Margot Robbie Reflects on 'Babylon': 'I Still Can't Figure Out Why People Hated It'
BABYLON - Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in Babylon from Paramount Pictures. Credit: Scott Garfield/Paramount + © 2022 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Margot Robbie remains perplexed by the mixed reception of Damien Chazelle's 2022 epic Babylon. Despite being a passion project for her, the film struggled to resonate with audiences, grossing only $15 million domestically on a budget of around $80 million. During her recent appearance on the "Talking Pictures" podcast, Robbie shared her disbelief over why the film didn't find its footing with viewers.
"I love it. I don’t get it either," Robbie said, expressing her confusion about the film's poor reception. "I know I am biased because I am very close to the project, and I obviously believe in it, but I still can’t figure out why people hated it." Robbie compared the film's failure to that of The Shawshank Redemption, which initially struggled at the box office but has since become iconic. "I wonder if in 20 years, people are going to be like, 'Wait, Babylon didn’t do well at the time?' Like when you hear that Shawshank Redemption was a failure at the time, and you’re like, 'How is that possible?'"
Robbie played Nellie LaRoy, a character inspired by the real-life silent film star Clara Bow. She opened up about the meticulous character development process she undertook for the role, revealing how she worked tirelessly to find Nellie's voice. "When we were trying to figure out what the accent should be for that character, I gave [Chazelle] 51 different versions of an accent," Robbie explained. "It was like doing a one-woman show. We started off with Boston. Nellie is from Boston. Here's what she sounds like if she’s from Arkansas. Then I got specific: Here's Nellie if she was a mixture of Snookie from Jersey Shore and Joe Pesci. Then I tried Fran Drescher mixed with Snookie. This is how specific we got." Robbie's process, though intensive, reflects her dedication to embodying Nellie LaRoy with authenticity.
BABYLON -Margot Robbie plays Nellie LaRoy in Babylon from Paramount Pictures. Credit: Scott Garfield/Paramount + © 2022 PARAMOUNT PICTURES. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Robbie also praised Damien Chazelle's approach to directing, noting how his vision was as relentless as it was thorough. "Damien is so thorough. What I loved about working with him is that he wanted to push things further all the time. He had his foot to the floor, and he always wanted more—even during prep." Robbie's description of the preparation and collaboration paints a picture of a set filled with creative energy and ambition.
Babylon, which was positioned as an epic exploration of the Golden Age of Hollywood and its excesses, polarized critics and audiences alike. The sprawling narrative, which depicted the transition from silent films to talkies in the 1920s, aimed to capture the chaotic beauty of Hollywood during that era—a theme that some found intoxicating, while others found excessive or inaccessible. For Chazelle, however, Babylon's divisiveness was expected. Speaking to Insider, the La La Land director said, "It’s good to have something that stimulates conversation and debate and a lot of fierce opinions on either side. We all knew the movie was gonna ruffle some feathers and get some people mad, and I think that’s good. More movies should do that."
For Robbie, Babylon may have been a misunderstood piece of work. But her commitment to her role and Chazelle's dedication to creating something bold and conversation-worthy demonstrate that the team was not looking for easy applause—they were chasing something much deeper. Perhaps, like other underappreciated films, Babylon will one day find a new audience and its place as a cult classic in cinema history.
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