_Margot Robbie, everything she touches turns to gold

She made a name for herself playing Leo DiCaprio's embattled wife in The Wolf of Wall Street and as the civilised girlfriend of Alexander Skarsgard's Tarzan. 

It's often said that Hollywood is a sham. So what misconceptions do people typically have about you? 

Are you aware of the image you project?

 What advice would you give to teenagers who dream of doing the same job as you?

I meet lots of young girls and I tell them there's no point in going faster than the music, skipping steps. I think that every stage of life shapes you and it's important not to rush anything. When you are 12 years old, for example, you shouldn't try to grow up at all costs to look like someone else, especially an actress. This business can bring you great rewards, great satisfaction, but you mustn't forget that before you break through, you have to overcome rejection. You go to a lot of auditions hoping to get a role and most of the time they don't pick you.  It makes you start to doubt your talent, your ability. It's only those who don't throw in the towel that break through eventually. That's not only true of the film industry.

What are the downsides of stardom?

For a while there was a drone that would hover over my house. I couldn't figure out why. Until a friend explained to me that it was the paparazzi. I would also like people to understand that making a film is not at all glamorous. You spend most of your time waiting in your trailer for someone to come and get you to do your make-up, hair and finally perform your role. You’ve got the script in one hand and a latte in the other. Fortunately, during the loooooong wait, there's also WhatsApp or Skype to call my family in Australia!

 A few years ago you starred in Goodbye Christopher Robin, a film about the relationship between the writer Alan Alexander Milne and his son who inspired the Winnie the Pooh books. You once said that school and books had been a great intellectual playground for you...

 How would you define celebrity?

All I know is that when it hits you the first time, it's like riding the wave of a tsunami. Some people manage to keep their balance throughout their lives. Others lose it and end up disappearing under the waves forever. You need to have inner strength and know how to follow the bubbles that will take you back to the surface. But few people in Hollywood manage to float. In any case, if a psychic had predicted ten years ago that I would one day arrive on the crest of the wave, I wouldn't have paid him for his consultation. Maybe I’d have even called him a liar!

How does your family view your fame?

I don't think it affects them in a negative way. My family has always supported me. They are all delighted that I have succeeded in this business where, as you know, there are very few chosen ones!

They call you a feminist...

I've always thought that women have a muscle that men haven't always been able to use properly; it's the muscle between our ears called the brain! You know, that spongy thing that allows you, in theory, to coordinate your movement and think! 

It is said that Queen Elizabeth I, whom you portrayed so brilliantly in Mary Queens of Scots, I would say royally, would have powdered her face excessively with toxic products to hide her imperfections.

Yes, that almost clownish whiteness of her face was due to ceruse. It was a form of powdered lead! The women of that period also had reasons to show white skin. The aim was to keep a youthful and virginal appearance. It was the sought after look among women. It was essential that they gave the impression that they had never worked outdoors. Working outdoors was synonymous with poverty or the lower classes. It's also worth mentioning that ceruse was a very expensive cosmetic product that only the aristocracy could afford!

Looking back, can you tell us a bit about your transformation?

And wasn't it hard having your body corseted? 

I swore to myself that I would never take a role where I had to wear a corset. I hate that. It's so restrictive. But the choreographer Wayne McGregor, with whom I had already worked on The Legend of Tarzan, made me change my mind. He told me to use it as a protective cage, as a kind of armour. He also explained to me that a corset can help you keep your distance, that it gives you stature, itself symbolic of many things. He taught me how to play it.

Interview by Frank Rousseau,
our US correspondent