Margot Robbie Explains Why Her Nickname Is 'Maggot'

Would you please welcome the stars of Babylon, Margot Robbie and Diego Calva. Can you tell that Australia is happy to see you? It's great. I've been talking Australia up so much to Diego and everyone's really living up to the hype here and I'm appreciating it. There was a lot of talk when we spoke to you last night about getting loose at the premiere. Was it a big night? It was and actually, thank you, it's my first time in Australia and I think I'll maybe stay for longer. You've made lots of people very happy, Diego. Now, Margot, one of your friends yelled out maggot to you on the red carpet. Yeah, let's get into that. Please tell me that's your nickname and not just an insult they threw out. That has been my nickname since I was probably six years old or something at school. I think a substitute teacher may have read my name out wrong on the roll call or something and said maggot and everyone laughed. It was one of those things that you hope fades away by lunchtime, but here we are. You can actually never outgrow your nickname. How successful do you have to become? No, you can't pick a nickname either. You get given it, you don't get to... Exactly. Diego, were the Australians nicer to you on the red carpet? No, but I think Margot's brother... But Margot's brother put in my first nickname, Diego Salva. He did. My younger brother was emceeing and he was so nervous and he checked with me the day before. He said, I just want to check the pronunciation of everyone's names. Got it right and then on stage said Diego Salva. As far as nicknames go, it could be worse. It could be maggot. Can we talk about the movie? Sam and I saw it at eight o'clock in the morning. Oh, wow. It is wild. It's like doing a tequila shot for breakfast. How would you even begin to describe a movie like this? It is so epic. It's such a wild... Obviously, it's a look at Hollywood in the 1920s but that makes it sound quite boring. It's not boring. Honestly, it's just so decadent and debaucherous and it's big and wild and epic and just an insane ride and just so much movie and such a sensory overload. It's a crazy film. It was a crazy experience making it. I love letter to movies too. It's a cinematic spectacle for sure. Damien Chazelle is a phenomenal filmmaker. It's like a love letter to cinema written with a poison pen. There's also no... I'm not giving anything away here because it's been talked about a lot that the opening 30 minutes is essentially an orgy of some sort. There's a lot going on. It's a real explosion of the sexual senses. Your mum was there last night. It's not the first time she's seen the film, I'm sure. Did she enjoy those bits? It's always awkward watching an orgy with your mum. That's never a chill experience. To be honest, after The Wolf of Wall Street, I think my family's braced at this point for whatever I do. But no, my mum loves the movie. She's like, this is a phenomenal film and it really is. Actually, I was surprised. A lot of my family were just like, I just didn't want it to end. It's a long film. They were like, I could have kept watching that for so long. Yeah, they got on board. I think they were clutching their pearls at some point. There's a particular moment with you in an ice sculpture that if you haven't seen it yet, just hang out for that. Let's not remind my mum of that. It was such a feast for the senses. I was thinking the whole way through, would this have been as manic to film as it is to watch in this way? Would you need some downtime to really chill out? We heard that you brought Pokemon cards on set. Is that how you zen yourself out? You just catch them all. Yeah, I have to catch them all. You really took that seriously. The problem is nobody knew how to play Pokemon cards so I was playing against myself. It's not sad. It's a very good way to practise. It obviously speaks to the fact that you both have this great and deep love for film. What's the first film that you watched that made you think, okay, this is what I want to do? I didn't ever realise it was a feasible career choice, being an actor, but I did always love film and watched movies just on repeat and would go to, you know, go to Pac-Fair and sit on the cinema steps and just watch the trailers. Packers, Gold Coast people in the audience? There you go, okay. Birch, Calloway and Coyle, yep. So I just always loved movies. I just didn't realise I could be an actor and then I found out one day that someone will pay you to do it and that was a wonderful revelation. Diego, how about you? Was there, like, an actor or a film that you saw and you're like, okay, that's what I'm going to do? Yeah, maybe not about acting, you know. It takes a while to realise that, okay, I can act and make a living about it, but when I was young, I was watching Peter and the Wolf, the Disney movie, and that was my first time, like, getting hooked with a movie. Like, I think the first time I watched it, I was so afraid with the music of the wolf that I have to, like, live that again and again and again and I think that was it. Yeah, yeah. Well, Margot, you said that Nelly is the character you most identify with. Nelly does some shady things. Are you trying to tell us something? What have you done? She's definitely the character I'm probably most close to. It's tricky to explain. I think she's definitely took the most from me and maybe I've put some of myself in her, but I didn't think we had a lot in common, but all my girlfriends saw the movie last night and they're like, that's totally you. And I was like, that's insulting. That's a little bit... How offensive. That's not a good thing. They were like, you would do all the... I was like, I wouldn't do any of those things. She's unhinged and I'm not. No, but we definitely do have some crossover, but no, in a lot of ways thankfully we're not alike. But yeah, I think she's always going to kind of have a special place in my heart, as will this film. I think this is the film I'm most proud of. There's a great scene where Nelly has to cry on cue. Can you do that in real life? Did you learn that on Neighbours? I did. I mean, I got a lot of practice on it. I did over 300 episodes on Neighbours. Donna, never forget my queen. Donna, right? Did you watch... I was a big fan. She has never come to watch me do the show, but you were on, Donna, and she came straight in. I'm honoured. Could you give us a few tips on how to cry? We all need an exit strategy, don't we, Sam? Give us some tips. Instruct me. I just think of something sad. I know that sounds overly simple, but go on, just try it. Think of something. Has anyone got the promo handy? Really sad. Come on. I'm trying to pass a stone. Is it true you can cry out of one eye? I was about to say, pick the eye that's closest to camera and let the tear drop out. Can you really control it, which eye it comes out of? Sometimes, yeah. Yeah, sometimes. I thought that was just eye drops. No. Wow. All right, let's practice in the ad break. Yeah. We all come back bawling and nobody knows why. I know, everyone's like, they look awful. All right.