Margot Robbie recently put all her talent on display with Greta Gerwig’s Barbie which has been dominating the box office. However, the actress has had the privilege of bringing iconic, strong female characters to life long before she played Stereotypical Barbie. One such example is her role as Jane Porter in David Yates’ The Legend of Tarzan.
The story of Tarzan and Jane is quite an unforgettable one, which is why it has been adapted to the screen plenty of times. But Margot Robbie’s Jane was different. She was not in distress waiting to be saved and she refused to be. Margot Robbie was everything David Yates imagined the character to be and more. In fact, the actress impressed the director with her fiery personality when she punched her co-star during a scene.
Margot Robbie Punched Alexander Skarsgård During a Steamy Scene
When David Yates was on a search for Tarzan’s wife, he had a few expectations and Margot Robbie ticked all the boxes. She was resourceful, feisty, active, and definitely not a damsel in distress. Talking to Entertainment Weekly, Yates stated,
“If you enter the jungle with anybody, you want to go with Margot Robbie. She’s practical, and she’s smart, and she’s resourceful. And she can take care of herself.”
He even recalled a scene where he had asked Robbie beforehand to kind of hit Alexander Skarsgård while filming a love scene and the Suicide Squad actress sure delivered!
“They’re doing this love scene together, and I said [to Robbie], ‘Just slap Alex while you’re making love, just kind of give him a punch,’ It was sort of an earthy, sensual moment of her enjoying sex with Alex, and the only bruise he picked up during the entire shoot was probably that punch from Margot. Which says a lot about her feistiness.”
Skarsgård probably did not mind this little act as he knew the revamped version of the story required an actress who was going to be strong and independent. He said,
“It was very important that we didn’t want it to feel archaic or dated, where it’s like, tough guy has to save the poor girl. You have to feel that she’s strong and independent, and when you cast Margot, you’ll definitely get that.”
Unfortunately, The Legend of Tarzan faced the same fate as many live-action adaptations of iconic stories. It made $356 million at the worldwide box office on a budget of $180 million. As for the reviews, the film has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 35% with mixed reviews and occasional praises here and there.
Margot Robbie Did Not Want to Play a Damsel in Distress
Talking to Toronto Sun, Robbie opened up about the fairly modern approach to Jane and why they decided to show the character with a stronger personality and a will to fight her way out. Robbie stood by the fact there needed to be a change in how Jane was portrayed in the original story by author Edgar Rice Burroughs.
“I think it was important that a contemporary audience could relate to it. The books were written a very long time ago and I think ideologies have changed since then…It just would have been incredibly boring to see her sitting there waiting to be rescued. It’s far more entertaining to see her getting out of her predicament as well.”
However, while The Legend of Tarzan had a modern touch to it, Robbie believes that Jane and Tarzan’s love story was the core of the film, and in no way did their romance weaken the plot.
“There’s a love story at the core and I don’t think that being in love with your husband should be a weakness. I think that actually makes her stronger. I wanted that definitely to be the focus.”
While unfortunately, the film didn’t do as well as we’d have hoped, we loved seeing Robbie and Skarsgård’s on-screen chemistry. Clearly, strong women can have it all!
You can rent/buy The Legend of Tarzan from Prime Video.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
