The real reason Margot Robbie got her role in The Wolf of Wall Street

Don’t try this at your next job interview

Margot Robbie wolf of wall street

Don’t try this at your next job interview

Margot Robbie was recently listed in TIME’s ‘The 100 Most Influential People’ list, with her past director and friend, Martin Scorsese, writing a short tribute to the actress.

The renowned director, who worked with her on The Wolf of Wall Street, praised the 26-year-old for her ‘comedic genius, all-bets-off feistiness, grounded, hardscrabble toughness and emotional daring’.

Martin Scorsese continued: ‘Margot has all this in addition to a unique audacity that surprises and challenges and just burns like a brand into every character she plays. She clinched her part in The Wolf of Wall Street during our first meeting. It was an improvisation that stunned us all.’

Margot Robbie wolf of wall street

Margot has previously spoken about the infamous audition, explaining how in a desperate move to make an impact she went off-script and slapped Leonardo DiCaprio across the face instead of kissing him.

‘In my head I was like: “You have literally 30 seconds left in this room and if you don’t do something impressive nothing will ever come of it. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance, just take it”’ she explained in a 2015 interview with Harper’s Bazaar.

She continued: ‘And so I start screaming at him and he’s yelling back at me. And he’s really scary. I can barely keep up, and he ends it saying: “You should be happy to have a husband like me. Now get over here and kiss me.” So I walk up really close to his face and then I’m like, “Maybe I should kiss him. When else am I ever going to get a chance to kiss Leo DiCaprio, ever?” But another part of my brain clicks and I just go…Whack! I hit him in the face. And then I scream, “Fuck you!” And that’s not in the script at all. The room just went dead silent and I froze.’

Although the actress admitted that she was terrified at the time, going off script and giving Leo ‘a thunderclap of a slap on the face’ certainly seemed to work with Margot not only bagging the role, but also making such an impact on the iconic director that he is still raving about her today.

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‘Margot is stunning in all she is and all she does, and she will astonish forever,’ Scorsese concluded.

Jenny Proudfoot
Features Editor

Jenny Proudfoot is an award-winning journalist, specialising in lifestyle, culture, entertainment, international development and politics. She has worked at Marie Claire UK for seven years, rising from intern to Features Editor and is now the most published Marie Claire writer of all time. She was made a 30 under 30 award-winner last year and named a rising star in journalism by the Professional Publishers Association.