Margot Robbie lobbying for Harley Quinn spin-off
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.