Margot Robbie: ‘My restrictive corset helped me become Queen Elizabeth I’

Margot Robbie believes her corset should win a supporting award for helping her get into character for her new film Mary Queen Of Scots.
The Suicide Squad star portrays Queen Elizabeth I in the movie and explains the undergarment’s restrictive nature have her an edge when it came to portraying the restrained historical figure.
”It was really helpful, actually,” she tells CNN. ”The costumes were (also) very restrictive – you’re wearing a corset and layer after layer… I mean, there were jewels on your head, wigs, prosthetics for the pox mark scarring, and then of course really powdered make-up on top, which, in Elizabeth’s case, had lead and arsenic in it… In our case not so. But yeah, it was a lot and it felt very restrictive.
“It was ironic and also helpful to feel trapped, ultimately, by the facade that she’d (Elizabeth) created for herself.”
The Australian actress almost missed out on the experience altogether as she was initially reluctant to take on the part of Elizabeth: “Queen Elizabeth I has been portrayed by some of the most iconic actresses in the world, from Katharine Hepburn (in 1936’s Mary of Scotland) to Cate Blanchett (in 1998’s Elizabeth), and that was scary,” she told U.S. breakfast show Good Morning America earlier this month (Dec18). “But also she’s a very iconic historical figure, and I just didn’t see what I could have in common with the Queen!”
Director Josie Rourke eventually convinced Margot to take on the role and she is glad she did, because she got the chance to work with her “incredible” co-star Saoirse Ronan, who plays Mary, Queen of Scots.