Tragic Details About Margot Robbie

Despite Margot Robbie's status as a household name, she has managed to keep a number of details about her life pretty well under wraps. The "Bombshell" star may be open about her process when it comes to embodying a new character or what her makeup routine consists of, but she's also notoriously private about certain aspects of her life — especially the tragic parts.

The actor has encountered a number of devastating setbacks throughout her life from the time she was just a child growing up on Australia's Gold Coast. From troubles in her familial relationships to difficulties she's encountered working on films and the dark side of fame, Robbie has been through it all. But while she may have had her ups and downs over the years, there's no question that she's fought for her place among Hollywood's most beloved stars.

"I don't care if I have money. ... If I could just get that one foot in the door, I'm gonna make it. I don't care what anyone says," Robbie said of her early determination to become a star during the press tour for "Babylon" (via The Actors Campus). "When you get to Hollywood ... there's just so many people wanting the same thing. You just need to want it more than everyone else." Having overcome so much and still finding herself as one of the top earners in the movie industry, it's clear that Robbie had what it took. And not just as an actor but as an inspiration for others.

Children of divorce know how difficult it can be to watch parents split up, and Margot Robbie is sadly no different. She and her three siblings were raised on a farm in a beachy eastern region of Australia by her parents Doug Robbie, a fruit farmer, and Sarie Kessler, a physiotherapist. Sadly, Robbie's parents divorced when she was just 5 years old, though she hasn't divulged many other details about their split. But where this would lead many kids to spend alternate weeks at each parent's house, or at least weekends, the soon-to-be Oscar-nominated star, her brothers, and sister were all left with their mom.

After Robbie's father left the family in 1995, Kessler was forced to raise them as a single mother. Understandably, the "Terminal" star doesn't have much to say about her dad publicly. When asked by Vogue in June 2019 why she doesn't like talking about him, she replied, "Just because it's hard to briefly mention without it sounding like 'My dad's awful' and ... that whole thing."

Thankfully, it seems Kessler did an incredible job raising Robbie and her siblings, and the actor has spoken fondly of her many times. "'[My siblings and I] didn't make life easy for her. We were always fighting and my mom had to be a very strong woman to hold things together," she enthused to The Resident in December 2017, adding, "She's an amazing woman."

Since her humble beginnings in Australia, Margot Robbie has built quite a lavish life for herself in Los Angeles. When she was 17, she landed a regular spot on the Australian soap "Neighbours." A season-long role as a flight attendant on "Pan Am" brought Robbie to America, where she impressed none other than Martin Scorsese. Scorsese then cast her in 2013's "The Wolf of Wall Street." But what should have been a career high for the star turned out to be one of her worst moments, and overnight stardom hit her hard.

"Something was happening in those early stages and it was all pretty awful, and I remember saying to my mom, 'I don't think I want to do this,'" Robbie told Vanity Fair in November 2022. "And she just looked at me, completely straight-faced, and was like, 'Darling, I think it's too late not to.'" Despite the shock of instantaneous fame, Robbie saw that she had already come so far, and it would be a shame to turn back now. "That's when I realized the only way was forward," she said.

Thankfully, having gained a fair amount of experience in the 10-plus years since the film, Robbie now knows how to navigate her lack of privacy, the swarm of paparazzi, and other difficult drawbacks to fame. "I know how to go through airports, and now I know who's trying to f*** me over in what ways," Robbie explained.

Today, we all know how shady Will and Jada Pinkett Smith's relationship is. However, when rumors of an affair between him and his "Focus" co-star, Margot Robbie, sparked up, few knew the whole story. When the two began filming the flick together in 2013, the actors became fast friends, leading to speculation over whether they were actually falling for one another. Then, snapshots of Robbie and Smith goofing off in a photo booth were published by Star Magazine. It seemed clear to many that there was a full-blown scandal waiting to be confirmed.

In one of the pictures, Robbie and Smith are both lifting their shirts, which some considered inappropriate for the "Bad Boys" star to be doing as a married man. The Aussie actor, on the other hand, had been dating her now-husband Tom Ackerley at the time — yet she was labeled a home-wrecker and "the new Angelina Jolie" at the time. That said, Robbie was the one to put the rumors to rest when she denied the allegations in a November 2013 X (then Twitter) post (via People).

"Been working non-stop, just catching my breath. There's absolutely no truth to the ridiculous rumor," Robbie wrote. "It's disappointing that goofing around on set could be taken so out of context." Fortunately, the dust settled, and the two reunited for "Suicide Squad" in 2016, but there were still some who pointed out their supposed on-camera chemistry.

Obviously, Margot Robbie's stunning transformation over the years is worthy of note. She's undeniably gorgeous, but she's also a talented actor and a successful producer with a witty, intelligent sense of humor. However, none of that came across when Robbie was interviewed for a Vanity Fair profile in July 2016. "She is 26 and beautiful, not in that otherworldly, catwalk way but in a minor knock-around key, a blue mood, a slow dance," Rich Cohen intro'd the piece, describing her physical attributes for what seemed like eternity. "She can be sexy and composed even while naked but only in character," he added.

Cohen caught some heat for the story, which was dubbed sexist for his lengthy, objectifying descriptions of Robbie's looks. However, the contributor was also called out for the way he described the actor's native home. "Australia is America 50 years ago, sunny and slow, a throwback, which is why you go there for throwback people," Cohen wrote.

Subscribers of the publication weren't the only ones to notice how strange the tone of the article was, as Robbie herself addressed the piece a couple of weeks later while on Australia's "The Project" (via CNN). "I remember thinking, that was a really odd interview. I don't know how that's going to come out," she divulged. "And then when I read it. I was like ... the tone of this is really weird. Like, I don't really know what he's trying to get at.'"

Although 2016's "Suicide Squad" had an abysmal reception, it established Margot Robbie as the badass Harley Quinn. Save Barbie, it became perhaps her most memorable role to date, and she reprised it twice in "The Suicide Squad" and "Birds of Prey." However, there was also sadly a downside to taking on the beloved comic book character — and Robbie wasn't warned about it beforehand.

"You're about to be in a comic book film; now here's the worst-case scenario of how big and scary it can get," the actor told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2018, describing what she'd wished her representatives would have told her before agreeing to be in "Suicide Squad." Robbie explained that she had to deal with stalkers and numerous death threats after playing Harley Quinn, forcing her to hire personal security. "There's just all this stuff you learn along the way," she continued.

When Robbie began getting death threats, she realized it was best to "have a security team do a background check on whoever sent them to see if there is any past history of violence." That way, the star knows whether she'll need to hire extra protection when attending specific events. And all of this, of course, costs her thousands of dollars. And while Robbie can afford it, she still should have had a bit more advance warning about the situation.

Less than two months before the 1994 Winter Olympics, figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was brutally attacked by an assailant. He had intended to break her leg but fortunately had only bruised it. It was later discovered that the man had been hired by rival skater Tonya Harding's ex-husband. The story was groundbreaking, especially after Kerrigan nabbed a silver medal despite the injury and her competitor took eighth place. Harding was far from a sympathetic character, but Margot Robbie took the role nonetheless when the 2017 movie "I, Tonya" started production.

She trained extremely hard with choreographer Sarah Kawahara to portray the figure skater. "I thought I wasn't too bad at ice skating — I used to play ice hockey," Robbie told Wonderland in December 2017. "I soon realized that I'd just been running on ice, and now there was no padding. My alarm would go off at 5:30 a.m. and I'd want to cry." Sometimes Robbie would sit in her car and cry after a training session. And for good reason, seeing as the actor actually sustained a gnarly injury in her journey to becoming Harding.

"When you're a kid, you're fearless, but starting at 26 years old, I had a lot of fear," Robbie told The Hollywood Reporter in December 2017. Early on in training, she suffered a herniated disc in her neck, but it wasn't until she experienced numbness in her arms weeks later that she knew this had happened.

In 2022, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, and Diego Calva led the ensemble cast of "Babylon," Damien Chazelle's 1920s Hollywood-set film. Although it's clear she had fun playing Nellie LaRoy, Robbie found it draining, too. "She's like a tornado and she's not going to let anyone stand in her way," the actor told Hello! magazine (via AceShowbiz) in January 2023 of her character. "I love her so much but she's so exhausting. She took everything from me, physically and emotionally."

Robbie maintained high energy throughout much of the movie, but even after the first week of filming, she knew it would be a difficult project. "I remember I said to my husband, 'This is the hardest I have ever worked.' And he was like, 'What? You always work hard,'" the "Amsterdam" star explained. "But this was something else because Damien expects so much of you as an actor."

It had all the trappings of a smash hit, but despite Robbie's hard work, the movie bombed at the box office, with a mediocre reception from critics and audiences alike. She reflected on the movie's lack of success while on HBO's "Talking Pictures" podcast in November 2024. Host Ben Mankiewicz expressed his surprise at the lack of success "Babylon" saw, to which Robbie replied, "I don't get it either." She added, "I often wonder if in 20 years people are going to be like, 'Wait, "Babylon" didn't do well at the time? That's crazy!'"

Given how seamlessly Margot Robbie was able to transform into Barbie, it's shocking to hear she wasn't as confident about the role as she seemed. As one of the most beautiful and talented stars in Hollywood, you would think she's self-assured in every way. However, Robbie has long dealt with self-doubt. "After 10 years of going to red carpet events ... I had major imposter syndrome," she told Vogue in May 2023. "I was like, 'I can't believe they've let me in. Someone's gonna notice that I don't belong here, and they're gonna kick me outta Hollywood.'"

After some time, the actor's insecurities seemed to settle, and she began to feel more like she belonged in the business. She hit a rough patch, though, when Robbie was cast to play every child's favorite blond doll. Initially, the "Asteroid City" star joined the project as a producer, so when she became the lead of "Barbie," there was an immense amount of pressure.

"I went to Greta [Gerwig]'s house and had that crisis," Robbie revealed to the Los Angeles Times in February 2024. "I'd spent years trying to get this movie going. And suddenly we're going to shoot the thing. And I was like, 'Oh, my God, I dunno how to do this.'" Robbie had what she called a "meltdown," and worried that she was going to somehow derail the entire project. "The panic was palpable and debilitating," she added.

It isn't surprising that Margot Robbie and her "Barbie" co-stars Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera experienced tragic events at some points in their lives. However, unlike their Aussie co-star, they were recognized by the Academy for their contributions to the 2023 blockbuster. Gosling and Ferrera were both nominated for Oscars for their supporting roles, and "Barbie" was up for best picture, but Robbie and director Greta Gerwig were both unfortunately overlooked.

Gosling praised the two in a statement BBC published in January 2024. "[T]here is no 'Barbie' movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie. ... [They are] the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally celebrated film," he remarked. Although Robbie had previously been nominated for best actress for "I, Tonya" and best supporting actress for "Bombshell," it seemed like it was unfair for her to be snubbed, especially considering she had led the film.

That said, the "Barbie" star wasn't salty (at least outwardly) about the lack of recognition. In a January 2024 Screen Actors Guild panel (via Deadline), Robbie said simply, "There's no way to feel sad when you know you're this blessed." She went on to praise Gerwig, noting that the movie's director should have at least been nominated for an Oscar. "[W]hat she did is a once-in-a-career, once-in-a-lifetime thing, what she pulled off," Robbie noted. Hopefully one day she'll get to take an Oscar home.

Like many other aspects of her life, Margot Robbie is pretty guarded when the topic of her father comes up. Since Doug Robbie left the family when his daughter was only 5, it's understandable that she might have some resentment toward him. The "Dreamland" star has said very little to the press about her father, but she did give a glimpse into her feelings toward him when speaking with Harper's Bazaar back in August 2016. Robbie revealed that her contact with Doug is "limited" and, when asked whether they share any traits, the actor replied, "None. Nothing. I'm not like him at all." That was it.

It's been widely believed that she and her dad are for the most part estranged, but according to a strange account in January 2023 from Doug's brother Wayne in the Daily Mail Australia, this couldn't be further from the truth. He said that Robbie and her dad being on bad terms "has never been the case." Wayne went on to say, "He certainly does have a relationship with her. He is very proud of her."

According to the "Barbie" star's uncle, Doug even traveled to Sydney to see Robbie while she was promoting a film. Apparently, it's one person's word against another's, but we're probably a bit more inclined to believe Robbie.

Throughout the promotions for "Barbie," hot pink became trendy again, the massive pop culture phenomenon "Barbenheimer" was approaching, and Margot Robbie wore some stunning Barbie looks that evoked nostalgia. To put it lightly, the marketing campaign reached every corner, from TV spots to billboards to partnership deals with the likes of Crocs and even Burger King. Robbie was along for the ride, but even she knows people have their limits when it comes to celebrity exposure.

2024 proved to bring a lull in the star's filmography, as has 2025. During Robbie's conversation with Deadline in January 2024, she quipped, "Everyone's like, 'Are you having a break?' And I'm like, 'You do know I'm a producer, right? We don't get a break.'" Although Robbie intends to keep working as a producer and has several projects currently in the works, she acknowledged that some time away from the camera might be a good idea. "I also think everyone's probably sick of the sight of me for now. I should probably disappear from screens for a while," she joked. It's now been the longest stretch of time Robbie has gone without acting in a film, but it seems like she's waiting for the right time. "If I did another movie too soon, people would say, 'Her again? We just did a whole summer with her. We're over it,'" the Australian star remarked.