Sometimes in Hollywood, it only takes a single role to catapult an actor from obscurity to superstardom. It’s safe to say that Margot Robbie’s performance in The Wolf of Wall Street was one such role. The movie made her one of the most in-demand actresses in cinema. It's a fact which is all the more impressive considering Robbie said she once thought she wasn't even going to be in The Wolf of Wall Street.
It’s impossible now to imagine a version of The Wolf of Wall Street that doesn’t even have Margot Robbie in it, but speaking with IMDb, the actress revealed that she thought that so much happened in the film that her character might simply get lost in the edit. She explained…
I didn't even see the movie til the night before the premiere. I had no idea if I was cut out... Honest, I'm not saying this to try to be humble or whatever, when we were making the movie, I really didn't think anyone was going to take notice of me, cause so much happens in the movie. So many crazy things happen in the movie that I was like, 'I'll just be like a blip on screen, I'll be there and gone, and there for another thing, and then back again and then gone.'
It’s at least understandable why Robbie might have felt this way. She’s certainly not wrong, as The Wolf of Wall Street is a wild movie, and there’s a lot that happens. From a strict plot perspective, the personal relationships of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jordan Belfort aren’t the most important part of the movie, so if something was going to be cut, it’s not unreasonable for Robbie to be afraid it would be her.
The Wolf of Wall Street is also three hours long. Anytime a three-hour movie comes along, there are discussions about whether or not a movie like that is too long. While Martin Scorsese has made more than his share of epically-long movies, he usually doesn’t have to fight with studios over their length. It wouldn’t have been outside the realm of possibility that the director decided to cut the film down, if only for time, and Robbie got lost in the process.
It also sounds like the editing process on The Wolf of Wall Street, which was headed by frequent Scorsese collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker, was simply long. It’s possible that multiple cuts of the movie were considered, and perhaps some of them didn’t include Robbie, or didn’t include much of her. Ultimately, the actress went into the movie wondering how much of her performance was in the final film. She continued…
And then obviously it was edited for so long, and I didn't see it until the last second, and I was like, 'I wonder if I'm still in it.' Like, I hope I've still got a couple of scenes in there. So, I kind of didn't think anyone was going to notice me, and then things changed quickly.
One has to imagine that there was never any real risk of Margot Robbie being cut. Martin Scorsese clearly knew what he had, as Robbie’s performance in the film is significant, and she steals every scene that she’s in, even when she's not naked. The Wolf of Wall Street isn’t about her, but it wouldn’t be as good a film if she weren’t in it.
