Margot Robbie has revealed that she once faked her own death to scare a babysitter.
Robbie, who stars in Greta Gerwig’s recently released Barbie movie, shared the amusing (yet slightly disturbing) story during an interview with BBC Radio 2.
“We got a new babysitter and I wanted my old babysitter back, Talia, who was like 16 and I thought she was so cool,” the actress told presenter Zoe Ball. “And then we got this much older lady in and I was just not happy about it, and she told me to go have a bath and I didn’t want to and she was very cranky and I thought, ‘I’m gonna show you’.”
Robbie continued: “And so I got a big kitchen knife and the ketchup and I sprawled out naked on the tiles, covered myself in ketchup and put the kitchen knife [near her body]. And I waited for like 45 minutes for her to find me. But it was worth the wait.”
Asked if the prank left the babysitter running and “screaming from the house,” Robbie replied, “Oh yeah.”
The actress went to on admit that she was “a bit of a dramatic child”, having also practised pratfalls on the steps at a cinema, which encouraged bystanders to call an ambulance. You can watch the BBC Radio 2 interview below.
Robbie stars alongside Ryan Gosling in the recently released Barbie movie, which has has received widespread praise from critics.
In a four-star review of the film, NME wrote: “The script contains unexpected subtlety, particularly during the tender moments which pack an emotional punch.
“Presumably, part of Mattel’s motive for bringing Barbie to the big screen was changing her outdated image of rigid beauty ideals and unrealistic body conformism. So sprinkled throughout are marketing messages (“Barbie means you can be anything”) that sound like they come straight from a press release. Gerwig is clever enough to deliver these with self-awareness and some sarcastic jokes (Mirren thanking Barbie for ending misogyny is a highlight), meaning the balance between reality and commercial is never lost. For a movie that ostensibly exists to promote a doll, this is laudable.”