Margot Robbie says she felt uncomfortable filming 'Wolf of Wall Street' love scenes: “I could kiss...”
Before captivating audiences with 'Barbie', Margot Robbie had already made her mark as a powerhouse in Hollywood. Following her debut in 2008 with 'Vigilante', the actress never looked back, becoming a part of several blockbuster hits. Martin Scorsese's 'The Wolf of Wall Street' remains a stepping stone in Robbie's career, where she earned major praise for playing Naomi Lapaglia. While the biographical drama holds an impressive 8.2 IMDb rating and was a massive hit, Robbie doesn’t look back on the filming experience fondly.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Robbie revealed that the love scenes in 'The Wolf of Wall Street' were uncomfortable to film, especially the scene where she and Leonardo DiCaprio have a love scene on a pile of fake cash, as the sharp edges left her with "a million paper cuts." Robbie recalled, “I got a million paper cuts on my back from all that money! It’s not as glamorous as it sounds.” The crew said that she looked like she'd "been whipped a million times." Reflecting on the experience, Robbie admitted, "It probably would have been safer to use real money instead."
Adding more to Robbie's trouble was a slap. Yes, a slap that she feared could land her in legal trouble, as per Ladbile. While speaking on the 'Talking Pictures' podcast, Robbie recalled a moment on 'The Wolf of Wall Street' set where she had to kiss DiCaprio’s character. She admitted, "I could totally kiss Leonardo DiCaprio, and that would be awesome. I can't wait to tell all of my friends this." She then shared about a split-second decision: "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.”
To her surprise, both DiCaprio and director Scorsese found it hilarious. "Then they just burst out laughing. Leo and Marty were laughing so hard, they said, 'That was great.'" However, Robbie immediately second-guessed her actions, thinking, "I'm going to get arrested; I'm pretty sure that's assault, battery. 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."
Robbie even opened up about the challenges of filming 'The Wolf of Wall Street' in an interview with Porter magazine, revealing the intense reality behind a particular scene between Naomi and Jordan, reported by The Things. "It doesn’t come across when you’re watching the movie, but in reality, we're in a tiny bedroom with 30 crew members crammed in. All men." Despite the assumption that actors are always comfortable filming intimate scenes, Robbie admitted that the experience was overwhelming, especially as it was one of her first major roles.
Robbie candidly shared about the challenges of filming intimate scenes saying, "For 17 hours, I had to act as if I was performing an intimate act. It’s just a very weird thing, and you have to bury the embarrassment and absurdity really deep and fully commit." Robbie admitted she was "very, very nervous" before filming a key scene between Naomi and Jordan, telling CNN, "I'm not going to lie, I had a couple of shots of tequila before that scene because I was nervous—very, very nervous." Despite her discomfort, Robbie's class act remains one of the strongest points of 'The Wolf of Wall Street.'