Margot Robbie: Controlling the “Attractive Blond” Narrative

Summary: 

This week finds me in a quieter place back in Lane Cove and stepping into the unfamiliar world of voice over recording, this episode reflects on creative expansion before tracing how Margot Robbie moved from rural Australia to global stardom while building her own production company and reshaping opportunities for women in film. 

Key Words: 

Beyond the Template podcast, Margot Robbie, LuckyChap Entertainment, Hollywood, Entertainment, Australian film, Australia, Sydney, Female Directors, Female filmmakers, Women in Film, Barbie movie, Jennifer Kent 

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Keep it up. Keep it Creative!

- C.

Transcript

Intro to Expander: Margot Robbie

Expander of the Week: Margot Robbie

Reflecting on this week's episode

Thank you for listening! About your Host

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Welcome back to the On the Template, everyone. Um, I am approaching this episode differently with some background noise, it sounds like I've decided that um the uh the podcast has sort of become a more of a journal for me. And then I do tell stories, but I really want the stories of our expanders to be the, you know, the highlight, the VIP, the most important um aspect of the podcast. So I think from now on, we've just got I think seven episodes left for this season. I'm just gonna go unscripted for what's been going on because I've been concerned about getting the podcast out on time. And uh um I've learned something this this week that I'm gonna share, um, which is, you know, you know I'm a responder at this point, so when things happen, I pivot. Uh if you've been following along, that's definitely how I learn and how I grow. So I learned some things this week that had me thinking about how I approach I approached the episodes. Um, and I want them to be entertaining. And I think me writing the entire episode and then reading it, you know, I I got a big personality and you're missing out on who I actually am. So I think I'm just gonna talk to you guys. I think I'm just gonna um and hopefully you guys isn't offensive. Um, that is a millennial thing. We used to say that all the time. I apologize if that's um not an appropriate term. I I I try to stick to y'all, but I've also sort of weaned myself off of southern southernisms. So anyway, um, yeah, so I think I don't I'm not gonna write out the entire episode. I'm gonna write out the stories and transitions, that sort of thing. That's what you'll get today. But otherwise it's just gonna be me talking to you like this because um I don't know, I think it's better. So, what has been going on with me? So, weirdly enough, it's the beginning of fall here. I actually saw cute little fall flags the other day when I was walking around getting groceries at Woolworthslash Woolies. And uh it's just so weird, you know. I I have been here through sort of the hottest days, I think, where it's hot and muggy and in the 90s, close to 100. Not the air, they call it air con, not AC. And um, the way that they approach it, we you know, in the States we have centralized air um or window units in every single window. But they have splits. That's sort of the norm. And when you have a split system, that means it really only cools or heats up one room at a time. So it's wherever you are in the house, you get air conditioning. So the house that I was just in in the western suburbs um in Quakers Hill, I was pretty lucky that they they had one in almost every room of the house, including the bedroom. But the one the I'm back in Lane Cove this week, and uh there is there is none in the bedroom. So uh I say back because I've actually house sat for for this host before and this cat before. This was where I started in Sydney, and I'm back at the house. She asked for me twice, which is very kind, but man, that first week I was suffering because the bedroom doesn't have air conditioning, and it was, like I said, it was the hottest part. Now it's almost fall, so the air is getting cool at night. It's not just hot all the time. Um, and so I've been able to open the window and that I've been sleeping, which is great. I didn't sleep at all the first week. Small blessings, small gifts, small things that we appreciate when we travel um and stay in other people's houses. Um, so yeah, it's been familiar, uh, but also, you know, still unfamiliar. It is somebody else's home, but at least I know how to work everything. Um and uh it has been good for me to be back in a place that feels familiar, very similar to how I described coming back to Wellington from Christchurch in a past episode. It's almost like coming home. It feels nice, and I am thinking those feelings are important, and I'm looking forward to coming back to the States and figuring out what that new home is gonna look like for me. So these these little glimpses um have been have been nice. It's it's hinting towards some consistency that I see for myself coming up this year. But I love that it is sort of familiar because I did something very unfamiliar this week, and I paid for a coaching session last Friday, and then yesterday, this Saturday today, for me, um, I recorded a demo reel, a voiceover demo reel. And I I had just think about just a year ago, I never, ever, ever would have considered doing something like this, or that I was good enough, or that I was worth, or that it was a possibility for me. And if I've learned anything from the past year and a half, it's we we all really need to continuously ask the question, why not me? And I've mentioned this before in previous episodes, but why not you? You have to keep saying it. You have to almost be insane about it. Like, why couldn't you do this? Why can't you be this way? Why not you? Um, so that's sort of how I've been approaching the podcast. And uh and yeah, recording a voiceover reel. My coach was one of my was a teacher. I I told everybody that um I took the voiceover workshop at Afters. That was my very first week, and I I immediately went to his name is Yannick Lowry. I immediately went to him after class on the last day, which was my birthday, and said, Hey, I really want to continue this while I'm here. I already know you, I know your vibe, I know what you're about. He has a counseling background, he has a very grounding presence. He, you know, he just has this sort of thing, which I feel like I also emote, which is great. Um, and I just felt familiar with him. Like he he felt very comfortable with me. Just I liked his vibe, if that make if that makes sense. So his name is Yannick Laurie. He um he's originally from the UK. He has a business called Studio Under the Stairs, and so I, you know, have been working with him for the past several weeks to try to figure out how to get that coaching session in, how to be prepared and actually do a recording session with him. And we did it. So yesterday I went in early to the city, I took the train, and um yeah, two and a half hours later, he is now, I guess this coming week, going to be piecing it together for me. And hopefully it's something that I can number one offer my clients in my business, but also pursue as maybe a side career, or who knows? Because why not me? Um, I wasn't even nervous. That's the thing, is you you think performance is scary, it's unnerving, but I was very comfortable with him. I can't emphasize that enough. And I can't wait to see how it turns out because he's gonna turn it into something that sounds quite legit. It isn't just gonna be me speaking like I am to you today, it's gonna be me doing bits as if it were real commercials, as if it were real narrative. Because he's gonna add music to it and he's gonna he's gonna make it sound like an actual commercial, he's gonna edit it for me, uh, which is just so crazy. Um I even if it's just that, I'm I'm looking forward to hearing how it sounds. Uh so I'll have to update you on that. Um I'm happy to be back in Lane Cove. Uh that other house was great. Like I said, it had um AC and all the and all the rooms, but it was so far. And um it had the same sort of energy as my upbringing. It was the same sort of types of people that I grew up with, and I've moved so far past that at this point in my life, it just was not resonating at all. Um, it was a reminder of where I've come from, if that makes sense. Um so I'm really happy to be here now, even though Lanecombe is still not in the city. Um, it's easy, it's easier to get to places. And I'm actually gonna go see uh a friend tonight for drinks. Um so I'm excited about that. And I'm gonna see a friend that I met through Post Crossing, which is a postcard exchange who has a band here. I'm gonna go see his band, hopefully, this evening as well. And it looks like the train sort of goes directly to where I'm supposed to be going from here. I still have to take a bus to get to the train station. But anyway, the point is Lane Cove is easier than where I was before. I was so far away from everything. Um, still got a couple of social things in, but it just it was not for me. Um, so I'm glad to be back. Uh that said, my transition, I did mention this last episode that between Quakers Hill, way far away, and Lane Cove, I treated myself to another night in the city, and so I stayed on the waterfront, you know, at one of the wharf areas, and it was maybe a five-minute walk to the New South Wales art gallery because I wanted to see Ron Muick in person. You were probably familiar with his work. He does life-size, very detailed, very real sculptures of people. Funny enough, the exhibit showed something that he's brand he's branching away from that. He's very well known for that, but I think he's branching more into not abstract realism, but more uh realism that you would get the more the energy and the tension of a form versus the form having hair all over its body, or you can see the veins, or you can see blemishes, that sort of thing. I think he's moving towards more expressive realism. I don't even know if that's a real term, but that that that's what the show is about. It it went from his traditional trajectory, what he's always been known for, and some of the pieces were very, very impactful. But then he had an exhibit that was totally different. And it was with animals, it was with dogs, and it was multiple, they were enormous. I mean, they were I would say three times the size of me. Dogs about to fight. So it was one pack of dogs against another pack of dogs that filled the entire space. You could walk around it, you could get maybe a foot away from each of the individual dog sculptures. Very, very different. So I'm interested to see kind of you know how he I've always wanted to see this artist. Uh, you know, I've seen things online. Um, I've never been in the city when he's had an exhibit. So I was so excited to be in a proper city where I got to see his work. Uh it was it was fantastic. And like I said, some some of his pieces were were very, very impactful. Uh the my biggest takeaway though, it's I went on Wednesday. I think Wednesday might be um, they're open later on Wednesday, the gallery. And I think because of that, maybe it's sort of more of a community day because every I I can't even tell you how many school groups, high school groups were there. I mean maybe over 10 high school groups, and they were all waiting outside of the gallery when I arrived. I arrived right when it opened, and I was like, holy crap, they're all gonna be in there at the same time. And so it was sort of a race to the finish for me because uh I don't know if you've been around high school age students or even middle school age students, but they're sort of rabid, um, not in a negative way. They just are because they they are actually in packs. So I was just talking about the pack dogs, but they are actually that sort of energy all the time. And I could feel them like almost about to overtake me the entire time I was in the gallery. Everything I did, I was like, okay, they're coming. Okay, I can hear them coming. They're coming down the L. I gotta keep moving, I gotta keep going through. But I'm so lucky because I was able to do the entire gallery and avoid them mostly. Mostly avoid them. They were around, but they were they were coming into the uh Ron Muork exhibit right when I was leaving. So all of my photos have barely anybody in them. I was just, I was very lucky to have timed it the way that I did. But it's because I had to get out of my Airbnb at 10, and then the art gallery opened at 10. So I was right there, right when it opened. Perfect timing. So glad that I went. So glad I had more time in the city. Um, and at this point, I've sort of done all my touristy things. I want to take another ferry in the opposite direction of the Sydney Opera House because there's some really beautiful waterways. The Sydney Harbor sort of pours out into the Pacific, but then it it jutties into these little teeny little crevices um above Sydney. So under, I don't know if you've seen any of my social media, but under that main Sydney Harbor Bridge, it continues long, long, long all the way mainland. So I'd really like to take a ferry. But otherwise, I've I've done it. I've done everything. I did all my professional stuff. I, you know, I'm this is my third house sit. I'm about to leave Sydney for about maybe two weeks to go to a really um cute coastal beach town called Kayama. And I'm gonna take the train down there and I'm gonna be with the dog again. So I'm so excited to be with the dog. Who knew that I was gonna love house sitting with dogs? I miss it. Um, you know, I I am a cat person, I love cats, but um Coco and Kiki really showed me I like dog, I like dog sitting. It's fun. I miss it. So I'll be down there, and then one more week, uh I will be really, really north, and then I'm I'm going back to the States. So I can't believe the trip is coming to an end. I'm so happy that I was doing this podcast the entire time. So you could hear me prepare, hear me go abroad, hear what it's like to have been living abroad, and also see how this podcast has bolstered a new professional arena for me with the voiceover work. So thank you for being here with me. Thank you for joining, and um, I hope that you enjoy today's story. We're gonna talk about Margot Robby. Last week we explored the journey of Chris Hemsworth, who began on Australian television before leaving for the United States and eventually becoming one of the most recognizable actors in global film franchises. His path mirrors another Australian performer who followed a similar trajectory. Margaret Robbie also began on Australian television, also relocated to Hollywood, and also faced the strange position of being labeled the Australian Import. But both actors eventually pushed past performance roles. Hemsworth co-founded Thematic Entertainment, and Robbie founded Lucky Chap Entertainment. In both cases, the trajectory shifted from participation to ownership and allowed them to expand from acting within stories to helping decide which stories are made. Margot Robbie was born in 1990 in Dalby, Queensland, a small agricultural town about three hours west of Brisbane. Her early life did not resemble the glamorous Hollywood trajectory people often associate with her today. Her parents separated when she was young and she was primarily raised by her mother, Sari Kessler, a physiotherapist, along with three siblings. They grew up largely on her grandparents' farm on the Gold Coast Hinterland. The environment was rural and practical. There were animals, long drives between towns, and the kind of independence that often comes with country life. Money was not abundant, and from a young age, Robbie understood that if she wanted financial freedom, she would need to work for it. So as a teenager, she held multiple jobs at once. She worked at subway making sandwiches, bartended at various places, and took other service industry shifts. She even cleaned houses. These jobs didn't allow for her to experiment with different skills or talents. They were just necessary income for her. At one point, she worked three jobs simultaneously while finishing school. She attended Somerset College on the Gold Coast, where she studied drama. This was a risk taken. Even then, acting did not feel like a guaranteed pathway for someone trying to make their way in a smaller entertainment industry like Australia. So even while a successful student, the transition from student to professional actor was uncertain. But Robbie was drawn to the work. Acting offered a way to step into different lives and environments, something that resonated with someone who had grown up in a small town, imagining larger possibilities. After graduating, she moved to Melbourne to pursue acting more seriously. This early period was quite difficult. Like most aspiring actors, she spent time auditioning for commercials in small television roles. And like most aspiring actors, Robbie was rejected constantly and made income inconsistently. Her first significant opportunity came when she landed a guest role on the Australian television series City Homicide, which began its run in 2006 and was filmed in various locations adjacent to Melbourne. Robbie played a high school student who finds the dead body of a classmate. She was only a teenager herself at the time of filming. That appearance helped her secure a more stable position on the long-running Australian soap opera Neighbours in 2008. She played the character Donna Friedman, which was meant initially to be a guest appearance, but once Robbie Grace the set, it was instantly felt that she had more to offer the character and the show. Neighbours, like many soap opera shows, have historically functioned for Australian actors as a strong means to learn professional actings and get a start in the entertainment industry. Many internationally known performers began there, including Russell Crowe, Guy Pierce, and Kylie Minogue. The pace of production is intense. Actors film multiple episodes each week, forcing them to develop technical discipline quickly. Robbie remained on neighbors for three years until 2011. During that time she received two Logie Award nominations, which increased her visibility in Australia. But like many actors on long running television shows, she faced a decision. Staying would provide stability, leaving would open the possibility of a much larger career, but with no guarantees. In 2011, she chose to leave the show and move to the United States. Relocating to Los Angeles is rarely a smooth transition and often serves to tear apart the dreams of young people. Robbie was often being evaluated primarily on her appearance rather than skill against other women in the same limited female archetype roles. She has spoken about the strange experience of being repeatedly cast as quote, the attractive blonde, unquote, while trying to prove a deeper range. But she persisted, and in 2011, the same year she arrived in Hollywood, she was given her first major American television role. Margot Robbie was cast on the ABC series Pan Am, starring Christina Ricci in the lead role, where Margot played the number two on the call sheet, Laura Cameron. The show only lasted one season, but it introduced her to American audiences and gave her experience working within a large television production system. In 2013, Robbie's breakthrough moment came when director Martin Scorsese cast her in the Wolf of Wall Street alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. It was two years after she arrived in Hollywood. The role required confidence and fearlessness. Robbie had to hold her own opposite one of the most established actors in Hollywood while performing in a film directed by one of the most respected filmmakers alive. The performance immediately changed her career trajectory. She demonstrated not just screen presence, but comedic timing and dramatic intensity. Industry perception shifted from attractive blonde to promising newcomer to serious actor. After Wolf of Wall Street, Robbie carefully navigated her next choices. She appeared in focus with Will Smith and later took on the role of Jane Porter in The Legend of Tarzan. While these films increased her visibility, she was also becoming aware of a deeper issue within the industry. Many of the roles available to women were limited in perspective. Female characters often existed primarily to support male protagonists. Robbie began thinking about how she could influence the kinds of stories being told. So rather than continuing to wait for better roles, she began helping create them. In 2014, she co founded Lucky Chap Entertainment with producer Tom Ackerley, whom she later married, along with Josie McNara and Sophie Kerr. The company was created specifically to develop. Female-driven stories and provided opportunities for women behind the camera. This move marked a turning point. One of Lucky Chap's early major successes was I Tanya, where Robbie portrayed controversial figure Tanya Harding. The film blended dark comedy, documentary-style storytelling, and sharp social commentary. Robbie's performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The project also demonstrated the power of the production model she had envisioned. By producing the film herself, she helped bring a complex female story to the screen that might otherwise have struggled to secure funding. She then entered one of the most commercially recognizable roles of her career as Harley Quinn and Suicide Squad. The character quickly became iconic within the DC film universe. Robbie later reprised the role in Birds of Prey and the Suicide Squad, pushing for more creative control over how the character was portrayed. Birds of Prey in particular reflected her interest in female-led ensemble storytelling. The film centered on a group of women navigating chaotic urban environments while rejecting traditional superhero archetypes. Another major milestone came in 2019 when Robbie starred in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film explored a nostalgic vision of late 1960s Hollywood, and Robbie's portrayal of Sharon Tate brought warmth and humanity to a historical figure often only defined by tragedy. But the project that would redefine her career arrived in 2023. Robbie produced and starred in Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. Many anticipated the film to be a simple toy adaptation. Instead, Gerwig and Robbie created it into a global cultural event. Barbie explored identity, gender expectations, and existential questions while maintaining humor and visual spectacle. The film earned over$1 billion worldwide and sparked widespread conversation about the role of women in storytelling. For Robbie, the project represented the culmination of her strategy, acting, producing, and shaping narrative simultaneously. Today, Margot Robbie continues developing projects through Lucky Chap Entertainment while balancing her acting career. The company has expanded into television and film production with a consistent emphasis on unconventional female perspectives. Her journey from rural Queensland to global cinema reflects not only talent, but strategic thinking. She did not simply accept the roles available to her. She helped create a structure where new roles would exist. Next week we step into the work of Jennifer Kent, whose film The Babaduke became one of the most influential psychological horror films in the last decade. Kent and Robbie represent different sides of the same challenge. Kent pushed against expectations about women directing harm. Robbie pushed against expectations about women leading large genre films and producing them. Both encountered skepticism. Both built momentum anyway. I hope you enjoyed this episode. But before we all head out, here is something for you to chew on this week. So get your notepads out, or however you are writing down your reflection questions. I'll wait. Waiting. Waiting. Okay, Margaret Robbie did not wait for the industry to give her the kinds of roles she wanted. She created a company that could develop them instead. So this week, look at your own creative work and ask yourself a practical question. Where are you waiting for permission? Is there a small structural change you could make that gives you more control over your work? Maybe it is starting a newsletter or some sort of production partnership or committing to a project without waiting for external validation or just reaching out to somebody that you know could give you a helping hand. Robbie did not eliminate risk. She changed where the decisions were being made. I hope you continue in the pursuit of your projects and your dreams. This podcast was created to offer up inspiration for those with big ideas, but who need a hand in how to keep things going once the initial excitement wears off. I believe you also have outstanding skills, abilities, and talents to be successful, just like each of the expanders of the week I tell the stories of, even if it doesn't feel that way to you. I'm an expert on neurodiverse thinkers, specifically those with ADD, ADHD, and those on the autism spectrum. Those are my favorite people. I think that they are the ones who can make the world a better place. My business on collaborative offers emotionally intelligent partnership to diverse thinkers, creatives, innovators, and artists, feeling the pressure of completion and delivery after they've gotten started. My job is to remain by their side and work with them, not against them, to accomplish something that feels too overwhelming alone while upholding the soul of their work. If this sounds like you and you have an idea you're excited about but need help with making a reality, reach out. My contact is in the description for you. Keep it up, keep it creative.

FULL Theme Song (written, sung and recorded by C. Amelie LeBoeuf)

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Follow your dreams when my dreams crazy. I was swimming alone with something under me. Follow your dreams where dreams are hazy. They're treading a pool blue in the day. I was flying a top rose of orcher tree. Follow your dreams when dreams are hazy. Waited low on the ground, grasping beautifully. But dreaming can only get you so far. With dust in your eye, and knowing where to start. Use that song in your heart for reaching attention. Follow your dreams, thoughts true. A tempted Your creation exists. Just beyond the template.