Why Margot Robbie’s Wolf Of Wall Street Breakout Role Almost Made Her Quit Acting, Explained

It is tough to think about an even bigger Hollywood breakout success story than Margot Robbie in The Wolf of Wall Street. Centered across the true story of corrupt Wall Street broker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Road took Hollywood by storm upon launch in 2013. It is the highest-grossing film in Scorsese’s filmography, raking in over $392 million on the worldwide field workplace (by way of Box Office Mojo). Although the movie drew controversy, with many accusing The Wolf of Wall Road for glamorizing Belfort’s extreme and prison habits, it made a splash at awards season, incomes 5 Oscar nominations.

Margot Robbie plays Naomi LaPaglia in The Wolf of Wall Street, Belfort’s second spouse whom he meets at a celebration. The 2 start a passionate affair that leads to Jordan leaving his first spouse to marry Naomi. Nevertheless, the honeymoon part devolves right into a marital nightmare as Jordan’s drug dependancy worsens. Earlier than enjoying Naomi, Robbie’s filmography was small. With most of her early initiatives filmed in her native Australia, Robbie did not have a lot Hollywood expertise in any respect earlier than The Wolf of Wall Road modified every part.

Margot Robbie Received Solid In The Wolf Of Wall Road After Slapping Leonardo DiCaprio In The Audition

Martin Scorsese Was Impressed With Robbie’s “Thunderclap Of A Slap”

When Margot Robbie scored an audition for The Wolf of Wall Road, she knew it was a “once-in-a-lifetime probability.” (by way of Harper’s Bazaar). The strain was undoubtedly on for Robbie, particularly as a result of she could be auditioning reverse A-lister Leonardo DiCaprio in entrance of famend director Martin Scorsese. Robbie knew she needed to do one thing to make herself memorable. She mentioned of her audition scene,

And [DiCaprio] ends it saying, ‘You ought to be pleased to have a husband like me. Now recover from right here and kiss me.’ So I stroll up actually near his face after which I am like, ‘Possibly I ought to kiss him. When else am I ever going to get an opportunity to kiss Leo DiCaprio, ever?’ However one other a part of my mind clicks and I simply go, Whack! I hit him within the face. After which I scream, ‘F**okay you!’ And that is not within the script in any respect. The room simply went useless silent and I froze.

Robbie was satisfied her threat backfired, and even feared that DiCaprio would sue her. Nevertheless, the alternative was true, and Scorsese mentioned the slap was what received her the half:

She clinched her half in The Wolf of Wall Road throughout our first assembly”, he mentioned, “by hauling off and giving Leonardo DiCaprio a thunderclap of a slap on the face. [It was] an improvisation that surprised us all.

Robbie took what might have been a one-note shallow, gold-digging character and made her pop off the display screen along with her hearth and ambition, and it is clear that the actress had it in her proper from the very first audition.

Robbie’s Put up-Wolf Of Wall Road Fame Was Too A lot For Her In The Starting

Her Mother Advised Her It Was Too Late To Go Again

Whereas Margot Robbie had no thought she would skyrocket to fame so shortly after The Wolf of Wall Road‘s launch, she felt the strain to do an important job and embody her character. In an interview with Wonderland Journal, Robbie confessed,

Once I was enjoying Naomi in The Wolf of Wolf Road it was so high-tempo horny. I used to be acutely conscious that the road within the screenplay was ‘the most popular blonde ever. I’m clearly not the most popular blonde ever. I used to be simply terrified that folks would see the film and assume ‘eugh! She’s not that nice.’

After all, Hollywood and film viewers all over the place had the alternative response — with many declaring that Robbie was, in truth, “the most popular blonde ever.” Nearly in a single day, Robbie had gone from a principally unknown Australian actress with solely a handful of credit to Hollywood’s largest It lady. Such a dramatic shift in her profession gave Robbie emotional whiplash, sufficient that it made her severely rethink her profession path. She informed Vanity Fair,

One thing was taking place in these early levels and it was all fairly terrible, and I keep in mind saying to my mother, ‘I don’t assume I need to do that.’ And she or he simply checked out me, utterly straight-faced, and was like, ‘Darling, I believe it’s too late not to.’ That’s after I realized the one manner was ahead.

Margot Robbie Has Turn out to be One Of Hollywood’s Main Girls

Robbie Has Three Oscar Nominations & A Billion Greenback Franchise

Margot Robbie selected to not stop performing, and it was an important resolution, not just for her profession but in addition for followers who’ve grown to acknowledge her as a significant film star. Whereas her roles instantly after The Wolf of Wall Road have been difficult, she finally proved herself to be a number one girl who could possibly be a field workplace star and a crucial sensation. As of 2024, Robbie’s profession has resulted in three Oscar nominations, together with for I, Tonya, Bombshell, and Barbie.

That final film was her most profitable, as Barbie introduced in $1.44 billion in 2023, a exceptional success story that made her the face of the movie. She has additionally confirmed to be a comic book e book favourite, along with her function as Harley Quinn serving to to gross $1.11 billion throughout three motion pictures: Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, and The Suicide Squad. Robbie has additionally labored with Quentin Tarantino (As soon as Upon a Time…in Hollywood) and had a lead function in one other Oscar contender, Babylon.

Robbie Has Eternally Modified Hollywood For Ladies With Her Manufacturing Firm

LuckyChap Produces Feminine-Pushed Films & TV Exhibits

After her star-making flip in The Wolf of Wall Road, Margot Robbie might have simply been typecast because the blonde bombshell intercourse image in male-driven leisure. However that was by no means within the playing cards for her. In 2014, only one yr after The Wolf of Wall Road‘s launch, Margot Robbie co-founded the manufacturing firm LuckyChap Leisure along with her husband Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, and Stephanie Kerr. The corporate’s aim is to “increase what feminine tales and feminine storytellers might do on this trade.” (by way of THR)

Robbie has starred in lots of LuckyChap productions, however she’s adamant that the corporate is extra about creating female-focused movie and tv quite than being a car for her performing profession. Nevertheless, when she is in entrance of the digicam, Robbie delivers nuanced performances, typically as misunderstood girls, whether or not they’re real-life figures like Tonya Harding (I, Tonya) or Queen Elizabeth I (Mary Queen of Scots) or the world’s most well-known doll. She even turned Harley Quinn from an object of the male gaze to a badass feminist icon within the DCEU. And it began with The Wolf of Wall Road.