Whether in The Wolf of Wall Street, as Harley Quinn or as a producer: Margot Robbie has long since left her mark.
On today’s July 2, 2026, Margot Robbie celebrates her 36th birthday. Few actresses of her generation have made a similar leap in such a short time: from the Australian television series Neighbours to Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street and on to Barbie, one of the biggest pop-culture phenomena of recent years. But Robbie has long been more than just an actress. She is a producer, entrepreneur, style icon and one of the most important women behind modern, female-driven Hollywood stories.
Looking back, her path almost seems too smooth to be true. Yet it all began in a much more down-to-earth way: Margot Elise Robbie was born on July 2, 1990, in Dalby, Queensland, Australia, and grew up on the Gold Coast. Before Hollywood was even a realistic thought, she worked in Australia, took on acting roles and eventually landed a part in Neighbours, a series that became something of a springboard for many Australian stars.
The breakthrough came with a slap
Margot Robbie became internationally known in 2013 through The Wolf of Wall Street. Alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, she played Naomi Lapaglia, the wife of Jordan Belfort. The film instantly made her a name in Hollywood. But the story of how she got the role is almost as legendary as the film itself.
During the audition, Robbie was supposed to perform a scene with DiCaprio. In her head, she briefly considered whether she should kiss him, as the scene suggested. Instead, she spontaneously chose something no one expected: she slapped him. For a moment, there was silence. Robbie later feared she might even get into trouble for it. But that exact instinct apparently impressed DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese so much that the scene became a turning point.
That slap was more than just a bold casting anecdote. It showed early on what defines Robbie as an actress: she does not simply play it safe. She looks for the moment when a character suddenly becomes dangerous, funny, unpredictable or completely alive. That is exactly what made Naomi in The Wolf of Wall Street more than just a beautiful supporting character.
From surprise star to serious actress
After The Wolf of Wall Street, Robbie could easily have ended up in one single box: the blonde Hollywood seductress. But she quickly worked against that. In About Time, she was still seen in a smaller role, in Focus she played a con artist alongside Will Smith, and with The Big Short she became part of a clever film about the financial crisis.
Then, in 2016, came a role that steered her career in a completely different direction: Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad. The film itself received mixed reactions, but Robbie instantly became the talking point. Her Harley was chaotic, colorful, dangerous and, at the same time, strangely vulnerable. A supporting character became a pop-culture icon.
She later returned to the character in Birds of Prey: The Emancipation of Harley Quinn and The Suicide Squad. Birds of Prey: The Emancipation of Harley Quinn was especially important because Robbie was not only in front of the camera, but also had influence as a producer. Harley became not just a comic-book character, but a statement about what female antiheroes can look like in blockbuster cinema when they are not only told through the gaze of male characters.
With I, Tonya, the star became an Oscar nominee
Margot Robbie’s perhaps decisive step toward becoming a serious character actress came in 2017 with I, Tonya. In the film, she played figure skater Tonya Harding, one of the most controversial figures in American sports history. Robbie did not simply disappear behind makeup and costume. She portrayed Harding as a contradictory person: ambitious, angry, hurt, sometimes unlikeable and yet never one-dimensional.
For this role, Robbie received her first Oscar nomination. Even more importantly, however, I, Tonya also became the first major proof of how strong her production company LuckyChap Entertainment could be. Robbie had not only taken on a demanding lead role, but also shown that she could develop material that is uncomfortable, female-led and commercially interesting.
LuckyChap: Margot Robbie builds her own Hollywood
Together with Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara and Sophia Kerr, Margot Robbie founded LuckyChap Entertainment in 2014. The company became one of the most exciting players in Hollywood because it did not simply produce star vehicles for Robbie. LuckyChap specifically focused on stories by women, about women and with women in key creative positions.
Under this label, projects such as I, Tonya, Promising Young Woman, Maid, Saltburn and, of course, Barbie were created. Promising Young Woman in particular showed that LuckyChap is willing to take on risky subjects. The film combined thriller, satire and revenge fantasy with a clear examination of sexual violence, power and society’s tendency to look away.
As a result, Robbie became more than a performer who chooses good roles. She became someone who makes roles and projects possible in the first place. In an industry where actresses often had to wait for years to be offered complex characters, she built her own infrastructure.
Barbie ultimately made her a pop-culture powerhouse
In 2023, Robbie reached a new career high with Barbie. The film could very easily have felt like a pure toy commercial. Instead, it became a bright, funny and surprisingly self-reflective pop fable about role models, femininity, identity and the question of what it means to have to be perfect.
Robbie did not play Barbie as a simple joke character, but as someone who becomes interesting precisely through doubt. At the same time, as a producer, she played a key role in making sure Greta Gerwig could realize a version of the material that was not only pink and mass-friendly, but also surprisingly sharp. The success of Barbie ultimately made Robbie one of the most powerful people in modern mainstream cinema.
After Barbie, it became even clearer how unusual her position is. She can carry blockbusters, play Oscar-level roles, produce risky material and still reach a global audience. Few stars have that combination.
The childhood anecdote with the babysitter
As controlled as Robbie may seem today as a producer and actress, her humor was apparently chaotic from early on. She later told one of her most absurd childhood stories herself: as a child, she once allegedly faked her own death to scare a babysitter.
Robbie did not like the new babysitter and made a plan to drive him away. So she lay down on the tiles, placed a kitchen knife next to herself, covered herself in ketchup as blood and staged the whole thing so dramatically that it looked like a horror-film scene. She waited a long time until the babysitter found her. The prank apparently worked exactly as she had planned. And in a way, it seems she already sensed back then that acting was in her blood.
Today, of course, the story sounds completely over the top, but it fits Robbie’s public image surprisingly well: behind the glamour is someone with dry humor, absurd timing and a certain willingness to let situations escalate. Perhaps that is also part of her screen presence. Robbie is rarely afraid of appearing uncomfortable, loud, strange or imperfect.
Between glamour, control and private life
Margot Robbie has been married to British producer Tom Ackerley since 2016. The two work closely together not only privately, but also professionally. With LuckyChap, they have built a company together that has helped shape some of the most discussed films of recent years.
At the same time, Robbie keeps her private life comparatively protected. After years of maximum visibility through Barbie, award shows and worldwide press appearances, she also became a mother. Nevertheless, her public image remains unusually clear: she is present when it comes to work, but she does not rely permanently on scandal, reality-style exposure or over-staging.
Social engagement and female perspectives
Margot Robbie is not the kind of star who defines herself mainly through loud political statements. Her social influence is more strongly reflected in the projects she makes possible. LuckyChap stands for an attempt to distribute power in Hollywood differently: more female perspectives, more female directors, more female writers and more complex female characters.
That is especially important because Robbie herself experienced early on how quickly Hollywood reduces women to the surface. Many of her later decisions feel like a direct response to that. She did not simply continue playing Harley Quinn as a male fantasy, but developed her into a more independent, wilder and more female-driven character. She produced I, Tonya, even though Tonya Harding is not a classic heroine. And she helped turn Barbie into a film that reached both a billion-dollar audience and the gender debate.
Outside her company, Robbie has also supported various humanitarian and social causes, including campaigns for refugees, children and charitable organizations. But her strongest social contribution is probably her work behind the scenes: she uses her star power to push forward material that, only a few years ago, would have been much harder to realize on this scale.
Why Margot Robbie is more than a movie star today
On her 36th birthday on July 2, 2026, Margot Robbie stands at a point many actresses only reach much later. She has played iconic roles, carried blockbusters, collected Oscar nominations and, at the same time, built a position of power behind the camera.
Her career did not begin with a perfect master plan, but with courage, instinct and sometimes completely wild moments. As a child, she faked her own death to prank a babysitter. As a young actress, she slapped Leonardo DiCaprio during an audition and risked getting everything wrong. Instead, that exact moment became the starting signal for a global career.
Perhaps that describes Margot Robbie best: she is glamorous, but not slick. She is strategic, but not boring. She is a Hollywood star who understands that real power does not only mean being in the picture, but also deciding what picture gets created in the first place.