In what sounds like an example of typical Australian humour, Margot Robbie‘s old friends have a nickname for her – Maggot. While speaking to a reporter at the Babylon premiere in Sydney, one of her friends was heard calling; “hey, Maggot!” Robbie was asked about this on Australian talk show The Project (via UniLad).
“I think a substitute teacher made a mistake on the roll call and said ‘maggot’ [instead of Margot] and everyone laughed,” the actor later explained to the panel. “[Maggot] has been my nickname since I was six years old.” She said she’d hoped that the mistake would have been forgotten about come lunchtime, but clearly it stuck. But, you can always count on your friends to never let something embarrassing go. “You can’t pick a nickname. You get given it.”
There’s nothing like having old mates around to bring you back down to earth after you’ve swanned off to Hollywood and become a big Oscar-nominated star. Like many Australian actors, Robbie started out on long-running TV series Neighbours.
Robbie is still only 32 years old, but has made a big impression on Hollywood in the last decade – earning two Oscar nominations and four BAFTA nominations. She broke through with The Wolf of Wall Street, and has followed that up with Focus, The Big Short, I, Tonya, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. She of course plays Harley Quinn in the DCEU, but she’ll always be Maggot to her mates.
Robbie has said of Babylon; “I’ve never been as close to a character as Nellie before. She came in with a bang and she’s not gonna let anyone stand in her way. It’ll be the thing I’m most proud of in my entire career but also, my entire life.”
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