Australia’s own screen queen Margot Robbie on a high after stellar year

Since breaking out with The Wolf of Wall Street a decade ago, superstar Margot Robbie has constantly subverted our expectations.

Actor, producer and national treasure Margot Robbie. Picture: AFP

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a decade since Margot Robbie broke through, playing the ­bolshie blonde bombshell Naomi in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street.

A role that, it’s worth mentioning, she landed by going off-script during her audition and slapping Leonardo DiCaprio across the face – an early manifestation of the 33-year-old star’s rare fear­lessness.

Robbie and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street.

Since then, she has consistently defied expectations, embodying characters such as the impish, baseball bat-wielding supervillain Harley Quinn in both Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey; the snarling, kneecapping figure skater Tonya Harding in I, Tonya; transforming into an ice queen as Elizabeth I in Mary Queen of Scots; and, with minimal dialogue, effortlessly dominating the screen as the exquisitely beautiful Sharon Tate in Once Upon A Time … In Hollywood, among others.

Robbie is the type of actor who flings herself into roles with such reckless abandon that one suspects she is made of titanium.

Her work ethic is the stuff directors rave about – she learned the art of professional pickpocketing for Focus and dedicated months to studying at clown school for Babylon.

It’s a drive that has earned her acting nominations for two Oscars, five BAFTA Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. In 2017, Time recognised her as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and Forbes included her among the world’s highest-paid actors in 2019.

Robbie as Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood.

It’s a wonder that she has the bandwidth to run her own production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, which she founded in 2014 with her then-roommates and future husband Tom Ackerley.

The company, which champions female stories and storytellers, had its first release with 2017’s I, Tonya – which earned three Oscar nominations and a win for Robbie’s co-star Alison Janney. In 2021, it would release Promising Young Woman, director Emerald Fennell’s debut, which brought in five more Oscar nominations and a screenwriting win for Fennell.

And then there’s Barbie – a movie essentially revived by Robbie from a decade-long limbo, after shuffling through lead actors (Anne Hathaway and Amy Schumer) and writers (Sex and the City’s Jenny Bicks and Juno’s Diablo Cody). Through her production company, Robbie brought in indie darling Greta Gerwig to co-write (with her partner, Noah Baumbach) and direct.

Nobody could have predicted that a film about a fading-from-relevance plastic doll would convince audiences to get off their couch and make their way to the cinema – let alone dress up for it. Yet, that’s precisely what transpired. It became the biggest box office success of the year, garnering a total of $2.15bn worldwide.

Robbie made movie-going fun, spending weeks whipping us into a frenzy by delivering a parade of archival Barbie-inspired looks on the pink carpet press tour.

Robbie takes a selfie with fans at the London premiere of Barbie in July last year. Picture: Getty Images

While she is undoubtedly Australia’s successor to Nicole Kidman, a ‘90s quote from Icelandic musician Bjork about her friend Kylie Minogue captures the essence of Robbie. “It’s hard work being a Kylie,” she said. “It’s a service to the nation. You have to smile and do handshakes – it’s like being a diplomat or a queen.”

It should come as no surprise that The Australian’s readers have nominated Robbie for The Australian’s Australian of the year.

We encourage our readers to put in a nomination for The Australian’s Australian of the Year, which was first won in 1971 by economist HC “Nugget” Coombs. Prominent Australians can be nominated by filling out the form above, or sending an email to [e-mail]. Nominations close on Friday, January 19.