Margot Robbie is going to be everywhere. She’s already everywhere, but as promotion for Suicide Squad ramps up, she’s going to be saturating every outlet. The “It Girl of the Summer” covers the August issue of Vanity Fair, and it’s a gorgeous photoshoot. She looks like Bo Derek and Farrah Fawcett and Marilyn Monroe had a perfect blonde baby. Margot mostly talks about The Legend of Tarzan in this piece, but I think she’s mostly concentrating on Suicide Squad making her a HUGE star. You can read the full VF piece here – Margot comes across as a very low-key, low-drama kind of person. She’s not as clumsy or quotable as Jennifer Lawrence, but she’s not as boring as someone like Jessica Chastain (sorry, Chastain). Some highlights:

Growing up in Gold Coast, Australia: “But I don’t like to talk about it… [it only] encourages stereotypes. People always want to know, ‘Did you have kangaroos outside your bedroom window?’ I’m like, ‘Yes, but none of my other friends did.’ Or ‘Did you have snakes running around?’ And again, ‘Yes, in our house, but this isn’t an Australian thing.’”

Early dreams: “When I was little, I thought I was going to be a magician. I had tricks and thought they were genius. I didn’t decide, ‘I’m going to be an actress.’ I didn’t know that was a job. I thought that only happened to people born in Hollywood. But I put on shows at home, and I used to watch videos over and over and knew them by heart. I did drama at school and was in all the plays just because I liked doing it.”

Whether Aussies are proud of her success: “There’s a thing in Australia called tall-poppy syndrome. Have you heard of it? It’s a pretty prevalent thing—they even teach it in school. Poppies are tall flowers, but they don’t grow taller than the rest of the flowers, so there’s a mentality in Australia where people are really happy for you to do well; you just can’t do better than everyone else or they will cut you down to size.”

Working on the failed TV show ‘Pan Am’: “As soon as it went on-air, they were like, ‘No, we didn’t get the ratings we want—let’s get a whole new crew of writers and make it more like Housewives.’ And you’re like, ‘What? That’s so not what the show was going to be.’ After the fifth episode, you see this abrupt change in content. If they’re rehiring writers, it’s obviously not doing well. If they don’t pick up the back nine, it’s pretty certain that you won’t go for a Season Two.”

Life in America: “I remember watching American movies and TV shows growing up and thinking, Oh, God, these crazy characters doing these outlandish things, how do the writers come up with it? Then I moved to America and met so many people just like the people in the movies, and I realized, Oh, so this is just real life in America.”

What is Harley Quinn? “She loves causing mayhem and destruction. She’s incredibly devoted to the Joker. They have a dysfunctional relationship, but she loves him anyway. She used to be a gymnast—that’s her skill set when fighting.”

[From Vanity Fair]

Several Aussies have talked about tall-poppy syndrome lately, including Rebel Wilson. There’s a similar cultural thing in Great Britain too, where “people” don’t want you to get TOO successful, and they will cut you down if you start believing your own hype. I can’t even imagine! That’s so antithetical to the American way of the culture of success. As for her thoughts about the craziness of America, I get the feeling that she’s really from a far-flung and somewhat isolated part of Australia, like she’s a country girl who is sort of flabbergasted by the hustle and bustle of LA, New York and London.

Photos courtesy of Vanity Fair.