“A lot of people ask: why are you making a movie about this? A lot of people presume that they know the whole story already and they’ve passed judgment on all these people,” admits Margot Robbie about her latest film “I, Tonya.” In our recent webcam chat (watch the exclusive video above), she adds, “But I think that’s why it’s so interesting to see an audience reaction because we are showing them something besides the story they didn’t know. People come out of the theaters so surprised!”
Robbie stars in the title role and produces this just-released Neon and 30WEST film about the infamous figure skater Tonya Harding, whose promising career was cut short after her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan), inadvertently conspired to break the leg of her 1994 Olympic ice skating competitor, Nancy Kerrigan. Allison Janney co-stars as her mother LaVona in the movie directed by Craig Gillespie (“Lars and the Real Girl”).
As writer Steven Rogers began to assemble the script, all of the people working on the film realized they could take the stories from the real-life principles and mix them up in a unique format which provides flashbacks and on-screen interviews. Robbie says, “What actually happened didn’t matter to us. A lot of people before they see the movie keep asking, ‘So what actually happened? Who did it?’ Oh, no! It was never about that. The point of the movie is that everyone has their own version of truth, and they believe it wholeheartedly. Even when it sounds completely different from two different people’s perspectives. They’re talking about the same event but they remember it in different ways.”
Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, SAG Awards, and Independent Spirit voters have welcomed the movie with nominations for Robbie as a lead actress and Janney in supporting. It has bids for Robbie and the producing team for the top comedy film prize at the Globes and Critic’s Choice. The critics have also nominated it for Best Hair and Makeup. The indie awards gave it a Best Editing nomination.
Australian native Robbie first became known to American audiences with “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013) for Martin Scorsese. Other films since then have included “Focus,” “The Big Short,” “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” “Suicide Squad,” and “Goodbye Christopher Robin.”
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