Hope more men watch female-led movies like ‘Birds of Prey’: Margot Robbie

PTI, Jan 31, 2020, 12:43 PM IST

London: Actor-producer Margot Robbie hopes more and more men turn up to watch female-driven films, like her latest “Birds of Prey”, as she believes they will be able to relate with such stories.

Robbie is returning as Harley Quinn in “Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)”, on which she also serves as producer.

Directed by Cathy Yan, the DC film has been penned by “Bumblebee” scribe Christina Hodson.

“Birds of Prey” also features Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, Jurnee Smollett-Bell as Black Canary, Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain and Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya.

Robbie said she watches films regardless of the protagonist’s gender.

“I hope that guys watch films with female leads as much as they watch ones with male leads. ‘Cause I watch films despite the gender of the protagonist and find a way to relate just on human behavior.

“I feel if more men watch female-driven content they’d find a way to relate as well,” the 29-year-old actor told Sky News at the premiere of the movie here.

The new film is a spin-off of “Suicide Squad” that introduced Robbie as Harley Quinn.

Robbie said despite being a champion of women’s rights, she ultimately wanted the best person for the directing job.

“It was a big priority for me to always seek opportunities for women because they categorically and historically get fewer opportunities. However, at the end of the day, the best person for the job should get the job and if the best person that came in was a guy we would have had a guy directing this film, but Cathy was the best person for this job,” she added.

This award season has been a let down when it comes to a lack of female nominees in the directing categories at this year’s BAFTAs and Oscars and the actor hopes next year is better.

“I hope that’s not the case next year. I loved a lot of movies this year, I loved movies that were directed by phenomenal female directors as well, but yeah, what can you do?” Robbie said.

She is nominated for best supporting actress BAFTA for “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” and “Bombshell”. She has also earned an Oscar nod for “Bombshell”.