Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt can’t take you to Hollywood’s wildest parties, but with their latest film, “Babylon,” they can give you a taste of the unique magic of a movie set.
Art mimics stressful life in a huge scene at the beginning of Damien Chazelle’s over-the-top ode to old Hollywood. In “Babylon” (in theaters Friday), filmmakers are trying to line up a key scene in a silent costume drama, where power player Jack Conrad (Pitt) gives his lead actress a kiss while extras clash swords. and shields behind them, an orchestra plays, an explosion goes off and the sun goes down – all at the same time. And it had to be like clockwork for Chazelle and company too.
“I’m so excited that people who aren’t in the movie business can watch this and be a part of this moment,” says Robbie. “Because if I could give that to everyone in the world, I would.”
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The film places her and Pitt as silent film actors in the 1920s on different trajectories as sound images come into vogue. Jack is the world’s highest-grossing star (though the only way from there is down), aspiring actress Nellie LaRoy (Robbie) is a beast who makes the most of her chance when she gets one, and young Mexican assistant Manny Torres (Diego Calva) is the entrepreneur linked to both.
“Babylon” marks the third time Pitt and Robbie are together in the same movie (after “The Big Short” and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), but they never shared a scene until, at a fancy party, the unhinged Nellie gives Jack a big wet kiss in front of his fiancée (Katherine Waterston). “We made it count,” Robbie says with a laugh.
Quite unlike their on-screen counterparts — “They were a little destructive,” says Pitt — the two A-listers chat with USA TODAY about “Babylon,” Hollywood stardom and whether they could hack it in the silent-film era (edited and condensed for clarity).
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Margot, what aspect of Nellie’s story stood out to you the most?
Robbie: I just loved your hunger. She has an insatiable appetite for everything, she likes the good stuff. If she likes something, she wants more and more and more. She looked unforgettable on the page, and I thought this would be the role of a lifetime for me.
And Brad, what did you connect with in terms of Jack’s long tenure in the industry?
Pitt: I think I’m behind things, so I didn’t really question that. This idea of still looking for new expressions, new evolution of the narrative, still intrigues me. And that was way behind Jack. This all seemed quite natural.
Nellie says something interesting in the movie: “You don’t just become a star. Either you are one or you are not.” How much truth is there in that statement?
Pitt: That may be true, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t thousands of potential powerhouse artists out there. We’ve now seen with streamers how deep the talent pool is, and so on. So that tells me I was certainly very lucky to walk through the door. It takes skill, knowledge and humility to continue (and) last. But then again, I’m not even sure about that.
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Robbie: In my opinion, being a star is different from being a great actor. What Nellie is saying in that moment is, “I have what it takes to take up space in this industry.” She looks around Hollywood and sees people who are even crazier than she is, so she feels like this will be home for her. She also has a lot of bravado. And, definitely, when talkies arrive, she recognizes that she’s not going to make it with the new rules.
The opening of “Babylon” is one big party, with wall-to-wall sex, drugs, booze and nudity. Have any of you ever been to such a wild party?
Pitt: So wild? Do not.
Robbie: I’ve been to some wild parties, but not on the “Babylon” scale. That’s another thing.
Pitt: I’ve probably been to parties where a lot of this happened in the back. I just couldn’t get into those rooms. We don’t have that kind of Wild West, wild, mockery freedom that is described in Hollywood back in the day before the ratings arrived, when they discovered it as a big deal.
What was it like filming that scene? Where do you look?
Robbie: You can’t even look up. There were even people on the balconies. You get so numb very quickly. The first wave, yes, everyone runs with their clothes and everyone covers themselves. By the third, fourth, fifth take – and definitely the third, fourth, fifth day – there was no cover.
Pitt: It is true. But Jean Smart had the best line: she don’t sit and don’t back down.
Both are big stars of this era. Would you have cut back in the 1920s and 1930s?
Pitt: That’s a fair question. It is a vernacular so different from what is presented today. Honestly, I didn’t give it much credit until this movie came out because the acting style is so great, you have to indicate a lot and we’ve followed the path of (Marlon) Brando and (Robert) De Niro ever since. But coming back to see them, there’s a lot of charm and a lot of fun for them and great beauty. I think I would have done well.
Robbie: Maybe I got too much Nellie bravado. I like to think she would have made it. But really, with eyes this light, you might not have it. Back then, you wanted to have brown eyes because you looked kind of ghostly if you had light blue eyes.
Pitt: So we may have been booted. They might not have let us in.
