Like almost every notable Australian star to have made the jump to Hollywood before her, Margot Robbie got her start in either Neighbours or Home and Away. Funnily enough, having played Donna Freedman in 353 episodes of the latter, she went off to America and instantly landed a plum supporting role as Leonardo DiCaprio’s wife in The Wolf of Wall Street.
As far as breakthroughs go, they don’t come much better than that for an actress who was only 23 when the movie was released. It would have been all to easy for Robbie to simply become a sex symbol, but in the eight years since she’s proven herself to be one of the most acclaimed talents of her generation, whether it be fooling around as Harley Quinn in a mega budget blockbuster or earning Academy Award nominations for I, Tonya and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
One of her more unsung roles came in 2018 with the release of historical drama Mary Queen of Scots, which boasted a pair of powerhouse performances from Saoirse Ronan in the title role and Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I. A two-hander dealing with political and royal machinations in 1561 Scotland, it was hardly going to set the world on fire, but did garner some strong reviews, with the two leads being singled out for particular praise.
For whatever reason, Netflix subscribers have proven themselves to be fans of quaint period drama this weekend, with Mary Queen of Scots having made a surprising dash up the most-watched list after rising nineteen places to thirteenth. Maybe fans are just on a Margot Robbie binge following The Suicide Squad, or maybe they want to see a pair of powerful sisters play off each other with the fate of a nation at stake.