Margot Robbie had to have a dialect coach to make her sound "less Australian" for ‘Neighbours’.
The 29-year-old actress – who was born and raised in Queensland – shot into the limelight in 2008 when she landed the role of Donna Freedman in the Australian soap, based in Melbourne, but she has admitted producers weren’t too impressed with her accent when she first started.
Speaking to Vogue magazine, in which she was interviewed by director Quentin Tarantino, she said: "I am a Queenslander, and my accent was so Australian that ‘Neighbours’ hired a dialect coach to make me sound less Australian.
"So that was all part of the process of moving to America. Before that the idea of being in Hollywood, I did think you had to be born into it or had to know someone in the industry."
After six months on the show, the ‘Suicide Squad’ star decided to move across to America.
She explained: "Then a few months after being on Neighbours, I witnessed a couple of cast members my age making that transition to LA after finishing up their contracts. I remember thinking: ‘Okay, now I have the lay of the land I have three options. One, I get fired because I’m not good enough. Two, I am good enough and I get to stay on ‘Neighbours’ for 20 years and what an amazing life that would be. Or three, I take the gamble and make the jump over to America and try my luck in Hollywood. So about six months in I made the decision and started saving money and learning the American dialect. You’ve met me with my Australian accent now, but my Australian accent as it was then was very, very Australian."
And, although she managed to crack America fairly quickly, Margot doesn’t think the blockbusters she’s starred in are any more "important" than working on ‘Neighbours’.
She said: "There’s no specific timeline, I guess, and you’re right, that’s the magic of Hollywood. Everything can change so quickly. People often ask me what’s been the best part. I couldn’t say ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ was better than my time on ‘Neighbours’ and I couldn’t say that ‘Z for Zachariah’ wasn’t as important to me as ‘Tarzan’. It’s all been so exciting."
Margot Robbie had dialect coach for Neighbours
