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Margot Robbie lobbying for Harley Quinn spin-off

Written by . Published: August 10 2016

Margot Robbie is angling for a Suicide Squad spin-off for her character Harley Quinn and the Joker.


The actress portrays supervillain Harley in the live-action film based on the DC Comics series, in which her character is the Joker’s (Jared Leto) frequent accomplice. While the film has stormed the North American box office, taking $135.1 million after its debut, it has had a mixed critical reception.


But most reviewers agree that Margot’s characterisation is one of the best parts of the film, and the actress herself believes she has more to explore within the part, expressing a desire to investigate the relationship between the film's two most notorious figures further in an interview with YouTube series Tipsy Talk.


“I’m trying to make that happen,” she said. “Not for anything specifically, but just something - there’s so much more to do.”


Margot then further discussed her love of the character, who she views as being simultaneously hyper-feminine and powerfully manipulative. While Harley may be controversial, the 26-year-old feels it’s great that audiences get to see such a multi-faceted female figure on the big screen.


"I feel like I hit the lottery...The chicks never get these roles - we never get the roles where we have the funny one-liners and then the kick-ass action scene, but then also, like, an intricate character with an awesome story arc - you just don’t really get that, like in a big-budget film,” she said.


Some of the criticism levelled at Suicide Squad has centered on the screen time, or lack thereof, given to Jared’s villain. And though Margot couldn't explain why Jared has such limited screen time, she suspects it coincided with the filmmaker's commitment to creating a coherent narrative.


"There was so much of our backstory...they probably realized that the emotional through-line of the story had to be the mission we were on, and kind of explaining The Enchantress’ (Cara Delevingne) position and all that kind of stuff, and the backstory stuff - though it’s like magic...there’s a lot but it just didn’t make sense to confuse the present storyline with that,” she said.


Suicide Squad, which also stars Will Smith and Viola Davis, is now showing in theaters.

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