Margot Robbie

Posted on 6 November 2023by Tony CrawleyCategories:Actors

Amy Adams, Man of Steel, 2011.
Rachael Taylor, Charlie’s Angels, TV, 2011. The (rapidly axed) re-boots’ three new Angels were Annie Ilonzeh, Minka Kelly and… the choice of two Aussies: Queensland’s Robbie v Tasmanian Taylor. Robbie had begun on the top down-under soap, Neighbours, like almost everyone else (Russell Crowe, Chris Hemsworth, Heath Ledger, Guy Pearce, Naomi Watts… but not Taylor) and lost Abby in her first LAudition. (“The most intimidating process ever. And you have to sign on to do seven years before you even know [if you’ve got the part].”) But ABC liked her style and had her flying high as Laura in in 14 episodes of Pan Am, 2011-2012.
Lily James, Cinderella, 2013. Disney’s ideal was Harry Potter‘s Emma Watson. But she fled allowing director Kenneth Branagh to start a new pumpkin list – Robbie (surely too much for one prince!), Bella Heathcote, Imogen Poots, Saoirse Ronan, Alicia Vikander, Emma Watson, Gabrielle Wilde. (Amanda Seyfried’s previous role obviously counted against her at Disney – Linda Lovelace!). And the slipper went to… Downton Abbey’s bright young Lady Rose and Natasha Rostova in the BBC’s 2016 War and Peace. And Juliet opposite her Prince Charming, Richard Madden, as Romeo
Elizabeth Olsen, Godzilla, 2013. The Monroe-esque Robbie, Emilia Clarke, Hilary Duff, Jennifer Lawrence, Aly Michalka, Imogen Poots and Emmy Rossum were up for the (somewhat improved) second Hollywood reboot set for releases in the creature’s 60th birthday year of 2014. Producer Jerry Weintraub once said : “When I think of Margot Robbie, a single word comes to mind. Audrey Hepburn.” Strange. Nobody else says that.
Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), 2013. Passed on being Michael Keaton’s daughter Sam on to Emilia Clarke, Lily James, Blake Lively or Stone. A movie that bitterly annoyed as many millions as it pleased… even more so after it inexplicably won the Best Picture Oscar on February 22, 2015.
Dakota Johnson, Fifty Shades of Grey, 2013. Social networks were full of kinky ideas for the porn novel’s BDSM heroine, Anastasia Steele – from Jennifer Lawrence to Emma Watson. Few suggestions led to talks, auditions or tests. Robbie, Emily Browning, Lucy Hale, Felicity Jones, Elisabeth Olsen, Alicia Vikander, London model Suki Waterhouse, Shailene Woodley were all lucky to escape were also lucky to escape the turgid, totally un-erotic enterprise. Only 14 minutes and 17 seconds of sex, no orgasms – and pubes added digitally to actors’ genital patches!
Kate Mara, The Fantastic Four, 2014. Marvel wanted the Four back and offered Fox an extension on its Daredevil II plans. No way! In the mix for the third Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman were Robbie, Sasha Pieterse, Saoirse Ronan, Emmy Rossum, Samira Wiley. Fox chose Mara over director Josh Trank’s favourite, Allison Williams. He then bullied Mara for being the suits’ choice. Would love to have seen him try that on with Robbie!!! Film flopped. (Only ever made to save the rights). Hollywood Reporter critic Todd McCarthy called it “a 100-minute trailer for a movie that never happens.”Marvel icon Stan Lee saw it coming and refused his usual seal-of-approval cameo.
Emilia Clarke, Terminator: Genisys, 2014. “Come with me if you want to live… ” Picking up the line from the guys in the Terminator franchise, the Game of Thrones find beat off Robbie, Emily Blunt and future Oscar-winner Brie Larson to Linda Hamilton’s iconic role of Sarah Connor. Ironically, Emilia’s GOT co-star, Lena Headey, had been Sarah in the 2008 series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Small world.
Dakota Johnson, Black Mass, 2014. Lindsey Cyr was the doting lover of the infamous Whitey Bulger, the South Boston crime boss with a US Senator brother – and FBI help to avoid jail and tackle the Italian Mafia muscling in on his territory. Also up for Lindsey in the damn near black-comedy were Robbie, Anne Hathaway, Scarlett Johansson, Felicity Jones, Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively – and the too busy Jennifer Lawrence.
Dakota Johnson, A Bigger Splash, 2015. More Jacques Deray than David Hockney – making the French original, La piscine, seem better than it ever was! Robbie accepted Penelope (Jane Birkin in 1968) until getting a jungle cry to be Alexander Skarsgård’s Jane in The Legend of Tarzan. Dakota got the better film – plus an immediate second movie, Italian maestro Luca Guadagnino’s re-make of Dario Argento’s horror classic, Suspiria, 2016.
Sophie Turner, X-Men: Apocalypse, 2015. “A big monster of a movie,” declared producer-director Bryan Singer. “A kinda conclusion of six X-Men films, yet a potential rebirth of younger, newer characters.” To succeed Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey, a mutant scared of her super-abilities, Singer mused over Lily Collins,Elle Fanning, Chloë Grace Mortez, Sasha Pieterse, Saoirse Ronan, Hallee Steinfeld and Hollywood’s hottest newcomers: Star Wars find Daisy Ridley and The Wolf of Wall Street’s Margot Robbie. He voted Turner, becasuse of how she handled the dark side of her Game of Thrones character, Sansa Star … and despite Sophie having blue eyes and Janssen, dark brown.
Hayley Bennett, The Girl on the Train, 20l6. Never any question in producer Marc Platt’s mind about who would be The Girl – Emily Blunt, from his Into The Woods. But sexy Megan only became Bennett when first Kate Mara, then Robbie were busy elsewhere. They were lucky to miss the messy Hitchcock wannabe. Never came close.
Scarlett Johansson, Ghost In The Shell, 2017. Negotiations with Robbie fell apart (well, she was testing for Suicide Squad) and Johansson took over the headache of the year. Because her role of Major Mira Killian (ex-Motoko Kusanagi) was, inevitably, Japanese in the Masamune Shirow manga, this lead to tumultuous on-line protests about Hollywood whitewashing. Again. “I believe having Scarlett play Motoko was the best possible casting for this movie,” said the original’s director Mamoru Oshii said. Before his take flopped.
Lady Gaga, House of Gucci, 2021. Ridley Scott’s Succession, Italian Style, had been on many shelves over the years. In one nearly done deal, Maurizio Gucci and his wife, Patrizia Reggiani, were set for Leonardo DiCaprio and Angelina Jolie. Other potentials Patrizias (who orderwd his murder) were Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, Margot Robbie, plus two of Scott’s previous leading ladies: Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz. But Gaga had the winning improvisation when making the sign of the cross, saying: “Father, Son and House of Gucci.”

Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 13

WELCOME

to the films the stars did not make. The movies that never were. The most definitive collation of casting stories. Check up on all the films - of yesterday, today and tomorrow - that your favourite stars never made... A cast of thousands - 8,063 actors - to click on... More than 40 years in the making! And 2,777,633 words of spirited text.

The ultimate in movie trivia ... Better! Exactly the kind of history that Hollywood deserves. Back to front. Upside-down. Inside out. Full of flashbacks, close-ups, tracking shots (and, alas some badly edited sequences - sorry about that!) forming a fascinating, new and often bizarre flip-side perspective on your treasured movies and stars

HE SAID

“They’re doing stuff, but not with me. I’m not doing any more.” – Adam Driver on no more Kylo Ren/Ben Solo ... Or is it that there will be no more Star Wars?

“I’ve been acting for 42 years and then you make one cocktail…” – Stanley Tucci on his new fame as a TV food and cookery expert.

"The point is it's very hard work and you have to really want to do it. It has to be something that you're burning to say." – Martin Scorsese on directing at 80 and thinking “possibly only one more”.

“Whether you are a competent actor, or an artist, is incidental. The main business is: you’re product. I had a hard time steadying myself against that stuff.” – Robert Redford.

“I’ve never done the same thing twice and how many people can say that?” – Tom Hanks… forgetting his two successive Oscars.

“I was so excited when I got the script for Silent Night. There’s no dialogue in the entire movie! I thought this would be very good for me because it lets me use my gifts for telling a story visually. – John Woo on his Hollywood comeback at 77.

“I’ve gotta be nice about Marvel movies, because I named myself after a Stan Lee character named Luke Cage. What am I going to do, put Marvel movies down? Stan Lee is my surrealistic father.” – Nic Cage.

“The man who invented mornings was no Christian.” – Peter O’Toole.

“The moustache did the acting.” – Anthony Hopkins on Howards End.

“It’s very difficult to get 100 million people to watch anything,” – writer-director Joe Russo.

“I gave him a little part in Looper, where he got to be shot in the face by Bruce Willis. He was just so overjoyed… like a little kid.” – director Rian Johnson on his father.

“I'm not an actor - and I've got 64 films to prove it!” – Victor Mature.

“If you cast it right, you don’t have to tell the actors what to do.” – John Huston.

CCC CLIPS

>> Name Game. James Spader really started something with his Blacklist series. He played – remember? – Reddington. And now we have Austin Butler and, Emma Stone are in making Eddington… and newbie Glenn Powell is Huntingdon, his tenth gig since Top Gun: Maverick. Perhaps it’s time to re-issue Carrington… with, among others, Steven Waddington!

>> Christopher Nolan says “No, sadly no – no truth to those rumours.” About making the next Bond. So, no Cillian Murphy as Jimbo, then?

>> Rolling Stone. Those Poor Things, Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, are – naturally – in the next release of their Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. It’s Emma’s third Yorgos collaboration. Most likely she’ll be in his next one, too, a re-make of the South Korean hit, Save the Green Planet. That was a comedy. But one can never categorise a Lanthimos experience. After all this one was first titled… And.

>> Taylor Swift’s guy, US football superstar Travis Kelce, is making moves on movies. To be as famous as Dwayne Johnson. Although people are now beginning to ask: Dwyane Whosis?

>>Brandon Routh was Superman back in the day. Today he’s in…Ick.

>> A star sure was born! Lady Gaga now getting $10million for Joker 2…

>> Sean Ono Lennon says Emma Stone should play his dad. Now there’s a thought. After all, Cate Blanchett played Bob Dylan…

>> Sly Stallone has come this far without bothering with serial killers but that’s what he’s chasing in The Epiphany. He plays a retiring cop - what else at 78?

>> Thirty years after the first, Neve Campbell returns in Scream 7. She refused #6 over a money row…

>> Beatles director Sam Mendes made Skyfall and Spectre and another actor who has played John Lennon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, might yet be the next 007…

>> Ryan Gosling tipped to be join the Marvelverse. (They need him more than he them). Henry Cavill may follow – so definitely no Bond then. Not after Argylle. If anyone witnessed that accident, could they call the appropriate authorities.

>> Will Smith comes back (or so he hopes) in an almost suicide squad blasting drug dealers in Sugar Bandits… while Colin Farrell settles for just Sugar – back to his usual smoothie looks after The Penguin…

>> White Lotus 3 resurrects Parker Posey, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Charlotte Le Bon, Scott Glenn and introduces Patrick Schwarzenegger. But which one is going to flash…something?

CHAMPION'S LEAGUE

The battle for the top spot between Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholson has – I think – come to an end. Recently, we‘ve seen Marlon leading Jack by one or two movies – and then, almost immediately, vice-versa. The gap is much wider now between the former Mulholland Drive neighbours. Latest research dug up more titles for Jack - Mr Mom, A Christmas Story, Striptease, The Bicentennial Man, Expend4bles – so that he is now safe (?) at the top of league with 177 films he chose not to make compared to Brando’s 172. But you know - you never know…

(The full list of their huge lists of bypassed films are not on their pages for now - one of the hassles being tackled in our - yes, very slow! – restructuring).

Marlon Brando – 177
Jack Nicholson – 172
Paul Newman – 160
Cary Grant – 150
Robert De Niro – 140
Tom Cruise – 135
Dustin Hoffman – 126
Mel Gibson – 118
Sean Connery, Al Pacino – 117

Highest Brit remains, as always, Sir Sean at 117… followed by Laurence OIivier, 93; Richard Burton, 87; Peter O’Toole, 79; Elizabeth Taylor, 73; Peter Sellers, 72; Dirk Bogarde and James Mason, 68; Olivia De Havilland, 58; Vivien Leigh and Gary Oldman, 57.

Highest lady is Bette Davis, 97; Jodie Foster, 84; Michelle Pfeiffer, 81; Katharine Hepburn, 79; Julie Christie, 76; Meryl Streep, 75; Elizabeth Taylor, 73; Nicole Kidman, 72: Jane Fonda, 70; Julia Roberts, 68.

Younger Brigade: Johnny Depp 108; Leo, 75; Jim Carrey, 70; Madonna, 62; Natalie Portman, 57; Aishawarya Rai Bachchan, 40; Bridget Fonda, 36: Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, Uma Thurman, 35; Jake Gyllenhall, 33: Ben Affleck, 31.

(You'll find the full list at Champions in the Main Menu)

A BOND MISS

Is Léa Seydoux now a spy…or, to be more polite, a talent scout for Eon Productions? 007’s girl in both Spectre and No Time to Die appears to assisting the (rather quiet) search for the next Jimbo. In La bête (The Beast), one of her many new French films, Léa co-stars with Hammersmith’s George MacKay - Sam Mendes’ find for 1917. He learned French for the film, so this may not be his last Paris booking.

As Gabrielle and Louis, they work extremely well together as star-crossed lovers in three time-lines: 1904, 1914 and 2044. And he looks the business in his retro tuxedo. ‘Twould be fascinating to cast an eye over her report for Barbara Broccoli’s eyes only. On verra as Léa (and now even George) would say. We’ll see.

SHE SAID

“You need your parents to set boundaries and hold you accountable and keep you away from, like, weird people.” – Scarlett Johansson on surviving as a child actor.

“I was so deeply in love with Bella, it terrified me not to live up to her as a character. I felt like I was failing her in the first week, and failing Yorgos [Lanthimos]. ). It was just difficult. I could talk to him about it, but I couldn’t talk to her about it. “ – Emma Stone on making Poor Things, leading to her second Oscar.

“Everything was so beautiful up on that screen. That make-believe world was much more pleasant than anything I was experiencing. I didn’t like reality. I wanted to be in the movies, even though I knew I didn’t look like the other women on the screen. My mother said, ‘you better learn to type,’ but I didn’t listen. Somehow, some way, thank you God, it all came true.” – Barbra Streisand, receiving lifetime achievement honour from the Screen Actors Guild.

“If I arrive at a moment in the history of cinema where I am legally obliged to have some kind of police on my set telling me what I’m allowed to do, I would rather stop filming sex scenes completely.” – French director Mia Hansen-Løve.

“I’m not one to sit around doin’ nothin’, I would never retire, I’ll just hopefully drop dead in the middle of a song onstage, someday, hopefully one I’ve written.” – Dolly Parton.

“Playing it safe doesn’t necessarily get you anywhere. You have to take chances. especially if you’re a black woman. You have no choice.” – Halle Berry.

“The more famous an actress becomes, the less she's allowed to eat.” – Lana Turner.

“I don’t do T&A very well because I haven’t got much of either.” – Tea Leoni.

“I was an idiot in terms of career-building, but I had a great time.” – Sally Kellerman.

“As you get older, you realise your parents aren't these superheroes. They're actually people.” – Rumer Willis, daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.

“Everybody thought I was crazy. And by the way, I thought I was crazy.” – Jennifer Lopez on spending $20m of her own money on making This Is Me … Now: A Love Story.

“It’s dangerous to repeat performances. It becomes the sole thing on your gravestone.” – Helen Mirren on playing The Queen in The Queen and on stage in The Audience.

“I think I was offered every Marilyn Monroe script ever. I was like: Is this the end of the road creatively?’” – Scarlett Johansson on surviving as a star.

WAIT & SEE...

This is such a busy year for movies that various releases have been postponed until 2025… Captain America: Brave New World, Bong Joon-ho’s Mickey 17, Games of Thrones spin-off The Hedge Knight (not about a gardener), Ke Huy Quan’s actioner With Love, John Wick’s spin-off, Ballerina, Fast X :part 2, Avatar 3, Jurassic World 4, Black Mirror 7, Mission: Impossible 8, Fantastic Four, Superman and the dreaded Michael bio – more like horror film, surely. Oh and no The Batman 2 or Harry P TV series until 2026.