Margot Robbie transforms into Elizabeth I for Mary Queen Of Scots
Margot Robbie says she was fascinated to explore Elizabeth I's hidden side
When Margot Robbie scored the role of Elizabeth I in the new period film Mary Queen Of Scots, she focused on portraying the royal as a woman, not a queen.
The 28-year-old Australian actress, who intentionally stayed away from other actresses' portrayals of the historical figure, said at our interview at the Four Seasons hotel in Beverly Hills: "It explores the cost of power and what it means to be a leader, especially at that time, and the sacrifices made to sustain that power.
"I was interested to explore the girl inside her who didn't want to be queen. I wanted the voice always in her head to be, 'I don't want to be queen, I just want to be a normal woman.' I was really fascinated with exploring that side of Elizabeth, though she hides that."
Opening here on Feb 28, Mary Queen Of Scots - directed by Josie Rourke in her feature film debut - is based on John Guy's biography Queen Of Scots: The True Life Of Mary Stuart.
When she is widowed at age 18, Mary (Saoirse Ronan) returns to Scotland from France where she was married to the King, to reclaim her throne. By birth, Mary has a rival claim to the English throne of her cousin Elizabeth and is portrayed as a savvy politician who wants an alliance.
As both women struggle to rule at a time when female rulers were reviled, betrayal, suspicion and conspiracy force them apart, leading to Elizabeth's decision to eventually behead Mary.
Robbie undergoes a considerable physical transformation to portray Elizabeth, with her fiery red hair and dead white skin to hide pockmarks.
After doing research into smallpox, she learnt that 60 per cent of those affected were permanently scarred, especially on the face, and that included Elizabeth.
"This makes sense why she kept piling on the thick make-up. There was maybe a glimpse of a person still there, but she really has got to a place where she has sacrificed her humanity in order to rule successfully.
"It took quite a few people and three to four hours to get Elizabeth I ready, and in the movie, it took quite a few people and three to four hours to get me ready, so yeah, it was actually art imitating life," she said.
But Robbie was up for the daily challenge, as she loves special effects make-up particularly and is fascinated by prosthetics.
"It was an interesting social experiment to see how people reacted differently to me when I looked like that, especially the smallpox phase when it looked visibly painful - pus, redness and swelling.
"People knew it was make-up, but something instinctively made them look away. It was an alienating experience. It was a small glimpse into understanding perhaps how that added to the loneliness Elizabeth experienced as queen."
Of course, the costumes informed her character as well.
"They were so confining and almost claustrophobic that they helped give me the feeling that I was trapped as Elizabeth and trapped within the facade that we had created.
"Usually I try and steer clear of any projects that involve corsets because I hate wearing them so much, but in this case, it really helped find the character... feeling so rigid and trapped."
Even though Elizabeth and Mary never met according to historical accounts, Mary Queen Of Scots takes literary licence and shows one scene in which they do come face to face.
It also shows, perhaps fancifully, that Elizabeth admired the "passionate and charismatic" Mary and envied her life as a wife and mother, and even "going to war, riding into battle".
But Robbie does not see them as rivals.
"History has really painted their relationship as a catfight and I don't see it that way.
"They were the only two people who truly understood what each other was going through. They were the only two women in that position, and though they were very different, they had shared experiences and therefore could relate on a level that no one else could."
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