The Babylon actor previously stated that Margot Robbie improvised her kiss with her co-star in order to seize the “moment.”
Margot Robbie has spoken up about her contentious on-set kiss with Babylon co-star Brad Pitt.
“We all set our boundaries before shooting this movie because it truly pushes boundaries in a lot of ways,” she told Entertainment Tonight at the film’s premiere last week. “We’re OK.”
The Australian actress, who is married to British producer Tom Ackerley, sparked outrage earlier this month when she admitted she fabricated her kiss with her co-star.
“That wasn’t in the screenplay,” she said, according to E! News. “But I thought, ‘When else am I going to get the chance to kiss Brad Pitt? ‘I’m going to go for it.'”
In the comedy-drama, Robbie plays Nellie, an aspiring actress in 1920s Hollywood, while Pitt plays established actor Jack Conrad.
“I remarked to Damien, ‘I think Nellie would just walk up and kiss Jack,'” Robbie recalled during a meeting with director Damien Chazelle. “‘Well, she could—wait, hold on,’ Damien said. ‘All you want to do is kiss Brad Pitt.’ ‘Oh, so sue me,’ I thought. This opportunity may never arise again.’ And he said, ‘It works for the character,’ and I said, ‘I suppose so.'”
Finally, Chazelle believed the kiss “actually works,” and he wanted to record another take and incorporate it in the film, according to Robbie.
Some social media users, however, took issue with Robbie’s casual remarks, claiming that her actions were improper and that the reaction would have been different if the positions had been reversed. Others thought Robbie’s comments were inappropriate, given Pitt’s ex-wife Angelina Jolie’s abuse charges.
When asked about how “Margot slipped in a kiss” at the “Babylon” premiere, Pitt told ET, “there’s always opportunity for character interpretation.”
“Believe me, that’s the most subdued thing she does in this,” he continued. “She’s on fire here. It’s her greatest performance ever.”
Following the sexual misconduct charges that sparked the Me Too movement and Hollywood’s continuing reckoning with abuse, film sets have altered how performers shoot intimate sequences while addressing permission and limits. Intimacy coordinators are now used in many shows to assist safeguard and guide players through this sort of work.
