Not many actresses or actors have the ability to judge a script. Although, we can’t say the same for Hollywood star Margot Robbie. With her recent success with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, she has pretty much cemented her status as a big name in the film industry. The actress is also known for being rather choosy about her movies. It traces back to 2015 when she rejected Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four. The movie ended up being a disaster.
Similarly, in 2017, Robbie was in talks of playing the lead, The Major in Ghost of the Shell. Based on the Japanese manga, the Rupert Sanders-led film went downhill owing to a whitewashing controversy that dug up negative reviews from the audience. Luckily, Robbie had already switched over to Harley Quinn in DC’s Suicide Squad. Call it fate or her instinct, the Barbie star has some flair.
Margot Robbie’s close call with a controversy
Despite being early in her career, the 33-year-old never held back from going with her instincts. In reality, Scarlett Johansson took over as the protagonist in Ghost in the Shell. However, she was not the primary choice for Sanders. Robbie had come very close to leading the sci-fi action film, but she chose to play Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad which changed the game.
Following a $10 million offer, Johansson agreed to star in the movie. Unfortunately, the movie fell into a hole because of the predominantly all-white cast, per ScreenRant. Inspired by Masamune Shirow’s manga comics, fans had expected a more diverse cast which included Asians. Therefore, the movie failed to promote the film in full form amid racism rumors. Consequently, a major bullet was dodged by the Australian star.
Although, it is worth noting that Robbie’s association with Ghost in the Shell would not have solved any of its issues. Only then the criticism would be slammed on Robbie instead of Johansson. This would have ended up being a blot in her shiny career. Yet, Suicide Squad was not much of a hit, grossing a mere $168.7 million against a budget of $185 million, per Box Office Mojo. On the greener side, at least she dodged a controversy.
Why did Margot Robbie switch to Harley Quinn?
As per MTV News, the Babylon actress steered towards Suicide Squad because she was keen on working with director David Ayer. Moreover, she was offered the role instead of auditioning for it. Since Robbie and Will Smith were already working on Focus then, their chemistry was on point and needed no checks. Robbie revealed in the interview,
“I actually got offered this one, I didn’t audition, which is a real step up as an actor when you can get offered things…we didn’t have to do chemistry reads or anything like that, and then I already knew, vaguely knew Jared Leto, who’s playing the Joker.”
Similarly, Robbie let go of the pivotal character Sue Storm in 2015’s Fantastic Four, only to be added to her benefit. The movie was critically panned worldwide due to the controversy between director Trank and Fox Studios, per NY Daily News. According to ScreenRant, another switch on her list includes her taking up Birds of Prey instead of Gotham City Sirens.
