Margot Robbie was inspired by animals for Babylon and I, Tonya

Last Updated on January 10, 2023

Although she’s not a traditionally trained actress, Margot Robbie has turned in some truly dynamic performances since her breakout turn in The Wolf of Wall Street. That seems fitting, since some of her biggest inspirations have come from the animal kingdom.

Margot Robbie first started taking influence from animals during 2017’s I, Tonya, in which she played disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding. “I was a pitbull because they’re very misunderstood…With her ice skates on, I wanted to be heavy on 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, like a wild horse when she’s ice skating. So she’s two animals, really.” For her performance, Robbie nabbed her first Oscar nomination.

For her latest, the extravagantly chaotic Babylon, Margot Robbie channeled a honey badger in the scene where her Hollywood “It” girl character squares off against a snake. “There are actual 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. [My character Nellie] fights anything and anyone at the drop of a hat.”

On the benefits of this approach, Robbie said it allows her to give a more natural performance.“It’s helpful because you do all this research, and you read all these books and watch all these films, and get all the facts about the real-life people at this time. Sometimes your head gets so clouded with statistics and facts and the history…But if you just revert back to the animal, then you can just be really, really instinctual.”

Knowing Margot Robbie first started exploring this method in 2017, one wonders which animals inspired her turns in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Bombshell and Peter Rabbit–OK, that last one might be easy…

Margot Robbie will have another huge year, starring in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. What sort of animal will Robbie channel for the Mattel doll? Perhaps a pink flamingo? We’ll find out when Barbie hits theaters on July 21st.

What is your favorite Margot Robbie performance? Let us know below!