Babylon's Margot Robbie on making it in Hollywood: 'You need to want it more than everyone else'

Never let anyone tell you that there's only one way to win an acting Oscar. Case in point: our two guests on this week's episode of The Awardist podcast. En route to what could be her third nomination (after I, Tonya and Bombshell), Margot Robbie goes bold, bawdy and brazen in Babylon as a wannabe Hollywood starlet, a turn that's as gymnastic as a workout routine. Then, in the final stretch, we welcome Brian Tyree Henry, impeccably quiet and internal as a New Orleans mechanic with buried trauma in the dramatic powerhouse Causeway opposite Jennifer Lawrence.

In a revealing interview with EW's awards correspondent Dave Karger, Robbie admits there's much in her fame-thirsty character of Nellie LaRoy that resonates with her personally.

"I've always had that hunger," the 32-year-old Robbie says. "I still have that hunger. I remember, especially when I was back in Australia, that feeling of: I just have to get there. How do I get a foot in the door? How do I make it to America? How do I get a plane ticket? At the end of the day, you need to want it more than everyone else."

Henry, also acclaimed for FX's Atlanta and this summer's fizzy and fun action movie Bullet Train, found himself going deep into a project that wasn't going to make its point with meltdowns.

"I think the most intriguing part was his stillness," says Henry, 40, of his taciturn character, James. "Watching this man walk through the world with the weight of the world on him — oftentimes, in the quietness and the stillness is where the loudness is able to reverberate. I wanted to experience that. I don't ever want to be pigeonholed. I don't think any actor worth their weight in salt wants that, especially any actor of color."

Babylon and Causeway occupy the extremes of today's moviemaking, from epic and expensive, to indie and scrappy, but both are motivated by the commitments of daring performers. And that's exactly what we love talking about on the Awardist. You can listen to more of our interviews with Robbie and Henry in the podcast episode below. Plus check out the full episode to hear Team Awardist's thoughts on the Best Picture chances for Top Gun: Maverick, as well as which movies and actors are losing steam in their campaigns. Things are getting juicy.

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Related content:

• Exploring Babylon, Damien Chazelle's star-studded new movie
• Jennifer Lawrence was essential to making Causeway — even if she tried to throw her director in a pool
• Val Kilmer celebrates 'perfect' Top Gun: Maverick cast for EW's 2022 Entertainers of the Year