Margot Robbie’s Story, the Actress That Went From Subway Cashier to Hollywood Star

When people think of a perfect life, celebrities often come to mind. They are the center of attention, they have dream bodies, faces that could be the envy of Greek deities and, moreover, a bank account that allows them to indulge in all kinds of luxuries they want. What we fail to notice is the hard work and in many cases the difficult past before fame knocked at their door.

Bright Side loves inspiring stories, such as the one from Margot Robbie, who managed to become one of the most important actresses in Hollywood despite the circumstances that surrounded her.

Margot Elise Robbie was born in Dalby, Queensland, Australia, on July 2, 1990. Back then, she wouldn’t have imagined becoming one of the most influential people in the film industry. At just 31 years old, she has been nominated 2 times for Academy Awards, and her talent has led her to work with great stars of the entertainment world.

However, getting there was not easy. Margot said in an interview, “If I want something, I have to make it happen,” and she did. When she was only 5 years old, her mom and dad decided to split up, and her destiny took a drastic turn.

She is the third of four siblings, the daughter of Sarie Kessler, a physical therapist, and Doug Robbie, a farmer. After Doug left, Sarie had to take care of her children, so their financial situation was not simple. Margot, who has always been a woman of action, could not sit still, so she had 3 jobs simultaneously: she was a maid and a waitress and worked at Subway.

Margot recalled in an interview how she landed a gig in the Australian TV series Neighbours after sending a letter to the show’s production; but that wasn’t the only thing that marked her: “I’d been there for months before I realized that nobody else had other jobs on the side.” At the time, Robbie was working at Subway. “And I was like, ’You’re doing acting full-time? That’s possible? OK, wicked, I’m going to do that.’ It was an epiphany.”

But when you’re born to accomplish great things in life, there’s no stopping you. The proof of that is Margot’s story: after appearing in a couple of Australian productions, she decided to break new ground in Hollywood, a task that we all know is not easy, especially if you are a young foreigner with nothing but a certificate of circus studies coming from Somerset College.

Despite having all the odds against her, she ended up moving to the United States at 20. She starred in Pan Am just a few months after landing in a new country. “Everyone was like: ’You’re crazy to go to America! You’ll never make it!’ But it happened,” she said.

“Growing up, I’d always seen people get gifts from Tiffany & Co. in the little blue box. And I always wondered, ’Will anyone ever give me a little blue box?’ So when I got to New York for the first time, having wrangled my way into this industry, I took my first paycheck, walked straight to Tiffany’s on Fifth Avenue, and bought a little airplane charm that goes on a bracelet. It was the least expensive thing in the store, but it came in a little blue box.”

But her big break came after landing the casting to play Naomi Lapaglia in The Wolf of Wall Street and slapping Leonardo DiCaprio. This character earned her industry-wide recognition and launched her to international fame. Thanks to that, she paid off the mortgage on her mother’s house.

Having an absent father, her mother became her role model: “She raised us and always worked. She is a physiotherapist. Sometimes I think she’s lying because I don’t get how she manages to have so much energy. I still wonder how she put up with us. We were 4 unbearable kids; we were fighting all the time”.

Margot stated, “My mum is just the sweetest person on Earth, and if I turned into her, I wouldn’t be that upset at all; in fact, it would be an honor.”

In 2014, she met Tom Ackerley, whom she married in a private ceremony. Tradition says that the bride’s father should give away his daughter on the day of her wedding; however, Margot’s mother did it instead. On the other hand, her dad, who happens to be a sugar cane magnate, was not even invited to the event. The actress already said they’re hardly in touch: “I’m not anything like him.”

Doug Robbie paid for Margot and her siblings to go to private schools, but he wasn’t exactly a conventional father figure. His two daughters, Margot and Anya, reportedly said they “don’t want to know him.” However, his sons Cameron and Lachlan are a bit more sympathetic to their father.

Dreams come true, that’s a fact, but it takes discipline, courage, and dedication. And Margot Elise Robbie has plenty of them. She has proven she has chameleonic skills and can encompass truly different roles. Think of films such as Focus, Suicide Squad, The Legend of Tarzan, I, Tonya, Mary Queen of Scots, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. In 2023, you’ll see her play Barbie in the live-action movie about the famous doll.

After a childhood full of financial struggles — despite having a wealthy father, the two-time Oscar nominee went from working in a Subway to having a net worth of $15 million. And indeed, the art has many more accomplishments in store for the talented Margot, both as an actress and as a producer.

How is your relationship with your parents? What have you fought for or would fight for?