Margot Robbie is one of the biggest stars in the world right now, which is incredible when you consider that it’s been barely more than a decade since she came on most audiences' radar in The Wolf of Wall Street. Those audiences certainly got to see a lot of her, as the film includes one of the most famous nude scenes in recent film history.
Film nudity has actually been on the decline in recent years, which may be part of the reason Robbie’s appearance sans-wardrobe is so memorable, but then there’s also the fact that she appears completely naked, with the camera hiding nothing. In a recent appearance on the Talking Pictures podcast, Robbie spoke about the movie, her first big screen endeavor, and how the nude scene ultimately became the focus of her thoughts, even though the movie was potentially her big break. The actress explained…
At that point, I was just like, ‘How do I explain to my family before they realize, that I’ve just done full frontal nudity?' I think my bigger concerns weren’t even, ‘How did I come across as an actor.’ I was like ‘Oh gosh, everyone’s going to see this’ and I hadn’t really appreciated that until that point.
Margot Robbie reveals that the role of Naomi LaPalglia in The Wolf of Wall Street was specifically planned to be played by an unknown actress, which meant that it was a highly sought-after role for every young actress in a situation similar to Robbie's.
The actress was so new that when she was eventually told that "Marty" wanted to meet her, she didn't realize who that was. When she actually auditioned for the director she famously slapped Leonardo Di Caprio in the face, which may have actually helped her get the role.
It doesn’t appear the required nudity gave Robbie, or many others, pause in auditioning for the role. However, when it came time to actually shoot the scene, the actress mentioned that if she had wanted to avoid the nudity, she was given that option. Robbie says Scorsese offered to put her character in clothes, but she declined because she felt that being completely naked was what the scene required. She continued…
He said ‘Maybe you could be wearing a robe if you’re not comfortable.’ And I was like ‘That is not what she would do in that scene. She would not put a robe on. The whole point is that she’s going to come out completely naked. That’s the card she’s playing right now.
Many actresses have talked about the pressure to appear naked on screen. Many stars simply refuse to do nude scenes for a variety of reasons. For what it's worth, Scorsese here clearly wasn't looking to have a nude scene purely for the sake of it if he was willing to simply eliminate the scene.
Margot Robbie's talent is undeniable, so it’s all but certain that she still would have become a huge movie star even if she hadn’t been so memorably naked in The Wolf of Wall Street. Today, Martin Scorsese takes credit for discovering Margot Robbie so it seems he knew how big a star she would be.
