- Speaking at a BAFTA event in London on Tuesday, Margot Robbie opened up about her previous roles.
- She said "I, Tonya" — which earned her an Oscar nod — gave her confidence in her acting ability.
Margot Robbie said watching her performance in "I, Tonya" (2017) made her realize that she is a "good actor" and gave her the confidence to approach director Quentin Tarantino for a role.
Robbie made the remarks while appearing at a career retrospective hosted by BAFTA in London on Tuesday. She discussed her roles in "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013), and "Bombshell" (2021), as well as the skating biopic that went on to land her a best actress Oscar nomination.
"'I, Tonya' was the first time I watched a movie and thought I'm a good actor," Robbie said, per Deadline. "And I thought, 'Okay, I'm ready to reach out to my idols.' And that's when I wrote the letter to Quentin."
Variety reports that Robbie said working with the "Pulp Fiction" director was "a bucket list thing" for her, but up until then, she "didn't feel like I was good enough yet."
Robbie previously shared in a Vogue cover story that she did, in fact, write the director a fan letter after she watched the first cut of "I, Tonya."
"I wrote him and said, 'I adore your films, and I would love to work with you in some capacity. Or any capacity,'" she said while promoting "Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood" (2019), the Tarantino film she eventually was cast in.
According to the publication, Tarantino received Robbie's letter not long after he had finished the script for the film and had already been recommended to cast her as Sharon Tate in his film, which is a semifictional take on the 1969 Manson murders.
Robbie also addressed the criticism the film garnered upon its release for her minimal screen time and very few lines. Many viewers felt it was disrespectful, given that Robbie portrayed one of the film's few real-life figures.
"It didn't bother me," she said. "I watched it and thought we got across what we wanted to get across."
Tarantino defended his decision during the film's press tour, telling IndieWire: "It's not her story, it's Rick's story. It's not even Cliff's. And Tate is an angelic presence throughout the movie, she's an angelic ghost on earth, to some degree, she's not in the movie, she's in our hearts."