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Margot Robbie On Why ‘I, Tonya’ Is Relevant To All Women Today

“It’s important to put art out there that challenges people"

She’s just been nominated for her first Oscar (watch her priceless reaction here), won a 2018 Critic’s Choice Award and been nominated for a Golden Globe and SAG Award for her role as disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding, but Margot Robbie doesn’t want the conversation to be about her: she’s here to talk about all women.

RELATED: Watch Margot Robbie In The Trailer For ‘I, Tonya’

Radiant in white Michael Lo Sordo at the Australian premiere of I, Tonya, of which she is both the title character and producer with husband Tom Ackerley, 27-year-old Margot tells marie claire she’s committed to using her star wattage to shine a light on the Time’s Up movement.

“I’ve been very fortunate in this industry but as a woman in the world of course I’ve experienced gender inequality and I think it’s all of our duties to make sure we work towards a society where that doesn’t exist anymore,” she says. “It’s going to take a long time, but I think the louder the conversations are, the closer we come to achieving 50/50.”

margot robbie i, tonya australian premiere dress
Margot Robbie at the Australian premiere of I, Tonya (Credit: Getty)

Aside from its fascinating insight into one of the sporting world’s most notorious scandals, the I, Tonya script attracted Margot because of its relevance to women today. “It felt fresh and different but weirdly, and sadly, relevant – that idea of truth and the class divide in America right now and what women are told they’re meant to be,” she explains.

“A lot of that felt so relevant, but on the surface it was also a lot of fun – I’d be laughing at one moment and immediately feeling weird and guilty that I’d laughed at something and that challenged me as an audience,” she continues. “It’s important to put art out there that challenges people.”

margot robbie michael lo sordo white dress i tonya
(Credit: Getty)

In I, Tonya, Margot delivers a fierce, committed performance worthy of Oscars gold. She plays Tonya Harding from the age of 15 to 44, a feat that required a dialect coach, body movement coach, considerable prosthetics and a crash course in ice-skating (which Margot had never done before).

But she says she never expected so many accolades for her performance in the film. “If it all stops here today, I’ll still be stoked,” she says, before news broke of her Oscars nomination later that night. “Every step of the journey’s been incredible, starting with Neighbours – that was some of the best years of my life. I’m incredibly lucky.”

I, Tonya hits Australian cinemas on Thursday 25 January.

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