2022’s Babylon was a box office bomb, not to mention a critical dud — and Margot Robbie still doesn’t quite understand.
What did Margot Robbie say about Babylon?
Speaking during a recent appearance on the Talking Pictures podcast (via Deadline), the movie was brought up and Robbie mentioned that she really had no idea why people seemed to dislike the movie.
“I don’t get it either. I know I am biased because I am very close to the project and I obviously believe in it, but I still can’t figure out why people hated it,” Robbie said. “I wonder if in 20 years people are going to be like, ‘Wait, Babylon didn’t do well at the time?’ Like when you hear that Shawshank Redemption was a failure at the time and you’re like like, ‘How is that possible?’”
The film was directed by Damien Chazelle (La La Land), and was his biggest project to date, with a budget of around $80 million. Despite the film’s mixed reaction, Robbie said that she had a great time making it.
“Damian is so thorough,” the Barbie star said. “Do you know what I loved so much about working with him? I felt like no one had really put their foot to the floor with the gas, but he wanted that all the time. He wanted more always. Even when we were prepping.”
Set in 1926, Babylon told the story of the rise and fall of multiple characters during Hollywood’s transition from the silent film era to sound films. Alongside Robbie, Babylon also starred Brad Pitt, Diego Calva, Jean Smart, Jovan Adepo, and Li Jun Li. P.J. Bryen, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Max Minghella, Tobey Maguire, Flea, Samara Weaving, Olivia Wilde, Spike Jonze, Chloe Fineman, and Phoebe Tonkin also appeared in the film, as did many other high-profile actors.
(Source: Talking Pictures)