Margot Robbie has been on fire ever since her breakout role in Martin Scorsese's The Wolf Of Wall Street, with The Legend of Tarzan and Suicide Squad both looking to help build her box office cred later this summer. But now Robbie is attached to a project that sounds absolutely perfect fodder for her dramatic chops: she's going to play infamous Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding in the biopic I, Tonya.
The news comes to us from Deadline, who have reported that Robbie is attached to the film as its lead actress, as she's trying to find a director to helm the project. The film is set to tell the story of the famous figure skater whose husband tried to take out her competition, fellow figure skater and eventual Silver Medal winner Nancy Kerrigan. With a story of small town girl who came from nothing, and fell from the top as quickly as she rose to meet it, I, Tonya is the stuff that tragedies are made of.
Of course, that's if screenwriter Steven Rogers decides to take the more dour route telling the story of Tonya Harding's eventual fall into obscurity. With the media circus that surrounded the events following Harding's husband, Jeff Gillooly, and his attempt to incapacitate Nancy Kerrigan at the 1992 Winter Olympics, I, Tonya seems like a story ripe for a darkly comedic send-up. With a pitch black sensibility, and the right balance between the humor and the gravitas of the Albertville incident and its fallout, I, Tonya could strike a chord similar to Network. So naturally, Margot Robbie's manic energy would be at the dead center of it all, playing both sides of the coin to the hilt.
Though the other option would be to ground I, Tonya in such a manner that it would give Margot Robbie an experience that could come off similar to Foxcatcher, in which the entire situation is played with note-perfect seriousness. Robbie would then have to play Tonya Harding with a sort-of competitive darkness within her, barely masking such a face with the veneer that everyone got to know before it all came crumbling down. Either scenario would honestly work, because Robbie has shown incredible range over the course of the past three years. If anything, this could be the project that gives Margot Robbie one, big blank check to do whatever she wants with her next project.
Looking back on either scenario, this is definitely a lot of talk considering how early it is in I,Tonya's production cycle. But with Margot Robbie actively seeking parties interested in taking this interesting journey with her, there's more confidence than doubt that this project will not only get off the ground, but land a triple-axel when it gets going. That said, there are no other details for as to when we should expect I, Tonya in front of our eager eyes, but in the meantime you can see Margot Robbie in Suicide Squad, which will be released on August 5th.
