'Birds of Prey' cast members Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Rosie Perez, Ella Jay Basco, Chris Messina and director Cathy Yan sit down with CinemaBlend's Sean O'Connell to discuss Margot's approach to Harley Quinn, what it was like shooting that insane fun house scene, the egg sandwich and more.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 ♪ You fall in love ♪
00:02 ♪ Same old sky above ♪
00:03 - He's after all of us.
00:04 The kid just robbed him.
00:06 ♪ Same old pain ♪
00:07 - You betrayed him.
00:08 You killed his BFF.
00:09 - You're dumb enough to be building a case against him.
00:12 So, unless we all wanna die very unpleasant deaths,
00:16 we're gonna have to work together.
00:17 (upbeat music)
00:18 - You have a unique opportunity to play the same character
00:22 in three different films that are not connected
00:24 with three different directors.
00:25 - It's weird.
00:26 - It's strange to see that.
00:27 It's not traditional sequels in any way.
00:29 Are you able to approach her in different ways
00:31 depending on which director you're collaborating with?
00:34 - Exactly, no, I totally do.
00:36 And it's actually amazing.
00:37 And it really is a similar format to the comic books
00:41 whereby with each author,
00:42 you are getting a different looking aesthetic
00:45 and a slightly different feel,
00:46 but really the spirit and essence of the character
00:49 is always the same.
00:50 And I'd say that's the case for the films.
00:52 And it is fascinating to see
00:54 how each director approaches her
00:55 because I feel like they gravitate to a certain aspect
00:58 or aspects of her personality
01:00 and wanna explore that and inject it into their version
01:03 of the film that they're working on.
01:06 And to me, there are so many aspects of her personality
01:09 and now I just get to explore all of them.
01:11 - You know, it was actually pretty much a blank slate
01:13 because of course she's bringing her own experiences
01:17 and how she interpreted the character in Suicide Squad.
01:21 And we were before The Suicide Squad,
01:24 so we didn't have that as reference.
01:26 - Right.
01:28 - And I think it was really just like to each their own
01:30 in terms of the movie.
01:31 And of course the essence of who Harley is,
01:33 she just knew so well.
01:35 And this movie was really much more about Harley herself
01:39 and her overcoming something and her trying to find herself
01:42 and her relationship with this young kid
01:44 and her relationship with other women.
01:46 So I think it was actually quite specific in that way.
01:49 - Now in any essence, are you like,
01:51 "But no, don't do that because she wouldn't do that
01:53 'cause you have ownership?"
01:54 - Sometimes, yeah.
01:54 Sometimes I'm like, "I'd shoot,
01:56 "that's not what she would do."
01:57 - Right.
01:58 - I think there's the temptation to,
02:00 at least in this version,
02:01 'cause Cathy definitely was interested
02:02 in seeing this more vulnerable version of Harley.
02:05 And we all wanted to see like,
02:06 "What does Harley order for breakfast
02:08 "when she's hungover?
02:08 "What does Harley's apartment look like?"
02:10 We did wanna see that real life side of her,
02:14 but I think there was a temptation.
02:17 I think Cathy was loving the vulnerable,
02:19 fun and sweet version of Harley.
02:21 And I had to keep being like,
02:23 "She's a bad person still though.
02:25 (laughing)
02:25 "She can't be there.
02:26 "She is a shitty person."
02:28 We can't forget that.
02:30 - Psychologically speaking,
02:31 vengeance rarely brings the catharsis we hope for.
02:34 - Yeah.
02:35 - Are we ready?
02:36 ♪ You blow up, you stay true ♪
02:39 - Let's talk about the fun house scene
02:40 because to me, it's one of the main reasons
02:42 to go see the film when you're finally all together.
02:44 And people will watch it
02:45 and they'll appreciate what you're doing,
02:47 but I don't think they'll fully appreciate
02:48 the amount of work that goes into
02:50 pulling a sequence like that off.
02:51 Can you just talk about how much went into
02:54 preparation for that, choreography for it?
02:56 I mean, there's some amazing stunts in it,
02:58 but how long does it take
02:59 to pull something like that together?
03:01 - Well, that sequence was very inhumane.
03:03 - Yes.
03:04 (laughing)
03:05 - But she's not, it's so rough.
03:06 We're not gonna tell you that's a lie.
03:08 It wasn't pretty.
03:10 We were in pain.
03:11 And in between takes,
03:13 I was definitely downing some highball energy drinks.
03:16 - Oh yeah, you were all about the energy drinks.
03:17 - Ooh!
03:18 I never drank energy drinks prior to this
03:20 and I was the person who was like,
03:21 "Don't do it, Jockey!"
03:23 My younger brother.
03:24 Man, that scene made me a believer.
03:27 (laughing)
03:28 - It was challenging for a lot of reasons,
03:31 but we had months and months of training,
03:33 but the sets didn't get built until very close to shooting.
03:36 So we did all the training and choreography,
03:38 but in like a big warehouse.
03:39 So then all of a sudden we're on set
03:40 and we're on a rotating carousel
03:42 that we've never rehearsed the fight on before.
03:45 - Right.
03:45 - With all these props coming from every direction
03:48 and I'm jumping on these tongues
03:50 that I haven't really had any time to practice on.
03:52 - My floors!
03:54 - I'm fighting on a seesaw,
03:56 but like 12 seesaws.
03:58 (laughing)
04:00 - It was a lot of on the fly, just go for it.
04:02 - You probably got out on a slide.
04:04 - They catch that epic.
04:06 (dramatic music)
04:09 - What?
04:10 - You were so cool.
04:11 - That also was like a day, I had like a day.
04:13 - No, that's my favorite part of the action sequence.
04:16 - Absolutely.
04:17 - And for me it was that, you know,
04:19 I was injured day one.
04:21 I tore my meniscus, this.
04:22 And so in the fun house, there was a,
04:25 I need a break, you know.
04:27 (laughing)
04:27 And then Son, he would come in,
04:29 you know, the physical therapist,
04:31 you know, massage my knee out,
04:33 put ice, okay, get back in.
04:34 You know, and it was tough.
04:36 - Like a real athlete though, you know.
04:37 - Yeah, it was.
04:38 - No, it's true.
04:39 - No, these girls were badass, I'm telling you.
04:40 - So for the sequel, you're behind the desk?
04:42 - No, honey.
04:43 - Sending them out?
04:44 - I'm gonna still be kicking ass.
04:45 - Good, good.
04:46 - You know, and you hear it or not.
04:48 - No, uh-uh.
04:48 - She ain't sitting nothing out.
04:49 - I'm not sitting anything out.
04:51 - How difficult is it to put your leading action star
04:54 in roller skates?
04:56 - Well, if she's Margot Robbie, not at all.
04:58 - Okay.
04:59 - Because she's just so incredibly capable.
05:01 I'm sure, you know, insurance wasn't super happy about it,
05:03 but she was such a good skater from I, Tonya.
05:06 - Oh, right.
05:07 - And so she was able to translate that really quickly,
05:09 like shockingly quickly.
05:11 We also obviously had, you know, a derby and roller skate,
05:15 like expert and mentor that like taught her
05:18 and trained her a little bit too.
05:19 But she does all of her own skate work in this movie.
05:22 - That's incredible.
05:22 - Which is insane.
05:23 - Yeah, that is insane.
05:24 Could this have ever been a PG-13 film?
05:28 (laughing)
05:29 - Yes, it could have been,
05:30 but I think it would have been a lot less fun.
05:33 - Yeah, very true.
05:34 And did you realize that early on, I guess?
05:36 - Margot had always wanted it to be R-rated as well,
05:38 it was how she pitched it.
05:40 And I think a lot of that was because it feels like
05:42 then we can really just let Harley be, you know,
05:45 who she wants to be,
05:45 like an unfiltered version of Harley Quinn.
05:47 - Oh, you're that psycho chick.
05:49 - I'll never call a woman a chick.
05:50 I'll accept broad lady, woman, and on occasion, bitch.
05:52 - Bitch?
05:53 - What are you talking about?
05:54 - Pull back for me, will ya?
05:55 (explosion)
05:57 - I cannot help but think of how different
05:59 this story might have gone
06:01 if Harley were just able to finish
06:02 her damn breakfast sandwich.
06:03 - I know. - I know.
06:05 - What a way to start my new life,
06:08 the perfect egg sandwich.
06:10 - I mean, do you know what?
06:12 There actually used to be a lot more
06:14 of the egg sandwich in the film.
06:16 - Really?
06:17 - And at some point everyone was like,
06:18 "I can't spend half a movie on an egg sandwich."
06:20 And Christina and I were like, "Of course we do."
06:22 (laughing)
06:23 - I had a woman behind me who screamed out
06:25 in physical pain as it fell to the floor.
06:27 (laughing)
06:28 - I love that.
06:29 - She just screamed out, "No, no!"
06:31 (laughing)
06:32 And I felt her pain in that moment.
06:34 Please just take me through the filming
06:36 of the creation of the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich.
06:38 - Oh yeah, that was so fun.
06:39 - It is food porn.
06:40 - Yes, yes, it was written in the script like that.
06:43 And I was, I love food, and I love food.
06:47 I watched like Joe Jindal's sushi five times,
06:49 and the way that the sushi glistens, you know?
06:51 And so we tried to just make it
06:53 the sexiest egg sandwich ever,
06:56 and the Barry White track doesn't hurt it, hopefully.
06:58 And then of course, just the drama
07:01 and the opera of it falling.
07:03 And that took some time, actually, to get it right.
07:07 And we shot on the Phantom,
07:09 so that could be super, super slow.
07:11 And Margot's face, I mean, her reaction.
07:14 - The cutaway is there.
07:15 - The cutaway is there.
07:16 - Yeah, just the tear, it's gold.
07:18 And we knew it on the day that it was gonna be a lot of fun.
07:21 - That felt pretty great.
07:23 - We are days away from a DC film
07:27 picking up some major Oscars,
07:29 and Joaquin winning for multiple--
07:31 - For a second I thought you meant us.
07:32 - I thought, no, I thought it was like--
07:34 - Who's gonna break it to this guy
07:35 that we are not up for Oscars?
07:36 - Not yet, not yet.
07:38 Next year, maybe.
07:40 But it speaks to that.
07:41 It speaks to the industry sort of taking these projects
07:43 with more seriousness, with more gravitas,
07:45 and recognizing the performances that exist in them,
07:48 and the goals that people are trying to achieve
07:49 with these films.
07:50 Is that what you guys are seeing in terms of the genre?
07:51 Also, has it evolved to a place of respectability?
07:54 - Sure, yeah, I mean, you know,
07:56 these, it's like we've been talking about these,
07:59 these parts are like Shakespearean.
08:01 You know, that's why we see, you get the Batman shirt on,
08:03 you see all these different Batmans and Jokers,
08:06 and it's like why we go to see Hamlet every couple years.
08:09 You know, so there's a lot to do with them.
08:12 And there's a lot of different interpretation,
08:14 and it's cool that they're being recognized in that way.
08:17 They're great characters, and there's a huge backstory,
08:21 and tons to draw from.
08:24 So that's really cool.
08:26 - Well, I think the material, the source material,
08:28 is like just a wealth of goodness, you know,
08:32 for an actor to get to dive into.
08:34 You know, there's so much there for pain,
08:36 and trauma, and experience,
08:39 that for an actor is like a treasure trove.
08:41 So it makes sense to me that you could take that
08:43 and make great filmmaking from it,
08:45 make great, great performances, make something special.
08:49 It doesn't have to be cheesy,
08:51 it doesn't have to be, you know, something unrelatable.
08:53 It can be very human and real.
08:56 - Or overly stylized.
08:57 - Or overly stylized, yeah.
08:59 It can be scrappy, it can feel like, you know,
09:02 real human beings, you know, in this metaphorical way.
09:05 - No, there's so much heart and humanity
09:07 in these comic books,
09:08 and I think that's why they're wildly popular,
09:10 is even though they're heightened and bigger than life,
09:14 at the core, are experiences we all can relate to.
09:18 - I was ready to embrace the fierce goddess within.
09:21 (sizzling)
09:22 (laughing)
09:24 - And it's very much so,
09:25 like Chris was talking about this last night,
09:27 like they're very much so like Shakespeare, you know?
09:29 It's set in times and eras that, okay,
09:32 maybe we don't live in,
09:34 but it's still set in the human experience.
09:37 And that we all can relate to,
09:38 and I think that's why they're so wildly successful.
09:40 - I mean, I think that what makes a comic book movie,
09:43 is really just the characters, right?
09:45 That we know them and we're familiar with them,
09:47 and they're based on lore and the history of them,
09:50 and that's what makes them so compelling.
09:51 But I love the ones that have sort of
09:53 pushed the genre a little bit,
09:55 or actually kind of try to reinterpret the genre.
09:58 And so, you know, Joker is also very much
10:00 a Martin Scorsese-owed movie,
10:02 or the way that Logan is actually a road trip movie
10:05 mixed with a western.
10:07 You know, I think those are really, really fun,
10:08 to be able to pay homage to other parts of cinema.
10:12 - Right. - Like this.
10:13 - Woo! - Turn it up!
10:14 ♪ Sky-catching, double-flashin' ♪
10:18 ♪ Blow, blow, blow, blow, blow your fuse ♪
10:21 (screaming)
10:23 ♪ When you're falling in love ♪
10:27 you
10:29 [BLANK_AUDIO]