Australian actor Margot Robbie continues to cement her status as a major box office drawcard, having been confirmed as Tarzan’s love interest Jane in a 3D live-action remake of the adventures of the jungle-dwelling hero.
The Wolf of Wall Street star will appear alongside True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgard under Harry Potter director David Yates. The Warner Bros production is scheduled to hit cinemas in July 2016.
Robbie has reportedly beaten Hollywood A-lister and The Amazing Spider-Man actor Emma Stone to the role – the second time Robbie has done so, after pipping Stone to the post of leading lady in the Will Smith rom-com Focus, out later this year.
Also signed up for Tarzan – a reboot of the classic works by Edward Rice Burroughs to be set in modern-day London – are Samuel L Jackson and Oscar-winner Christoph Waltz.
It’s the latest chapter in the meteoric rise of 23-year-old Queenslander Robbie, who rose to fame locally after joining Neighbours in 2008. She is currently the number three most searched star on IMDB after Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Jennifer Lawrence, and ahead of Scarlett Johansson.
Since her critically-acclaimed role as Leonardo DiCaprio’s wife in Martin Scorsese’s Wall Street drama, she has scored a coveted spot on the cover of the annual Vanity Fair Hollywood edition, appearing alongside names such as George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
She also sparked controversy last week amid reports her legs were digitally extended during a scene from The Wolf of Wall Street, where she pushes DiCaprio with a high heel. Robbie herself has previously criticised the demands of Hollywood on women, saying: “There is a stereotype that you need to look a certain way, and when you get into the business, you really feel the pressure.”
Robbie will also appear in the coming wartime drama Suite Francaise, alongside Michelle Williams and Kristin Scott Thomas, and is currently filming post-apocalyptic scifi thriller Z for Zachariah with Chris Pine and Chiwetel Ejiofor in New Zealand.
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– Sydney Morning Herald
