Ranking Every Margot Robbie Film Performance from "Who's That?" to "We Must Stan!"

This is also a wig appreciation post

I’m sure you know Margot Robbie.

TNT / Via media.giphy.com

But if not, let me introduce you. She’s an Oscar and Golden Globe nominated actress.

Sony Pictures / Via media.giphy.com

She played Tanya Harding and Sharon Tate and Queen Elizabeth I. She's Australian but does a great Brooklyn accent. She stole Leonardo DiCaprio's heart in one movie. Same goes for Chris Pine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Sebastian Stan, and Alexander Skarsgard. She originated the iconic Harley Quinn Halloween costume, and she gives her friends tattoos. She is, in short, a LIVING LEGEND.

In honor of this year’s Oscar nom, the release of Birds of Prey, and her general wonderfulness, here is a ranking of all her film performances.

Warner Bros. Pictures / Via media.giphy.com

Just like in my ranking of Anne Hathaway’s film performances, Margot’s cameos and voiceover roles in feature films are included, but her appearances in documentaries, shorts, and TV are not. Also, this ranking is based solely on Margot’s performance and NOT the movie as a whole.

So lets get to it.

Warner Bros. Pictures / Via media.giphy.com

20. Slaughterhouse Rulez (2018) - Audrey

Sony Pictures

Let’s begin with Margot Robbie’s extremely brief cameo as Simon Pegg’s girlfriend in this boarding school horror comedy. She Skypes Simon quick from her medical tent in Africa and is not to be seen again. Mostly she’s just here to prove that you can, in fact, look cute in scrubs.

19. Vigilante (2008) - Cassandra Williams

MTI Home Video

It’s a tale as old as time. Boy meets girl. Girl is murdered by thugs. Boy learns to fight so he can enact revenge by systematically killing thugs. Margot plays the aforementioned girl in this low-budget Australian retaliation thriller. A fledgling actress, Margot demands her boyfriend give her gifts and then dies fifteen minutes into the movie. She will move on to bigger and better things.

18. Suite Francaise (2015) - Celine

The Weinstein Company

Strike one: that wig. Strike two: Margot’s minimal screen time. Strike three: her character shags a Nazi in the woods. While this film wasn’t released until 2015 (on Lifetime rather than in theaters), it filmed back in the summer of 2013 before Robbie’s breakout performance in The Wolf of Wall Street. Here she plays a villager in German-occupied France during World War II, and she isn’t given much to do aside from struggle under that oppressive hairpiece.

17. The Legend of Tarzan (2016) - Jane Porter

Warner Bros. Pictures

As a good millennial, the Disney Tarzan (with 'N Sync on the soundtrack) is the only Tarzan for me. This sequel-of-sorts to the traditional Tarzan story, follows the ape-man and Jane back to Africa after they’ve spent some time in England. As Jane, Robbie does not swing/surf on vines. She does not become close friends with gorillas and elephants. Instead she gets held hostage by Christoph Waltz and looks distressed. A bit underwhelming (and no 'N Sync).

16. The Big Short (2015) - Herself

Paramount Pictures

Here’s proof that Margot Robbie is a living legend. She is in 67 seconds of this best picture nominee, sitting in a bubble bath, playing herself, and she is still the most memorable part of the film. Do I understand the financial crisis? Not really. But, I will always remember Margot’s “When you hear subprime, think shit.” Someone get this woman an econ podcast!

15. Z for Zachariah (2015) - Ann Burden

Roadside Attractions

In Margot’s first film post-big break, she plays Ann, a nuclear fallout survivor caught in a love triangle with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Chris Pine, seemingly the only two other humans alive. Robbie employs an “aww shucks” southern accent and smidge too much wide-eyed naivety for a believable apocalypse survivor. Mimicking the film’s wonky radiation science (it’s no Chernobyl), her performance, while attempting something interesting, doesn’t quite add up.

14. About Time (2013) - Charlotte

Universal Pictures

How is this Margot’s only rom-com appearance? And she’s not even the lead! Who do I need to call about this? Margot plays Domhnall Gleeson’s pre-Rachel McAdams love interest in this time-traveling romance. She exudes charm and charisma in her handful of scenes but leaves us wanting more. On a side note, this is the first of four film collaborations between Margot and Domhnall.

13. Terminal (2018) - Annie/Bonnie

RLJE Films

If there were a prize for Most Acting on this list, it would go to Margot’s performance as Annie in this neo-noir thriller. As a contract killer/diner waitress, Margot returns to the plastic sociopath vibes she employed in Suicide Squad, but combines them with an outrageous British accent, a dozen wigs, and a newfound gruesome creepiness. Her performance, and the film itself (also starring Matthew Lewis aka Neville Longbottom), is so bonkers, it’s hard to rank.

12. I.C.U. (2009) - Tristan Waters

Osiris Entertainment

While Vigilante was released earlier, I.C.U. is actually Margot’s first film performance. Her star quality is apparent even in this shaggy, low budget horror movie about teenagers spying on their neighbor. Surrounded by stilted, clunkier performances, Margot shines as a realistic, constantly annoyed, Ashley-Simpson lookalike. I.C.U. is worth a watch for B-movie horror fans, but sadly is nearly impossible to get your hands on.

11. Peter Rabbit (2018) - Flopsy Rabbit/Narrator

Sony Pictures

Margot is pulling double duty in her first voiceover performance. Not only is she playing Flopsy, the nervous, lisping, red-cardigan-wearing sister of James Corden’s Peter. She’s also the film’s sassy narrator. Such a flex. In April, she’ll be reprising her roles (alongside Domhnall Gleeson) just to remind us of her talent.

10. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016) - Tanya Vanderpoel

Paramount Pictures

While Margot can certainly breathe life into a homicidal waitress or post-apocalyptic farmhand, she plays an equally great regular human. As a journalist who befriends Tina Fey in this dramedy set during Operation Enduring Freedom, Robbie effortlessly plays the flirty, beautiful, talented reporter Fey aspires to be. Not a “stretch” for Margot, but she stands out nonetheless and proves comedy is in her wheelhouse. (Give us the rom-com!)

9. Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017) - Daphne de Selincourt

Fox Searchlight Pictures

In another Gleeson/Robbie collab, our scene-stealing queen plays the wife of Winnie the Pooh author A.A. Milne and the mother of Christopher Robin (yes, the cartoon character is based on Milne’s real son). Far from a typical wife/mom role, Margot plays the London socialite with the perfect mix of pragmatic strength and energetic tenderness. Plus, at points the actor playing her son is only five years younger than Robbie, so kudos for making that believable.

8. Birds of Prey (2020) - Harley Quinn

Warner Bros. Pictures

In her latest appearance on the big screen, Margot is back as Harley Quinn. This time around, she’s mourning a breakup with the Joker and leading a girl gang to take out Ewan McGregor’s new baddie Black Mask. While the film itself is much better than its predecessor, its carnivalesque cartoony quality camouflages Harley a bit. Margot’s still insanely fun but not given the same darker layers to play with that she had in the grittier original.

7. Mary, Queen of Scots (2018) - Queen Elizabeth I

Focus Features

In this, the peak of her wig-wearing career, Margot dons dozens (and sometimes even two at once) as the smallpox-ridden queen, jealous of her cousin. While Margot’s performance, especially in her final confrontation with Saoirse Ronan, is breathtaking, this is really Mary’s story, not Elizabeth’s. Saoirse is battling assassination attempts, while our brief cuts to Margot show her doing little but pining for Taylor Swift’s boyfriend.

6. Focus (2015) - Jess Barrett

Warner Bros. Pictures

In lesser hands, the role of Jess Barrett in this twisty, con-man thriller could have easily become that of a dull Bond girl serving as eye candy. Margot, however, brings so much spunk, pizzazz, and heart as the fledgling grifter that she nearly outshines co-star Will Smith. Also, these two have CHEM. I. STRY.

5. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) - Sharon Tate

Sony Pictures

While Margot does not have many lines as the tragedy-destined actress in Quentin Tarantino’s best picture nominee, I’d argue that makes her performance all the more impressive. Without dialogue, she still connects the audience to her 1960’s Hollywood starlet, transforming Sharon Tate from a tragic name we’ve heard to a lovable up-and-comer who feels like a friend.

4. Bombshell (2019) - Kayla Pospisil

Lionsgate

In her second Oscar-nominated role, Margot plays the new girl at Fox News, thrilled to have landed the job, but increasingly aware of the nefarious environment. Margot not only sells herself as the naïve intern but also delivers a heartbreaking performance as she survives and grapples with her sexual assault. Her tender friendship (and romance) with Kate McKinnon also adds warmth to the devastating subject matter.

3. Suicide Squad (2016) - Harley Quinn

Warner Bros. Pictures

The film that launched a thousand Halloween costumes. While the DC Comic film was largely panned (27% on Rotten Tomatoes), everyone could agree that Robbie’s Harley Quinn was the bright spot. Her tragically smitten psychiatrist-turned-homicidal-lunatic erupted from the screen as an icon. She’s insane and dangerous, and yet somehow also relatable and sweet? Margot threads the line here, delivering the supervillain performance of the decade (sorry Joker!)

2. The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - Naomi Lapaglia

Paramount Pictures

You can’t talk about Margot Robbie without mentioning her scene-stealing turn as Leonardo DiCaprio’s second wife in The Wolf of Wall Street. A total unknown before this film, Robbie rocketed into stardom as the feisty model with a thick Brooklyn accent. Her scene with Leo on the playroom floor is legendary. Also, imagine my shock when I found out Margot was Australian!

1. I, Tonya (2017) - Tonya Harding

Neon

Margot’s first Oscar-nominated role remains her best work. Starring as the controversial 1990’s figure skating icon, Margot uses every tool in her toolbox, combining her ability to be brash and chaotic with that rootable tenderness. It’s one of her few leading performances (SHE DESERVES MORE!), and Margot leaves it all on the rink. Plus, just look at those wigs. Need I say more?