2008–2012: Early work and Neighbours Robbie's first acting roles came when she was in high school. She starred in two low-budget independent thriller films, called
Vigilante and
I.C.U., both released years later. She described the experience of being on a
film set as "a dream come true". She made her television debut in a 2008 guest role as Caitlin Brentford in the drama series
City Homicide and followed this with a two-episode arc in the children's television series
The Elephant Princess, in which she starred alongside
Liam Hemsworth. With agent encouragement at the time and as Robbie recalled on
The Graham Norton Show, for the television soap opera
Neighbours. In June 2008, she began playing
Donna Freedman, a role that was meant to be a guest character, but Robbie was promoted to the regular cast after she made her debut. In her three-year stint on the soap, she received two
Logie Award nominations. Shortly after arriving in America, Robbie landed the role of Laura Cameron, a newly trained flight attendant in the period drama series
Pan Am (2011). The series premiered to high ratings and positive reviews but was cancelled after one season due to falling ratings.
2013–2015: Breakthrough Robbie next appeared in
Richard Curtis' romantic comedy
About Time (2013), co-starring
Domhnall Gleeson and
Rachel McAdams. It tells the story of a young man with the ability to time travel who tries to change his past in hopes of improving his future. To play Gleeson's unattainable teenage love interest, she adopted a British accent. The film was a modest commercial success. Robbie's breakthrough came the same year with the role of
Naomi Lapaglia, the wife of protagonist
Jordan Belfort, in
Martin Scorsese's biographical black comedy
The Wolf of Wall Street. In her audition for the role, Robbie improvised a slap on co-star
Leonardo DiCaprio during a fight scene which ultimately won her the part. The film and her performance received positive reviews; she was particularly praised for her on-screen
Brooklyn accent. Critic
Sasha Stone wrote of Robbie's performance, "She's Scorsese's best blonde bombshell discovery since
Cathy Moriarty in
Raging Bull. Robbie is funny, hard and kills every scene she's in."
The Wolf of Wall Street was a box office success, grossing $392 million worldwide, making it Scorsese's highest-grossing film to date. Robbie was nominated for the
MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and won the
Empire Award for Best Newcomer. She later said that the fame and attention the movie brought her led her to consider quitting acting, but her mother was philosophical about her profession and explained to her that it was probably too late to quit. She fully understood and stuck with it. Robbie appeared in four films released in 2015. The first of these was opposite
Will Smith in
Glenn Ficarra and
John Requa's $158.8 million-grossing romantic comedy-drama film
Focus. In the film, she played an inexperienced
grifter learning the craft from Smith's character; she learned how to
pickpocket from
Apollo Robbins for the role. Reviews of the film were generally mixed, but Robbie's performance was praised;
Peter Travers of
Rolling Stone wrote, "Robbie is wow and then some. Even when
Focus fumbles, [she] deals a winning hand." She was nominated for the
Rising Star Award at the
68th British Academy Film Awards. Her next appearance was alongside
Michelle Williams and
Kristin Scott Thomas in
Saul Dibb's war romantic drama
Suite Française, a film based on the second part of
Irène Némirovsky's 2004
novel of the same name. In the film, she played a woman falling for a German soldier during the
German occupation of France during World War II, a role which Leslie Felperin of
The Hollywood Reporter found "underwritten". She followed this with
Craig Zobel's post-apocalyptic drama
Z for Zachariah opposite
Chris Pine and
Chiwetel Ejiofor, in her first leading role. Partially based on
Robert C. O'Brien's
book of the same name, the film follows Ann Burden (Robbie) as she finds herself in an emotionally charged love triangle with the last known survivors of a nuclear disaster that wipes out most of civilisation. In preparation for the film, Robbie dyed her hair brown and learned to speak in an
Appalachian accent. The film received positive reviews, and Robbie's performance was widely praised, with Drew McWeeny of
HitFix asserting that "Robbie's work here establishes her as one of the very best actresses in her age range today." Her fourth release of 2015 was a
cameo appearance in
Adam McKay's comedy-drama
The Big Short, in which she breaks the
fourth wall to explain
subprime mortgages while in a bathtub.
The Big Short was a commercial and critical success and Robbie's cameo became a
trending topic six years later, in the wake of the
GameStop short squeeze, as her explanation provided reference points for what was happening with the GameStop and related stocks.
2016–2018: Worldwide recognition In 2016, Robbie reunited with Ficarra and Requa, playing a British
war correspondent in the film adaptation of
The Taliban Shuffle, called
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, co-starring
Tina Fey and
Martin Freeman. Later that year, Robbie took on the part of
Jane Porter in
David Yates's adventure film
The Legend of Tarzan. She was adamant about not losing weight and ensuring the role was not a
damsel in distress like in previous
Tarzan adaptations. Reviews of the film were generally unfavourable, but
Manohla Dargis of
The New York Times credited Robbie for "holding her own" in her supporting role alongside the all-male cast with
Alexander Skarsgård and
Samuel L. Jackson. Robbie became the first person to portray
DC Comics villain
Harley Quinn in
live-action when she signed on to
David Ayer's 2016 superhero film
Suicide Squad alongside an
ensemble cast that included Will Smith,
Jared Leto and
Viola Davis. She admitted to having never read the comics, but felt a huge responsibility to do the character justice and satisfy the fans. Robbie began preparing for the role of the
supervillainess six months prior to the film shoot; her schedule consisted of
gymnastics,
boxing,
aerial silk training and learning how to hold her breath underwater for five minutes. She performed the majority of her own stunts in the film.
Suicide Squad was a commercial success and was
tenth-highest-grossing film of 2016 with global revenues of $746.8 million, and Robbie's performance was considered its prime asset. Writing for
Time,
Stephanie Zacharek found Robbie to be "a criminally appealing actress, likable in just about every way" despite finding flaws in the character and
Christopher Orr of
The Atlantic called her performance "genuinely terrific". At the annual
People's Choice Awards ceremony, she won the
Favourite Action Movie Actress award and was also awarded the
Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress in an Action Movie. In October 2016, Robbie hosted the
season 42 premiere of
NBC's late-night sketch comedy
Saturday Night Live; her appearances included a parody of
Ivanka Trump. The series logged its strongest season premiere ratings in eight years. Robbie collaborated with Domhnall Gleeson in
Simon Curtis'
Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017), a biographical drama about the lives of
Winnie-the-Pooh creator
A. A. Milne and his family. The film, and her performance, received modest reviews and was a commercial failure. Her final release of 2017 and LuckyChap Entertainment's first release was
Craig Gillespie's sports black comedy
I, Tonya, based on the life of American figure skater
Tonya Harding (Robbie) and her connection to the
1994 assault on rival
Nancy Kerrigan. In preparation, Robbie met with Harding, watched old footage and interviews of her, worked with a voice coach to speak in Harding's
Pacific Northwest accent and vocal timbre at different ages, and underwent several months of rigorous skating instruction with choreographer
Sarah Kawahara.
I, Tonya premiered at the
2017 Toronto International Film Festival to critical acclaim. James Luxford of
Metro deemed it Robbie's best performance to date, and
Mark Kermode of
The Observer wrote, "Margot Robbie's performance in this satirical, postmodern tale of the disgraced star is a tour-de-force tornado that balances finely nuanced character development with impressively punchy physicality". She received numerous accolades for her performance, including nominations for an
Academy Award, a
BAFTA Award, a
Golden Globe Award, a
Screen Actors Guild Award and a
Critics' Choice Movie Award, all for Best Actress. Robbie began 2018 with the voice role of
Flopsy Rabbit in
Peter Rabbit, an animated comedy from director
Will Gluck, which is based on the
Beatrix Potter book series. The animated feature was a box office success, grossing $351.3 million worldwide against a production budget of $50 million. Her next two 2018 filmsthe neo-noir thriller
Terminal and comedy-horror
Slaughterhouse Rulezwere critical and commercial failures. The historical drama
Mary Queen of Scots, directed by
Josie Rourke, was her final release of 2018. The film featured
Saoirse Ronan as the
titular character and Robbie as her cousin
Queen Elizabeth I, and it chronicles the
1569 conflict between their two countries. Robbie had initially turned down the role for being "terrified" of not living up to the history of portrayals of the Queen. Before each day of shooting, she spent three hours in the make-up chair while a prosthetic nose, painted on boils and blisters were applied. Critics dismissed the film for its screenplay and several historical inaccuracies, but praised the performances of Robbie and Ronan. Yolanda Machado of
TheWrap wrote, "[B]ow down to Ronan and Robbie for taking two legendarily complex characters, [...] and completely owning both roles. Ronan's fiery Mary and Robbie's emotionally complex Elizabeth truly reign divine on screen." For her portrayal, Robbie received nominations for a
BAFTA Award and for a
Screen Actors Guild Award.
2019–present: Established actress and producer '' in 2019 Robbie's first release of 2019 was the LuckyChap Entertainment production
Dreamland, a poorly received period crime thriller set during the 1930s
Dust Bowl. She began executive producing the comedy series
Dollface, which streamed on
Hulu from 2019 to 2022. Robbie was filmmaker
Quentin Tarantino's only choice to portray the late actress
Sharon Tate in his period film
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and
Brad Pitt. With the
Tate–LaBianca murders serving as a backdrop, the film tells the story of a fading
character actor (DiCaprio) and his
stunt double (Pitt) as they navigate
New Hollywood in 1969 Los Angeles. Feeling "an enormous sense of responsibility", Robbie prepared for the role by meeting Tate's family members and friends, watching all of her films and reading the autobiography by Tate's then-husband,
Roman Polanski.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood premiered at the
2019 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim, and was a commercial success with a worldwide gross of $374.3 million. Despite many bemoaning Robbie's lack of lines in the film,
Robbie Collin of
The Daily Telegraph highlighted a scene with Robbie in the cinema, which he found to be the film's "most delightful" scene. Also in 2019, she starred as Kayla Pospisil, a
composite character based on several
Fox News employees, in
Jay Roach's drama
Bombshell. Co-starring
Charlize Theron and
Nicole Kidman, the film recounts stories of various female personnel at the news network and their sexual harassment by the network's chairman
Roger Ailes. Robbie based her character's accent on
Katherine Harris. The film received positive reviews;
Kenneth Turan of the
Los Angeles Times wrote, "Robbie [is] at her best, the arc of her story is so crushing that it stays with you the longest." For her performances in
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and
Bombshell, she received two nominations for the
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and for the latter she received nominations for an
Academy Award, a
Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award; all in the Best Supporting Actress category. Robbie began the new decade by reprising the role of Harley Quinn in
Cathy Yan's
Birds of Prey (2020). Determined to make a female ensemble action film, she pitched the idea for the film to
Warner Bros. in 2015. Robbie spent the subsequent three years developing the project under her production company, making a concerted effort to hire a female director and screenwriter.
Birds of Prey, along with Robbie's performance, gained generally positive reviews;
Ian Freer of
Empire wrote that "the
MVP is Robbie, who lends Harley charming quirk and believable menace, hinting at Harley's inner life without reams of dialogue." She received two nominations at the
46th People's Choice Awards. Robbie served as a producer on
Promising Young Woman (2020), a comedy thriller by writer-director
Emerald Fennell, starring
Carey Mulligan as a woman who seeks to avenge the rape and death of her best friend. The film received acclaim, earning a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2021, Robbie reprised her voice role as Flopsy Rabbit in
Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, which received mixed reviews and grossed $153.8 million worldwide. She also made her third outing as Quinn in the
standalone sequel The Suicide Squad, written and directed by
James Gunn. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, the film was simultaneously released theatrically and on the streaming service
HBO Max.
Owen Gleiberman praised Robbie's "delectable performance" in it. She also served as an executive producer for the
Netflix miniseries
Maid. '' in 2023 In 2022, Robbie reprised her role as Donna Freedman for the
final episode of
Neighbours. She starred alongside an ensemble cast in
David O. Russell's period comedy
Amsterdam, based on the 1933
Business Plot. The film emerged as a critical and commercial failure. In her second film release of the year, she played Nellie LaRoy, an actress inspired by silent movie star
Clara Bow, in
Damien Chazelle's comedy-drama
Babylon. In preparation, she studied the works of Bow and researched her traumatic childhood. She described LaRoy as "the most physically and emotionally draining character I've ever played".
Caryn James of
BBC Culture opined, "Robbie's bold, charismatic performance makes Nellie a daring, endlessly spiraling, sympathetic figure". She received another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress, although the underperformance of her two major releases that year led some commentators to brand her as "
box office poison" at the time. In the following year, Robbie had a single scene in
Wes Anderson's ensemble comedy film
Asteroid City. Chris Hewitt of the
Star Tribune described her "impassioned acting in her lone scene" as "perfectly judged". The fantasy comedy
Barbie, co-starring
Ryan Gosling as
Ken, was her next film release. As producer, Robbie secured the rights from
Mattel for a film about the
eponymous fashion doll in 2018.
Variety reported that Robbie earned $12.5 million for the role, the highest for an actress in Hollywood that year.
Vulture Alison Willmore took note of how much Robbie fit the part, and commended her for combining both "heartbreaking earnestness" and "humor" in her performance. With a worldwide gross of over $1.4 billion,
Barbie emerged as Robbie's highest-grossing release. She received further BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for her performance, in addition to a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best Picture. Also in 2023, Robbie produced Fennell's second directorial,
Saltburn. The
2024 Sundance Film Festival marked the release of her next production,
Megan Park's comedy film
My Old Ass. Robbie starred alongside
Colin Farrell in
Kogonada's 2025 film
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey Robbie starred as
Catherine Earnshaw alongside
Jacob Elordi as
Heathcliff in
Wuthering Heights, the romantic drama film written and directed by
Emerald Fennell and loosely based on the
Emily Brontë novel. The film was released theatrically on February 13, 2026.
Upcoming projects Robbie is set to produce and star in
Tim Burton's upcoming remake of
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman for
Warner Bros Pictures. The film will be a contemporary reimagining of the original story about a wealthy heiress who grows to gigantic size after an alien encounter, and will be co-produced through Robbie's production company,
LuckyChap Entertainment. ==Personal life==