Hollywood star Margot Robbie is desperate to film in Scotland so she can drink whisky, wear a kilt and “play the bagpipes badly”.
The 31-year-old Australian actress has been Oscar-nominated and in a string of hits including The Wolf of Wall Street, Suicide Squad and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
In 2018 she also starred as Elizabeth I in Mary Queen of Scots, who was played by Saoirse Ronan.
And while Saoirse filmed in Scotland in places such as Linlithgow ’s Blackness Castle, Glencoe and Inverness, Margot’s scenes were shot in England in Hardwick Hall and, for the scene where the two queens met, Chiltern Open Air Museum.
Margot said: “I would love to film in Scotland one day for sure. It looks a beautiful country.
“I didn’t get to film there for Mary Queen of Scots but I know it has some beautiful locations so I am sure it will happen. I am a total tourist when I am in a city for the first time.
“I could totally see myself in
Edinburgh drinking whisky, wearing a kilt and trying to play the bagpipes badly.”
Margot does have Scottish roots. Her father Doug’s family are descendants of Clan Donnachaidh, or Clan Robertson, and her brothers Cameron and Lachlan were given uber-Scottish names.
But it seems she hasn’t delved into her tartan history and that might be because Doug left her mum Sarie, Margot’s sister Anya and two brothers when the actress was still a young child and they were estranged for more than 20 years.
Instead she’s concentrated on going from Neighbours to Hollywood’s A-list.
Margot left her small Queensland hometown of Dalby when she was 17 to try it as an actress in Melbourne, and landed a three-year part on Neighbours as bisexual teen Donna from 2008.
This year it’s 10 years since she left Neighbours to become a Hollywood star but Margot hasn’t forgotten the foundations the soap gave her. She said: “I have fond memories of working really hard with such an amazing cast and crew.
“I’ll always be so grateful for the experience of working on a production that pushed me so much. It was the best training ground and I will always be so grateful for everything I learned from my time on Neighbours.”
In 2011 she left Neighbours and like so many hopefuls tried her luck in Los Angeles.
Her big break was winning the part of Naomi, “the hottest blonde ever” trophy wife of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in The Wolf of Wall Street.
While a small part, it made a huge impact and she’s never looked back.
As well as playing Harley Quinn three times over the past five years, first in 2016’s Suicide Squad then last year’s Birds of Prey and now The Suicide Squad, she was also Oscar-nominated for her role of real-life skater Tonya Harding in I, Tonya and for best supporting actress in Bombshell.
She has also turned her hand to producing with British husband Tom Ackerley, 31, and their company LuckyChap was Oscar-nominated for I, Tonya and Promising Young Woman.
But for now Margot is best known for the Joker’s on/off girlfriend Harley who is back next week with The Suicide Squad which co-stars Idris Elba, John Cena and Scot Peter Capaldi, who plays The Thinker.
While she has stated this month she’d like to give playing Harley a break she is fond of the character.
Margot said: “Playing Harley is like playing a kid in the playground – and it’s always more fun when there are other kids around.
“She is psychotic, fun, morally ambiguous – she gets to say things and do things I would never do in real life and love that about her.”
Something completely different for Margot was voicing Flopsy in this year’s Peter Rabbit 2: the Runaway and while she never had a pet rabbit, she does make a startling confession.
She laughed: “I do have Bunny who I sleep with. It’s a bit weird but I was given him when I was born and I’ve had him ever since. My husband is thoroughly creeped out by sharing a bed with Bunny.
“He actually waits for me to fall asleep and grabs it and chucks it out of the bed! I find Bunny on the floor in the morning and I am like, ‘How dare you!’”
There’s no doubt she’s a huge star. So big it was claimed she’d replace Johnny Depp’s Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean.
It’s now been confirmed she will head a female-led spin-off film while the sixth Pirates franchise is currently being written to follow up 2017’s Dead Men Tell No Tales.
The spin-off has “lots of girl power” according to Margo but she can’t say too much for fear of walking the plank.
She said: “I will say that we’re really excited at the prospect of adding a key female element to the franchise.”
●The Suicide Squad is in cinemas on Friday, July 30.
