A chat with actress Margot Robbie on Scorsese, DiCaprio and ‘the Wolf of Wall Street’

Everyone who follows this blog (and we know we don’t thank you enough for it, as we close in on 3,000 subscribers for the new year) knows how this writer feels about Martin Scorsese’s latest picture, The Wolf of Wall Street (Film Review: ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ is one nasty, vulgar film about nasty, vulgar people– for 3 hours!). Despite that view, of course I am keen on talking with the filmmakers regarding the movie. So, when I was offered a telephone chat by Paramount Pictures with the actress who plays Leonardo DiCaprio’s character’s wife, of course I jumped at the chance.

I spoke with Margot Robbie via phone, a day after she arrived in L.A. from her native Australia, on Monday afternoon. She was running late on interviews, so after some polite banter to ease things, I got to the questions that addressed the divisive reception of the film: the black humor, the subjugation of women, her first nude scene. You can read all about that for the blog I wrote it for, “Cultist,” via the “Miami New Times.” Jump though the blog’s logo below to read it all:

Of course, to get to these substantive questions in a non-confrontational, inviting way, one must have a little banter. As this is a Scorsese film, none of it was without its value. Most interesting is the revelation of her favorite Scorsese film and the fact no one in the cast even had a look of the legendary four-hour cut of the film, which delayed the film’s release by a month:

Hans Morgenstern: May I say your age? If not, it’s OK.

Margot Robbie: No, it’s all right. I’m 23. Born in 1990. Funnily enough, Nadine, who my character’s original name was, she met Jordan when she was 22, and when I was filming the scenes, I was actually 22, so the age is spot-on perfect for the character I was playing.

How much time did you spend on the set for your scenes in Wolf?

It was a 90-day shoot. I think it spanned over five months or something like that, and I think I was on set for 50 something or 60 days, so it’s like two-thirds of the shooting days.

I heard there was a four-hour cut. Did you see earlier versions? If so what differences are there?

Marty didn’t want any of the cast to see any of the cuts until it was locked in to the actual release cut, so I saw it a week before the premiere because I was filming in Argentina before that, so I saw it when I got to New York, which is a week before the premiere.

Did you have a favorite Martin Scorsese film before you came into this?

You know, Gangs of New York has always been my favorite Scorsese film. I don’t know why. I could just watch that again and again and again. I know everyone says Goodfellas, and I adore Goodfellas. I really do, but Gangs of New York has always been my favorite.

So you must have been how old when you saw Gangs of New York?

I don’t know, maybe 15?

So you saw Leo in that role. What was it like playing opposite him?

It’s funny meeting him in person, I don’t really associate him with the characters I see him play in movies. The way I don’t associate Jack from Titanic, with Howard Hughes in the Aviator. They’re just such different characters. He never really plays the same character the same way. The characters are never similar to him as a person, so it’s easy to distinguish the Leo in real life with the Leo in films. So meeting him, though you’re aware, obviously, “I’m about to meet Leo DiCaprio,” you kinda quickly forget it because then you’re just meeting a person and when you get to know him, he’s a really cool guy, he’s really smart, and there’s a lot to learn from him. It was just kinda cool getting to know him.

—Hans Morgenstern