Margot Robbie talks Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad: "She’s a catalyst of chaos"

News
By , published

Exclusive: Margot Robbie discusses how Harley Quinn "evolves in different ways" under different directors

Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad
(Image credit: Warner Bros./DC)

Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn has featured in two DC movies so far, with the actor reprising the already iconic role in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad. Being directed by three different filmmakers means that each movie shows a new side to the villain, but Robbie continues to leave her indelible mark on the character.

"One of the first things I said to James was, I think Harley is a catalyst of chaos," Robbie tells Total Film in the new issue, headlined by The Suicide Squad. "She’s not necessarily your narrative center, and sometimes it’s great when plot points can rest on other characters’ shoulders, and she can be the thing that erupts a whole sequence of events. That’s something I felt he agreed with, based on what I was reading in the script."

Different directors bring out different things in Harley, it seems. "[In terms of] how she’s changed, it’s just always interesting to explore what characteristics different directors gravitate towards from the character," says Robbie, "The common denominator is the source material, which is what I always built the character off anyway. Then she evolves in different ways under different people’s direction."

Robbie's Quinn has previously been directed by both David Ayer, in 2016's Suicide Squad, and Cathy Yan, in Birds of Prey.

Of course, Robbie's only one of the A-listers involved with Gunn's The Suicide Squad. There's also Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, and Sylvester Stallone voicing King Shark – walkin', talk' shark! Plus, there's Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, Nathan Fillion, Jai Courtney, Pete Davidson... the list goes on.

Inside the new issue, Total Film talks in-depth with writer/director James Gunn, and cast members including Robbie, Elba, Cena, Daniela Melchior, and Peter Capaldi. And that’s not all – elsewhere in the issue, Total Film goes on set of Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead, speaks to Barry Jenkins about his long-form adaptation of The Underground Railroad, and there are interviews with Robin Wright, Ben Wheatley, and Mads Mikkelsen.

The Suicide Squad opens in UK cinemas on August 6 (and debuts in cinemas and on HBO Max on the same date in the US). The new issue of Total Film hits newsstands real and digital this Friday, April 30. Check out the new super-size covers, as revealed by James Gunn, below…

If you're a fan of Total Film magazine,  why not subscribe so that you never miss an issue? Sign up with MagazinesDirect and with the latest offer you can get your first three issues for just £3! Choose a print subscription to get a copy delivered to your home, or a digital subscription to get the magazine direct to your device. Print subscribers get exclusive subscribers-only covers, as well as receiving the magazine before it's in shops. What are you waiting for?

Total Film's subscription offer

(Image credit: Total Film)
TOPICS
Richard Edwards

Richard is a freelancer journalist and editor, and was once a physicist. Rich is the former editor of SFX Magazine, but has since gone freelance, writing for websites and publications including GamesRadar+, SFX, Total Film, and more. He also co-hosts the podcast, Robby the Robot's Waiting, which is focused on sci-fi and fantasy.