How Margot Robbie Really Felt About Harley Quinn In The Suicide Squad
James Gunn's "The Suicide Squad" — a standalone sequel to 2016's "Suicide Squad" — has been out in theaters and on HBO Max for a couple of weeks. The highly anticipated film proved quite popular with moviegoing audiences — even in the midst of the ongoing pandemic — and made over $118 million worldwide in ticket sales, as reported by Box Office Mojo, despite some initially disappointing-looking box office numbers. It was also well received critically and currently holds a very high 91% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Even though it's very much an independent follow-up to its predecessor, "The Suicide Squad" does still pull from a few characters who showed up in the first film to make up part of its ensemble cast. Those cast members include Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). And of course, one of DC's most recognizable characters, Harley Quinn, showed up again as well, with Margot Robbie reprising the role she first took on with 2016's "Suicide Squad."
With the movie still very much in the public's attention, press for "The Suicide Squad" is still going on. Recently, writer-director James Gunn appeared on the film podcast "Script Apart," hosted by Al Horner and Kamil Dymek, to talk all things "The Suicide Squad" — including how Robbie really felt about her character in the film.
Robbie didn't want Harley to be the star
In the "Script Apart" episode, the hosts note that because Harley Quinn is such an already popular and "magnetic character" that it would have "made sense on paper to center the film around her." They then note that if you had to pinpoint one character out of the ensemble as the film's center it would likely be Idris Elba's Bloodsport. They asked James Gunn how this dynamic came about.
Gunn noted that it was none other than Margot Robbie herself who helped him frame who should be the center of the film. He said, "Margot really didn't, I don't think she wanted to be — no, I know she didn't want the film to be centered around her ... She's more than a supporting character because it really is an ensemble film and she's definitely a protagonist for part of the film, just with her."
He further explained that the film can be framed two ways, either as having three protagonists or as having one. He continued, "If there are three protagonists it's probably [Harley] Idris's Bloodsport and Ratcatcher 2. But, if there's one protagonist, it's Bloodsport."
Not long ago, Robbie commented that she needed to take a break from playing Harley Quinn, so at this point it's anybody's guess as to when — or if — we'll see her play the role again. Only time will tell.