Margot Robbie has opened up about why she insisted on full-frontal nudity in The Wolf of Wall Street – even after Martin Scorsese said she could cover up for the scene.
Back in 2013, the 34-year-old Australian actress had her big break in Hollywood after starring as Naomi Lapaglia, the wife of Jordan Belfort – the wealthy stockbroker played by Leonardo DiCaprio.
The movie became the highest-grossing film within the 82-year-old director’s entire filmography, grossing nearly $400 million at the global box office, per Collider.
It was also nominated for several awards, including five nominations at the 86th Academy Awards ceremony: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nominations for DiCaprio and Hill, respectively.
In one key scene of the iconic movie, the Australian star attempts to seduce her husband by appearing completely naked.
Robbie explained on the Talking Pictures podcast that initially, Scorsese suggested that she wear a robe if it makes her more comfortable, but the Babylon alum had a different idea she felt was more fitting for the character.
“That’s not what she would do in that scene,” she revealed on the podcast in response to the filmmaker’s offer, cited by E! News.
“The whole point is that she’s going to come out completely naked – that’s the card she’s playing,” she added.
That was not the only bold yet creative decision Robbie made while working on the project.
While auditioning for the role opposite DiCaprio, the mother-of-one was expected to kiss the 50-year-old Titanic star but instead, she slapped him.
“I thought, I could kiss Leonardo DiCaprio right now, and that would be awesome,” she recalled. “I can’t wait to tell all of my friends this. And then I thought…nah. And just walloped him in the face.”
“It was dead silence for what felt like an eternity but was probably three seconds. Then they just burst out laughing. Leo and Marty were laughing so hard, they said ‘That was great.’ I was thinking, ‘I’m going to get arrested, I’m pretty sure that’s assault, battery,'” she continued.
The Oscar-nominated star imagined being told: “‘Not only will you never work again, actually you will go to jail for this, you idiot. And also why did you have to hit him so hard? You should have done it lighter.’”
Obviously, it didn’t hurt Robbie’s career as the actress went on to star in high-profile roles in Suicide Squad, Barbie and I Tonya.
According to NME, the next project on the actress’ filmography is Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights – which is currently in pre-production and will begin filming in the UK next year.
