Why Margot Robbie Insisted On Full-Frontal Nudity In The Wolf Of Wall Street

Martin Scorsese's 2013 film "The Wolf of Wall Street" doesn't really shy away from showing anything, if you think about it. Based on the real-life trials and tribulations of Wall Street cheat Jordan Belfort — played by Leonardo DiCaprio in one of the best performances of his entire career — the film shows characters half-naked, drunk beyond belief, and high on qualuudes, never softening the fact that Jordan and his cronies are seriously fudging numbers to hold onto their massive wealth. For star Margot Robbie, whose breakthrough role came in the movie — she plays Jordan's second wife Naomi, dubbed "the Duchess of Bay Ridge" — she had her hair share of nude scenes to contend with, but she felt entirely comfortable with the prospect thanks to Scorsese.

In a 2014 interview with The Telegraph, Robbie addressed the film's extreme nudity, but also said she felt as if it made sense for the over-the-top spectacle that is "The Wolf of Wall Street." Despite telling the outlet that the nude scenes made her hesitate, Robbie said, "Although my manager told me, 'If there's ever going to be a time for nudity, this is the director you do it with.'"

Ultimately, Robbie also said that she thinks the movie needed the nudity: "If Marty had made Jordan's lifestyle look horrible from the beginning, then you'd be like, 'Well, why's he doing it?'" Still, the actress did say that she can tell when that is the case in a movie. "I think nudity for the sake of nudity is shameful," Robbie admitted. "If they've put it in just so that a girl gets her top off, then that's disgusting. And you can always tell."

In fact, Margot Robbie firmly believes that films should just be realistic about nudity; according to the interview, she thinks it's bogus when characters would normally be completely naked, and it completely takes her out of the moment. "But I also think it's disgusting when someone would have got naked in real life, in the film they conveniently leave their bra on, or hold up the bed sheet," Robbie said. "Seeing someone being choreographed into being covered up irritates me just as much."

Furthermore, as Robbie argues, Naomi's character is known for her beauty — it's the way she makes her way in the world. When she and Jordan first meet in the film, she's dating a different wealthy man, and when she takes up with Jordan, she's clearly enamored with his wealth. On their first date, Naomi bares all — as does Robbie — and to her point, that's completely necessary to the movie. "The whole point of Naomi is that her body is her only form of currency in this world," Robbie explained. "So when [Scorsese] was trying to help me out, and said in the scene where she seduces Jordan perhaps I could have a robe on, I said she wouldn't. She has to be naked. She's laying her cards on the table."

With all of that said, there was one scene that took things a little too far for Margot Robbie in "The Wolf of Wall Street" — but mostly because it actually gave her a real-life injury. In an interview with The Daily Beast in 2022, Robbie said that one scene, where Naomi and Jordan have sex atop a pile of cash to celebrate his overwhelming (and mostly illegal) financial successes, left her covered in teeny-tiny injuries, and it sounds incredibly unpleasant.

When the interviewer, Marlow Stern, brings up that "sex on top of a pile of money" is a joke about annoying rich people that Martin Scorsese actually committed to film, Robbie got real. "I got a million paper cuts on my back from all that money!" the actress revealed. "It's not as glamorous as it sounds. If anyone is ever planning on having sex on top of a pile of cash: don't. Or maybe real money is a bit softer, but the fake money is like paper, and when I got up off the bed, I turned around to get my robe and everyone gasped. I said, 'What is it?' And they said, 'You look like you've been whipped a million times. Your back is covered in a thousand red scratches.'"

It's safe to say that, since earning major fame and acclaim in "The Wolf of Wall Street" in 2013 (she did appear in "About Time" that same year, but it wasn't as flashy), Margot Robbie's career has risen to absolutely wild heights; the Australian native has been nominated for multiple Academy Awards and is now a producer who's worked on some of the biggest movies in recent memory.

After working with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, Robbie joined Will Smith in "Focus," Tina Fey in "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot," and Alexander Skarsgård in "The Legend of Tarzan," and even managed to find time to join the DCEU in the first "Suicide Squad" movie as Harley Quinn. (Thankfully, she reprised her role in both "Birds of Prey" and James Gunn's take, "The Suicide Squad," giving her ample opportunities to play Harley.) It was "I, Tonya" in 2017 — Robbie stars as disgraced ice skater Tonya Harding and also produced the film with her husband Tom Ackerley through their company LuckyChap — that handed Robbie her first Oscar nod, and as a producer, she's also worked on "Promising Young Woman" and "Saltburn."

Of course, Robbie also played Barbie in 2023, betting Warner Bros. that she could produce a billion dollar movie for them — a promise upon which she absolutely delivered. The actress has come a long way since "The Wolf of Wall Street," but it's good to know that she doesn't have any regrets about baring it all in that film.