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