From honey badgers to octopuses, Margot Robbie reveals the animals that have inspired her roles
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From pit bulls to honey badgers, acting like an animal has paid off for Margot Robbie.
The actress, who stars in Damien Chazelle's Hollywood spectacular Babylon, revealed on Monday's episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show that she often looks to the animal kingdom for acting inspiration.
"It's a thing. I didn't go to drama school, so I don't know if this is something that everyone does in drama school," Robbie told the host. "It's something I actually started doing when I was on I, Tonya. So that was the first time."
To prepare for the 2017 biopic, in which she played disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding, Robbie said she turned to man's best friend for help.
"I was a pitbull because they're very misunderstood," she explained. "With her ice skates on, I wanted to be heavy on the feet… I wanted the character to feel like the world was bearing down on her all the time. But then, on the ice, she's a mustang, like a wild horse when she's ice skating. So she's two animals, really."
Robbie continued to follow her animal instincts in subsequent projects, including Babylon, where an octopus and a honey badger helped inform her character, Nellie LaRoy, who faces off against a rattlesnake in the film.
"The snake fight scene? That's all honey badger," Robbie continued. "There are actual videos of honey badgers fighting snakes. There's videos of honey badgers, which aren't huge animals, fighting lions. And they have really thick skin. [Nellie] fights anything and anyone at the drop of a hat."
Paramount Pictures; Getty Images Margot Robbie channeled a honey badger in the film 'Babylon.'
While it might seem quirky, Robbie told Clarkson that going wild actually helps her stay grounded. "It's helpful because you do all this research, and you read all these books and watch all these films, and get all the facts about the real-life people at this time. Sometimes your head gets so clouded with statistics and facts and the history," she said. "But if you just revert back to the animal, then you can just be really, really instinctual."
As for what animal Robbie had in mind for Barbie? Well, only time will tell. For now, hear more from her interview with Kelly Clarkson in the clip above.
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