Margot Robbie Gave Leonardo DiCaprio A “Thunderclap Of A Slap” In “Wolf Of Wall Street” Audition

“The room just went dead silent and I froze.”

Australian actress Margot Robbie recently made it onto Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People list, and her entry was written by Wolf of Wall Street director Martin Scorsese.

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Scorsese describes 26-year-old Robbie as "like no one else", heaping praise on the former Neighbours star and comparing her to everyone from Joan Crawford to Carole Lombard.

"Margot has all this in addition to a unique audacity that surprises and challenges and just burns like a brand into every character she plays," he wrote.

Scorsese also brought up how Robbie clinched the role of Naomi Lapaglia, Jordan Belford (Leonardo DiCaprio)'s wife, in 2013's lavish Wolf of Wall Street.

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"She clinched her part in The Wolf of Wall Street during our first meeting," wrote Scorsese, "by hauling off and giving Leonardo DiCaprio a thunderclap of a slap on the face, an improvisation that stunned us all."

Robbie spoke with Harper's Bazaar about the audition two years ago, saying she saw the opportunity as a "once in a lifetime chance" she had to take.

"I start screaming at him and he's yelling back at me. And he's really scary. I can barely keep up. And he ends it saying, 'You should be happy to have a husband like me. Now get over here and kiss me.' So I walk up really close to his face and then I'm like, maybe I should kiss him? When else am I ever going to get a chance to kiss Leo DiCaprio, ever? But another part of my brain clicks and I just go, whack! I hit him in the face. And then I scream, 'Fuck you!' And that's not in the script at all. The room just went dead silent and I froze."

At first, Robbie was worried DiCaprio might have her arrested for assault, but luckily, Scorsese and DiCaprio just burst out laughing – and DiCaprio even asked Robbie to hit him again.

Certainly, Robbie seems to have found herself a fan in Martin Scorsese.

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"Margot is stunning in all she is and all she does," he ends his Time submission with, "and she will astonish us forever."