Inside Margot Robbie stealing the show with skates in Birds of Prey

When Margot Robbie returned to the silver screen as the anarchic Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey, audiences were in for more than just a whirlwind of action—they got a dash of animal magic, too. But this time, the usual Gotham critters took a backseat to a more exotic companion. Gotham's own Harley Quinn swapped out canines for a more ferocious four-legged friend. In a cinematic twist, Robbie's character befriends Bruce, a hyena named with a cheeky wink to Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne. Robbie recounted the humor in bringing such an unconventional pet to life, stating, "We thought it would be hilarious to have one of Harley’s hyenas in the film." However, the quest to find a real-life hyena that could be as charming as it was daunting quickly hit a wall.

This wasn't a task for the faint-hearted or the unprepared. The revelation that the true nature of Bruce wasn't a hyena at all but two really lovely German shepherds adorned with the magic of special effects, showcases the creative solutions Hollywood devises. Yet, while Robbie's hyena may have been an illusion, her dedication to performing a myriad of stunts was anything but.

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Roller skates, stunts, and the toll of filming

Embracing her role wholeheartedly, Robbie not only acted but performed arduous stunts, particularly on roller skates—a skill she honed while portraying figure skater Tonya Harding. "Making contact with other human bodies whilst on wheels proved to be more difficult than I anticipated,” Robbie admitted. The most memorable among these? A carousel fight scene that tested the cast's endurance and agility.

Director Cathy Yan reflected on the grueling nature of these sequences, recalling the strain it placed on everyone, especially Robbie. The demand for perfection on a rotating set pushed the limits, with Yan remembering Robbie's exhaustion: "I’ve never ever seen Margot that tired before."

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As we look back on these moments, they're not just entertaining anecdotes from behind the scenes; they're testaments to the lengths actors like Margot Robbie go to breathe authenticity into their characters. It's a dance between reality and movie magic, and Robbie, it seems, waltzed through it with the grace of a seasoned performer.

(Several parts of the text in this article, including the title, were generated with the help of an AI tool.)