Margot Robbie reveals what Tonya Harding REALLY thought of I, Tonya: ‘It’s complicated’

The film made a virtue of the fact that Harding and then-partner Jeff had very different stories to tell when it came to the notorious attack on Nancy Kerrigan.

As such, it’s no surprise that Harding wasn’t 100% ecstatic with the end product – although Robbie has said that it was nothing she didn’t expect.

“I think it’s a complicated thing to sum up how she feels,” she revealed.

“I imagine that if we put ourselves in her shoes – to see the best and worst parts of your life depicted on screen by other people – would be a bizarre experience.

“She, overall, said that she laughed and she cried. She didn’t agree with the parts told from Jeff’s point of view which we were expecting… She said, ‘I didn’t know about the letters!’ I said, ‘I know, I know…’

“Overall I think she is pleased that a more nuanced version of her story is now out there in the world.”

Robbie did not meet Harding until right before she started filming.

“It’s a weird thing playing a real life person who’s alive and is going to see the film,” she explained.

“I knew I was going to be intimidated by that prospect so I kept the character of Tonya and Real Life Tonya very separate in my mind for as long as I possibly could.

“I didn’t meet Real Life Tonya, purposefully, until right before we started shooting. I really needed to approach the character as a fictional character like I would with any other, I just had a whole lot more information to start with than I do with a fictional character.

“I needed that to feel like I could let this character do its own thing on set, not hold back otherwise I think I would be trying to gloss over some character flaws, and try and enhance the good things. I wouldn’t have been able to be as authentic.”

Robbie was instrumental in the production side of I, Tonya and was rewarded with all-round critical acclaim and multiple awards nominations.

The multi-talented Australian star said that she feels empowered to be able to mould her career the way she has so far.

“Being a woman in 2018, and being a Producer on this film, and having a production company I do feel like I’m shaping my career in a way that I want it to be shaped, and not just waiting, hoping,” she said.

“I don’t think that someone would have given me this role if I hadn’t have gone out after it. I wasn’t really prepared to wait ten, fifteen years until something like this came along. I wanted to do that now.

“The production company’s purpose isn’t to have starring vehicles for me, but for any actress. We want female-driven content and female storytellers telling those stories as well. So yes, I do feel empowered by it, getting to be more in control of my fate.”

I, Tonya is available on Blu-ray and DVD now.