Margot Robbie says life as a movie star isn’t all yachts and parties

MARGOT Robbie might be one of our biggest Hollywood stars but she’s adamant her life isn’t full of parties and yachts.

MARGOT Robbie is an A-list star, but she’s quick to set something straight: life as a movie star isn’t all glamorous parties.

“The biggest misconception about me is that people think I spend all my time sitting on a yacht or swanning around at fancy parties. I wish it were true,” she laughs.

“I think people have this idea that making movies is like, ‘Oh, you must be on a gorgeous studio lot with a latte in your hand.”

We’re on the Atlanta set of I, Tonya, the biopic in which she stars as the disgraced ice skater, Tonya Harding.

These rather plain surroundings just outside the city centre are anything but glamorous. Sharing a laugh about it, she said: “I called my family back home and they’re like, ‘What are you up to?’ “And I said, ‘I am on set.’ They said, ‘Oh, wow. Where?’ And I told them, ‘I am at a dingy ice skating rink in the middle of nowhere!’”

The film marks her first producing effort, which she shares with her husband, Tom Ackerley, who she married in December of last year. Many Hollywood couples abide by the rule that they don’t talk shop at home. Not so for Margot and Tom.

“I’ve always had trouble drawing a line between my personal life and my work life,” she said. “That’s not something with which I would ever have a clear-cut [arrangement] because this isn’t the kind of job where you start at nine, and at five o’clock you switch off and don’t think about it again until 9am the next day.”

Some may be of the opinion that it might not be healthy for a couple to spend so much time together. She shakes her head. “Well, at least we’re in the same place. Honestly, people really struggle in this business because you have to spend so much time apart. So this has been a blessing.”

Margot Robbie was barely recognisable as Tonya Harding in the film I, Tonya. Picture: AKM-GSI / Backgrid

Margot worked with her husband Tom Ackerley on the film shortly after they were married in December last year. Picture: Margot Robbie/Instagram

Robbie is barefaced and dressed casually in tracksuit pants and a T-shirt. She’s finished shooting for the day and has wiped off all evidence of Tonya Harding, a challenging role which plays out from ages 15-44.

What’s it like to play someone so disliked?

She laughs. “Look, I was really amazed when I met her. She was so sweet. People obviously never associate that word with Tonya Harding, and I’m glad I got to meet her,” Robbie said.

“She was really, really lovely. She offered to train me. She asked, ‘How are you finding ice skating?’ and I was like, ‘Dude! It’s really hard. I’m really scared that I’m not going to be good enough.’ She said, ‘Do you have your skates with you? I’ll take you around the rink now and we can start practising straightaway.’”

She pauses. “She’s powerful, she’s a force. I guess I was expecting someone kind of aggressive, really forward and really rough, but she wasn’t at all.”

Robbie has a spate of films coming out, including Goodbye Christopher Robin, which hits the theatres next month. “I’m not just saying this, but my favourite stuffed toys were Winnie the Pooh and Tigger,” she smiles.

She’ll soon be seen making another massive physical transformation to play Queen Elizabeth in the upcoming Mary Queen of Scots.

“Wow. When I signed on to the role, I didn’t know we were going so dramatic with the prosthetics,” Robbie said. “I think the director, Josie [Rourke], really wanted to understand why her look became so dramatic towards the end of her life and why she ended up essentially wearing a mask.

“Historically, we know she had smallpox, which caused a lot of scarring and we play into that in this film. So it was a long process to get the bald cap, the prosthetics, and the makeup right. It was an amazing transformation and definitely affected the way I felt when I was playing her.”

While Robbie’s career has skyrocketed in recent years, she’s also happy in her personal life, marrying her long time partner in northern NSW in December last year.

Doe she experience pinch-me moments on a regular basis?

“Oh, totally. I feel like at the end of each year,” Robbie said. “I say to myself, ‘It’s all going to be downhill from here. Nothing could ever be as good.’ But then something comes along and it trumps it somehow.”

She grins. “I’m like, ‘My God. Every year’s had a new revelation and a new hurdle. And now I’m producing, whereas a couple of years ago I had no idea I wanted to do that. I’m loving it. Who knows what I’ll be doing in the next two years? A lot has changed in my life in the last year,” Robbie smiles. “I’m pinching myself all the time. All the time.”

Robbie lived with Ackerley in London as flatmates for several years with some other friends before they became entangled romantically. “Marriage is great!” she said effusively. “As far as that part of my life with Tom goes, not much has changed.”

Originally published as Margot Robbie says life as a movie star isn’t all yachts and parties