Margot Robbie played a pivotal role in shaping some of the most iconic moments in her breakout film, Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street.
During a recent appearance on the Talking Pictures podcast, Robbie revealed it was her idea to strike Leonardo DiCaprio during her audition for the 2013 Oscar-nominated film.
As she and DiCaprio were improvising a scene, she initially considered ending it by kissing him but chose a more surprising approach.
“In my head, I was like, ‘I could totally kiss Leonardo DiCaprio right now. That would be awesome. I can’t wait to tell all my friends this,’” Robbie recalled. “And then I was like, ‘Nah,’ and just sort of walloped him in the face.”
The unexpected move left the room silent for what felt like an eternity—though it was only a few seconds. Robbie confessed that during that silence, her mind raced.
“I was like, ‘You’re going to get arrested. I’m pretty sure that is assault, battery. Not only will you never work again, but actually, you will go to jail for this, you idiot,’” she said. “And also: ‘Why did you have to do it so hard? You could’ve done it lighter.’”
However, her bold choice paid off. Scorsese and DiCaprio broke into laughter, with Robbie recalling, “They were laughing so hard. They were like, ‘That was great.’”
Robbie’s influence extended beyond her audition. She was also offered the option to forgo full frontal nudity in the scene where her character, Naomi Lapaglia, seduces her husband, Jordan Belfort (DiCaprio).
Margot Robbie in Wolf of Wall Street (Photo: Paramount Pictures)
Scorsese suggested she could wear a robe if she preferred, but Robbie declined, believing it would undermine the character’s intent.
“[Scorsese] said, ‘Maybe you can be wearing a robe if you’re not comfortable,’” Robbie explained.
“And I was like, ‘That is not what [Naomi] would do in that scene. She would not put a robe on. The whole point is that she’s going to come out completely naked. That’s the card she’s playing right now.’”
Robbie also helped shape pivotal plot elements in the film. During a 2022 BAFTA “A Life in Pictures” event, she revealed that key moments were developed during a late-night brainstorming session with Scorsese and DiCaprio.
“What happened previously in the script was that I walked into [Jordan’s] office and said I want a divorce. And that was it,” Robbie said.
The night before filming, she, Scorsese, and DiCaprio worked until the early hours to create the now-famous sequence where Jordan crashes a car with their daughter inside.
“We started riffing, and we locked ourselves in a room until like three in the morning and came up with all of that. And the sex scene that comes before that,” Robbie shared.
