Margot Robbie Biography: From Neighbours to Barbie and Hollywood Producer

Margot Robbie is an Australian actress and film producer best known for playing Harley Quinn in the DC films and Barbie in the 2023 blockbuster of the same name. Born Margot Elise Robbie on July 2, 1990, on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, she went from a soap opera in Melbourne to becoming one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood, as both a star and the co-founder of her own production company.

Robbie is famous for doing two jobs at once. In front of the camera she has played a figure skater, a con artist, a queen, and a doll. Behind the camera she runs LuckyChap Entertainment, the company that produced I, Tonya, Promising Young Woman, Barbie, and Saltburn. She is one of the rare stars who can open a billion dollar film and greenlight the next one.

Who Is Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie is an Australian actress and producer who became one of the biggest stars in the world by refusing to be typecast. She began her career in 2008 on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, playing Donna Freedman, a role she held for three years. After moving to the United States, she starred in the short lived drama Pan Am, and then her breakthrough came in 2013 as Naomi Lapaglia in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, opposite Leonardo DiCaprio.

From there, her career moved fast. She played Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad in 2016, a role that made her a fan favorite and led to Birds of Prey in 2020 and The Suicide Squad in 2021. In 2017 she played the figure skater Tonya Harding in I, Tonya, a film her own company produced, and earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She was nominated again for Bombshell in 2019, and a third time as a producer when Barbie was nominated for Best Picture in 2023.

Barbie changed everything. Released in 2023, the film earned more than 1.4 billion dollars around the world and became the highest grossing film of the year. Robbie starred as Barbie and produced the film through LuckyChap Entertainment. In 2026 she produced and starred in Wuthering Heights, playing Catherine Earnshaw opposite Jacob Elordi, in Emerald Fennell’s bold new version of the classic novel. For another story of an actress who built her own production company, see our Sydney Sweeney biography.

Early Life

Robbie was born on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, and grew up in the nearby town of Dalby and on the Gold Coast. She is the third of four children. Her mother, Sarie Kessler, is a physiotherapist, and her father, Doug Robbie, is a former farm owner. Her parents separated when she was young, and she was raised largely by her mother, with whom she remains close.

As a girl, Robbie was energetic and outdoorsy. She spent time on her grandparents’ farm, where she learned to ride motorbikes, surf, and work with her hands. She was also a performer from a young age, taking drama classes and appearing in school plays.

Acting became serious for her as a teenager. She took drama classes at Somerset College on the Gold Coast and began auditioning for local productions. Her first film roles came in small Australian independent films, including I.C.U. in 2009 and About Time in 2013. But it was television that gave her the break she needed, when she won the role of Donna Freedman on Neighbours in 2008, at the age of 17.

Education

Robbie attended Somerset College, a private school on the Gold Coast in Queensland. She was a good student, but her real education in acting came from drama classes and from working on set. She studied drama at school and took extra classes as a teenager, learning the basics of performance while still finishing her schoolwork.

Unlike many actors, Robbie did not go to drama school after finishing high school. Instead, she learned by doing. Three years on Neighbours taught her how to work fast, memorize lines, and perform in front of a camera every day. When she moved to the United States, she took acting classes in Los Angeles to sharpen her American accent and to prepare for bigger roles.

Her education also came from producing. When she co-founded LuckyChap Entertainment in 2014, she had to learn how films are financed, developed, and sold. That business education, learned on the job, is now one of the most important parts of her career.

Career

Robbie’s early career was built on Neighbours. From 2008 to 2011 she played Donna Freedman, a lively young woman who became a fan favorite on the long running Australian soap. The role made her famous in Australia and gave her the experience she needed to move to Hollywood. After a short run in the American drama Pan Am in 2011, she landed the role that changed her life.

In 2013, Martin Scorsese cast her as Naomi Lapaglia in The Wolf of Wall Street. Playing opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Robbie held her own in every scene, and the film made her an international star. She followed it with the romantic drama Focus in 2015 and the adventure film The Legend of Tarzan in 2016, where she played Jane Porter.

Then came Harley Quinn. Robbie first played the character in Suicide Squad in 2016, and the role became one of the most popular in modern comic book films. She returned to it in Birds of Prey in 2020 and The Suicide Squad in 2021. In between, she earned her first Oscar nomination for I, Tonya in 2017, a film she also produced, and a second for Bombshell in 2019. She played Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 2019.

Barbie in 2023 was the peak of her career so far. Robbie starred as Barbie and produced the film through LuckyChap, and it earned more than 1.4 billion dollars worldwide. The film earned her a third Academy Award nomination, this time as a producer. In 2026 she starred as Catherine Earnshaw in Wuthering Heights, directed by Emerald Fennell and co-starring Jacob Elordi, a film she also produced. She is also set to produce and star in a new version of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. For another profile of a star who moved from television to film stardom, see our Zendaya biography.

Family

Family is a big part of Robbie’s story. Her mother Sarie worked as a physiotherapist and raised four children largely on her own after separating from Robbie’s father, Doug, a former farm owner. Robbie has two brothers, Lachlan and Cameron, and a sister, Anya. She has often said that her mother’s hard work taught her to be independent and to take care of herself.

Robbie is married to filmmaker Tom Ackerley, whom she met in 2013 on the set of the drama Suite Francaise, where he worked as an assistant director. They married in a private ceremony in Byron Bay, Australia, in December 2016. Together with friends Sophia Kerr and Josey McNamara, they co-founded LuckyChap Entertainment in 2014.

In November 2024, Robbie and Ackerley welcomed their first child, a son. She keeps details about her child private and rarely discusses her family life in interviews. She has said that becoming a mother has changed how she thinks about work.

Age and Net Worth

Margot Robbie was born on July 2, 1990, which makes her 36 years old in 2026. She is still in the middle of her career, yet she already has three Academy Award nominations, a billion dollar film as both star and producer, and a production company that is one of the most respected in Hollywood. That combination of youth and power is rare, and it gives her room to grow in almost any direction she chooses.

Her net worth is often quoted online, but no figure is confirmed by Robbie herself. Any number you see should be treated as an unverified estimate only, because acting salaries, producing fees, and business income are not fully public. What is certain is that her run of hits since 2013, and especially Barbie, has made her one of the highest paid actresses in the world, and LuckyChap Entertainment adds a business income that most actors do not have.

More important than money is influence. Robbie now has the power to choose which stories get told, and she uses it to back female writers, directors, and producers. For another story of a young performer who built a career on range and hard work, see our Tom Holland biography.

How old is Margot Robbie?

Margot Robbie was born on July 2, 1990, on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, which makes her 36 years old in 2026. She started acting as a teenager and became a star in her early twenties.

What is Margot Robbie most famous for?

She is most famous for playing Barbie in the 2023 film Barbie and Harley Quinn in the DC films. She is also known for The Wolf of Wall Street, I, Tonya, and her work as a producer through LuckyChap Entertainment.

Is Margot Robbie married?

Yes, Robbie is married to filmmaker Tom Ackerley. They met in 2013, married in December 2016, and welcomed their first child, a son, in November 2024. Together they co-founded the production company LuckyChap Entertainment.

What is LuckyChap Entertainment?

LuckyChap Entertainment is the production company Robbie co-founded in 2014 with her husband Tom Ackerley and friends Sophia Kerr and Josey McNamara. It has produced I, Tonya, Promising Young Woman, Barbie, Saltburn, and Wuthering Heights.

Sources

Key facts in this biography were checked against Wikipedia on Margot Robbie, IMDb on Margot Robbie, and Britannica on Margot Robbie. All wording here is original, and no source text has been copied.

Final Thoughts

Margot Robbie biography is a story of ambition meeting opportunity. She started as a teenager on an Australian soap opera, worked her way to Hollywood, and then did something most stars never do: she built a company that lets her choose her own stories. The Wolf of Wall Street made her a star, I, Tonya made her a producer to be reckoned with, and Barbie made her one of the most powerful people in film. At 36, with a new baby and a new film in Wuthering Heights, she is just getting started. Whether she is playing a doll, a figure skater, or a classic literary heroine, Robbie brings the same energy to the screen. That is why her rise feels real, and why her next chapter is one to watch.