Margot Robbie revealed the outrageous gift one of her male costars gave her early on in her career in a new interview amid the release of her new Wuthering Heights adaptation.
During a video interview for Complex with Charli XCX — who wrote and performed original songs for the Emerald Fennel–directed romance — for Complex, Robbie revealed that the unnamed actor gave her a book that she thought essentially told her to ‘eat less.’
‘Very, very early in my career, an actor I worked with, a male actor, gave me a book called Why French Women Don’t Get Fat,’ the 35-year-old Australian actress recalled when she was asked about the worst gift she had ever received.
‘It was essentially a book telling you to eat less,’ Robbie continued in reference to the book, which was written by Mireille Guiliano and published in 2007.
Robbie, who stars opposite Euphoria star Jacob Elordi in Wuthering Heights, recalled her outrage at her male costar after he gave her the book.
‘I was like, “Whoa, f*** you, dude,”‘ she said.
Margot Robbie revealed the outrageous gift one of her male costars gave her early on in her career in a new interview amid the release of her new Wuthering Heights adaptation; pictured February 5 in London
In a video interview with Complex, she told Charli XCX (L) that a male costar years ago gave her the book Why French Women Don’t Get Fat, which was published in 2007; Charli and Margot are pictured with Jacob Elordi (R) on January 28 in LA
Lest her fans try to piece together the clues to figure out which of her famous leading men might have given her the book, Robbie emphasized that she was given the book many years ago.
She said she was given the book ‘really back in the day,’ and she suggested that it wasn’t an A-lister who had presented it to her, because she had ‘no idea where he would even be now.’
That cued Charli to glance directly into the camera and joke, ‘Your career’s over, babe.’
Robbie reiterated, ‘He essentially gave me a book to let me know that I should lose weight. I was like, “Wow.”‘
Although the actress shared few clues as to who might have given her the book, its 2007 publication was notably several years before she made the jump to American screens.
Margot starred on the single-season period drama Pan Am on ABC from 2011 to 2012, and then in 2013, she got her big break when she starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s modern classic, The Wolf Of Wall Street.
Since then, she has acted almost exclusively with major stars, so her claim that she hasn’t kept up with the actor’s career would fall flat.
Prior to making the jump to Hollywood, Robbie’s profile grew considerably thanks to her work on Australian television, and especially on the long-running soap opera Neighbors, which came to an end in 2025 after 40 years on the air.
‘It was essentially a book telling you to eat less,’ Robbie told the singer–songwriter, reiterating that she thought it was a coded statement telling her to ‘lose weight’; pictured together on January 28 in LA
Robbie said she received the book early in her career. She suggested it didn’t come from a famous costar after her big Hollywood break, because she had ‘no idea’ where the male actor is now; pictured February 6 in London
Her newest male costar is Jacob Elordi (L) in Emerald Fennell’s revisionist adaptation of Emily Brontë’s classic novel Wuthering Heights (pictured)
Robbie’s initial run on the series was from 2008 through 2011, when she appeared on more than 350 episodes as Donna Freedman.
She also had guest spots on the Australian shows City Homicide and Review With Myles Barlow in 2008, but she has primarily focused on film acting since her 2013 breakthrough.
Her latest major film is a new adaptation of Emily Brontë’s iconic novel Wuthering Heights.
The film has received mixed reviews from critics for director and screenwriter Emerald Fennell’s decision to radically reinterpret the original novel to make the story a more conventional romance.
She stars opposite Jacob Elordi as Heathcliff, whose casting has been blasted by some fans of the novel who believe the character was intended to be non-white, though scholars continue to debate exactly how Brontë envisioned Heathcliff’s ethnicity, based on 19th-century English conventions.
The new Wuthering Heights film was also slammed by fans ahead of its release on February 13 for allegedly casting actors of color to play the story’s most morally challenged characters.
