Margot Robbie Early Career and Breakthrough Films
Margot Robbie began her screen career in Australian television before moving to Hollywood, with early roles in series such as Neighbours and the short-lived U.S. drama Pan Am. Her first major film appearances came in 2008 and 2009 with the Australian independent features Vigilante and I.C.U., followed by the 2009 horror film Closure and the 2010 comedy-drama Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, where she voiced a character for Village Roadshow and Warner Bros. Animation. In 2011, she appeared in the Australian thriller Burning Man and the U.S. dramedy About Time, which starred Rachel McAdams and Domhnall Gleeson and was distributed by Universal Pictures and Focus Features. Her first leading role in a major studio release came in 2013 with The Wolf of Wall Street, produced by Red Granite Pictures, Appian Way Productions, and TriStar Pictures, and distributed by Paramount Pictures, where she played Naomi Lapaglia opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill. The film earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, according to Forbes coverage of its box office performance.
Margot Robbie Box Office and Studio Data
The Wolf of Wall Street grossed approximately $392 million worldwide against a $100 million budget, making it one of the highest-grossing films of 2013. Robbie's salary for the film was reported in the low millions, a fraction of the $1 billion worldwide gross her later franchise roles would generate. The film's production companies included Red Granite Pictures, Appian Way Productions, and Emjag Productions, with Paramount Pictures handling global distribution. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Jonah Hill, and won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.
Margot Robbie Major Franchise Roles
Margot Robbie's biggest commercial successes came from major franchise films, starting with The Legend of Tarzan (2016), produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures, which grossed $356 million worldwide. She then starred as Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad (2016), a Warner Bros. and DC Films production that earned $746 million globally and spawned the standalone Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020), produced by LuckyChap Entertainment, Kroll & Co. Entertainment, and DC Films, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The Birds of Prey film grossed $205 million worldwide and received mixed reviews, but solidified Robbie's association with the Harley Quinn character. Her highest-grossing role to date is Barbie in the 2023 film Barbie, produced by LuckyChap Entertainment, Mattel Films, and Heyday Films, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, which earned $1.44 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing film ever directed by a woman, according to box office data reported by Box Office Mojo and Forbes.