Before Suicide Squad, Improvised Trash-Talking Led To Margot Robbie And Will Smith's First Team-Up
A year before Will Smith and Margot Robbie co-starred in "Suicide Squad," they teamed up for a crime caper that fared a lot better critically than David Ayer's ill-fated supervillain team-up. These days, Robbie is riding high after "Barbie" became the highest-grossing movie of 2023. The Aussie star will soon follow up that success with a starring role opposite Colin Farrell in Kogonada's "A Big Bold Beautiful Journey," not to mention the slew of films her production company, LuckyChap, has lined up.
Smith, meanwhile, hasn't been in the public eye as much in recent years, following what was a disastrous 2022 for the actor. His upcoming role alongside Martin Lawrence in "Bad Boys: Ride of Die" — the trailer for which looks like it will please longtime franchise fans — will be a real test for the actor, and should give a good indication on how the general public are feeling about Smith two years after his Oscars controversy.
But long before these two stars' career paths diverged, they were busy proving their onscreen chemistry with "Focus." Released in 2015, the comedy drama from directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa ("Crazy Stupid Love") starred Smith as experienced con artist Nicky Spurgeon, who acts as a mentor to Robbie's aspiring grifter, Jess Barrett. Romance ensued, and while the film received a mixed critical response, it did manage to make $168 million on a $50 million budget. What's more, it demonstrated Smith and Robbie's undeniable chemistry, prompting rumors of real-life romance that have been vehemently denied by both actors.
That said, this on-screen love affair and the rumors it produced might never have happened if it weren't for some improvised trash talking from Robbie during her "Focus" audition.
Margot Robbie traveled the world for her Focus audition
You probably won't see "Focus" topping lists of the best Margot Robbie movies, but it's not without its charms. In fact, the film would have been a big deal for the actor back in 2015, as she was yet to star in some of the movies that cemented her movie star status, i.e. "I, Tonya" and the aforementioned "Barbie." She hadn't even played Harley Quinn yet, as "Suicide Squad" came out a year after "Focus." So, a co-starring role alongside Will Smith would have been a significant opportunity for the then up-and-comer.
But that didn't mean she couldn't indulge in some cheeky improv at the expense of Smith during her "Focus" audition. Robbie spoke to Entertainment Weekly at the time of the film's release and explained how she got the call to audition while she was backpacking with her brother on an island on the Croatian coast. She continued:
"I end up having the craziest 24 hours of my life. I'm soaking wet because I'd been swimming, I get back to the hostel at 6 a.m., no sleep, turn my phone on, and I've got all these messages: 'They want you to audition for 'Focus.' Your flight leaves tonight.' There's only one catamaran to the mainland and it leaves in 20 minutes, so I'm grabbing my stuff and I race off and I get the catamaran, I get a bus to the airport, I get to the airport and wait six hours, I fly to France and wait another six hours, I fly to New York, and by the time I get to New York they've lost my luggage."
Thankfully, Robbie did make it to her audition, but was surprised to find that Smith was running late...
Margot Robbie teased Will Smith for being late
After Margot Robbie had traveled by land, sea, and air to make it to her New York audition for "Focus," she wasn't in the most composed state. As the actor recalled it, "My shoes are wet, my denim shorts are damp, I've got no makeup, no clothes, and I'd calculated that in the last 50-something hours I had six hours sleep in total." So, it must have been even more deflating to walk into the audition and learn that her potential co-star was running late. Robbie continued, "He comes in and says, 'Sorry I'm late, I was coming from Queens.' And I look at Will and I was like, 'Yeah? Well, I just came from an island off Croatia and I'm here on time.'"
Now, given Smith's recent, shall we say, outburst, you might think that he didn't take too kindly to this sort of ribbing. But it seems both her and the producers actually liked seeing their star get a light grilling as Robbie claims that when she was hired for "Focus," "they said they liked [her] audition." She added, "I was like, 'So I got the job because I looked like s**t and called Will Smith a d**k?' It worked out well. Acting 101, I guess."
This was the second time Robbie had surprised producers, having improvised during her "Wolf of Wall Street" audition and reportedly stunned Martin Scorsese. It's also a damn good thing her improv paid off again for "Focus," considering she traversed the world just to be at the audition. Plus, while "Focus" isn't her most-remembered film, at least she wasn't required to take part in scenes where she literally couldn't breathe or feign an on-screen romance with Jared Leto, so there's that.