stereotypical Barbie will ask, "Have you ever thought about dying?"; the "vase" lying naked in a bathtub full of bubbles explained in all seriousness what the subprime mortgage crisis is. Even when playing the role of a vase, she is constantly ruminating on how to make the characters she portray soulful.

Moreover, Margot Robbie has never given up evolving; she is also well known for her portrayal as the “Wild Beaut”

In "Suicide Squad", series, her portrayal of "Harley Quinn" is crazy and violent, flamboyant and mysterious, cute and chic, fashionable and elegant, yet ferocious and cruel... you simply can’t wrap your head around it: she cannot be defined. The split personalities that she portrays comes almost natural to her, as if they are in her genes. "Harley Quinn" is never the most eye-catching DC villain, but because of Margot Robbie's superb acting skills, "Harley Quinn" became one of the most dazzling DC villain figures on the silver screen.

In "I, Tonya", she took on the role of the titular protagonist Tonya, a talented figure skater perpetually burdened and tortured by her mother and husband. Tonya is the central figure of the American sports scandal of the century, after being involved in a criminal case in 1994, Tonya was handed a lifetime ban, and the disgraced athlete had to resort to wrestling, boxing and other sports to make a living. Whilst many did not understand why Margot Robbie chose to plays such a character, but she took an interest in Tonya’s craziness. Tonya was never an elegant swan or a princess on the ice rink, but runs around, rampant, like a beast; she was a devastated woman who heartbreakingly screamed, "This is the fucking truth!"; For all those arrows that pierced her heart, Tonya fired them back with brute force.

Margot Robbie was nominated for the Actress in a leading role in 2018 for the Academy Awards (Oscars), as well as the Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and other major awards for her role in "I, Tonya”.

In "Babylon", she perfectly interpreted the “beauty” and “madness”. She plays Nellie, a low-class girl with dreams of becoming an actress. During the silent film era, she went through plastic surgery in order to stand out. Her penchant for sexiness and wildness swiftly pushed her onto the stage with all the other first-rate actors. However, as sound technology appeared, she quickly became obsolete. In order to adapt to the new battlefield, she had to humble herself and wandered among celebrities to socialize with and flatter them, but her wild personality made it impossible for her to continue her pretense. One minute she was pretending to be prim and proper, then the next minute she was stuffing her mouth full of food, behaving in unimaginable ways.
All these roles are crazy and unique enough to be both eye-catching and impressive, but what is crazier than these movie characters is Margot Robbie herself. Christina Hodson, screenwriter of "Birds of Prey" said: "It is very scary to watch Margot learn a new skill. The stunt team will demonstrate it to her once, and she will try it once; by the second time she would be able to do it better than the team." The director of "Barbie", Greta Gerwig, once wanted her to do a slow-motion effect. She hoped that Robbie could move at a speed of 48 frames per second at a shooting speed of 24 frames per second. As a result, Margot Robbie squinted her eyes, did some calculations, and proceeded to complete this feat, which made the director sigh: "Besides magic, I don't know how else to classify this ability."

I personally don’t really believe in natural-born talent. A showcase of extraordinary talent is usually backed with amazing willpower and a professionalism that means one is ready to take on challenges at any point of time. In order to simulate Harley Quinn's pale skin color (which is a result of bleaching by chemicals), Robbie lived without sunlight for a period of time. In order to film underwater scenes, she hired a diving instructor and trained to hold her breath underwater for a solid five minutes. Her elegant and beautiful fight scenes whilst wearing an elegant red dress are the results of her training with her ballet teacher. In order to play the role of a skater well, she did not hesitate to gain weight crazily; She was on the training ground five days a week, and she was at the skating rink on Christmas and Christmas Eve as well. Throughout the year of filming for the film, she never once returned home; in order to play Elizabeth I well in "Mary Queen of Scots", she did not hesitate to reduce her hairline and shave her eyebrows. Her appearance in the show was jaw-droppingly awesome, to say the least.

Many actresses in Hollywood have been labeled as "vases". People always believed them to be beautiful, but without uniqueness or a future. Margot Robbie however, took only 7 years to tear off said label, becoming an professional known for her acting prowess. She has exemplified both beauty and strength.

03 Becoming Barbie, becoming Margot Robbie

The popularity of "Barbie" in summer 2023 once showed people see another side of Margot Robbie – talent as a director/producer. In fact, just after she starred in "The Wolf of Wall Street", Robbie established her own production company LuckyChap Entertainment with her friends. She was only 24 years old that year.

Margot Robbie’s husband, Tomy Ackerley, is one of the founders of the company

LuckyChap has always been committed to telling stories about women, or to tell them from a female perspective. "I, Tonya", "Birds of Prey", " Mary Queen of Scots", "Promising Young Woman" and "Barbie" all come from LuckyChap. Margot Robbie hopes there will be more female-led and female-centered film companies, because: "the success of a female producer, female director, or a female-centered movie will change the entire industry. When ‘Wonder Woman’ was released, we went to discuss the project, and the atmosphere of the meeting was completely different.".

The "Barbie" IP has repeatedly hit the wall among major manufacturers for nearly a decade, reason being that the idea of Barbie girls are seen as brainless, head in the clouds, extravagant and excessively pursuing perfection: such notions have long been outdated. Even the little girl Sasha in the movie said: "Barbie has at least it set the feminist movement back fifty years." To make a movie on Barbie means stepping onto a minefield, and it was almost impossible to think of a way to avoid being criticized. It was not until Margot Robbie got the adaptation rights, confirmed the cast and served as the producer and found Gerwig as the director that the core team of "Barbie" was formed. They withstood all the pressure and worked hard to make changes, so that innocence, ignorance and intelligence could appear in Barbie altogether, making her a more complex character. This in turn paved the way for the film’s success.

I always wondered: for a woman like Margot Robbie, did she first perfect her appearances or her intellectual thoughts and talents? Of course, the most likely scenario is that she has them both, and her external and internal qualities complement one other and help one another to grow. But it is undeniable that the "vase" contestants of this era are different from those in the past. When they gain chatter and fame, they will make use of the spotlight to create more thoughts and choices for themselves, whether they are blonde beauties, a crazy heroine, or a producer who was crushed by fate; they are all part of Margot Robbie's desire to express beauty. She looks forward to showcase different forms of beauty and make the world her oyster - just like the Stereotypical Barbie who burst to the real world. Margot Robbie's life and Barbie's story reflect each other, and it is truly a romantic and beautiful tale of dreams coming true in reality, a story more beautiful than a fairy tale.