When she’s not on the red carpet, you’ll find Margot Robbie backpacking round the Philippines. The star of Suicide Squad tells Stylist why she just can’t sit still

Margot Robbie doesn’t notice the man at the hotel bar staring at her, his tongue practically hanging out of his head, cartoon style, throughout the hour we spend together. Her eyes never flicker uncomfortably, she doesn’t betray that itchy, crawling feeling you get when a stranger’s eyes are baring into you. I’m certain it’s not simply because she’s used to male attention. It would be unjust and offensive to suggest it. Rather I wonder if it’s because her head, and schedule, are so busy that she is utterly focused on the task in hand: our chat, and in a wider sense, navigating this life-dominating new world she’s inhabiting.

This fierce focus is one that has dominated Robbie’s career, ostensibly taking her from Australian soap actress to Hollywood’s biggest breakout star in a not oft repeated move. Because for every Isla Fisher or Melissa George, there are many who haven’t made it out of Ramsay Street. Combine this with acting prowess (including an excellent mastery of accents) and sheer, bloody likability and it’s clear to see why Robbie has become a thoroughly modern force to be reckoned with.

The freshly turned 26-year-old also has me charmed within approximately 30 seconds. Our interview is at 5pm on a Monday, and she orders a Hendrick’s and tonic, as she’s “drunk so much tea all day, I can’t drink any more”. And yes, she is beautiful, but unlike the gentleman at the bar, that’s not why I’m won over. She’s funny and shrewd; laid back in that stereotypical way we expect of Australians, but with a steely ambition simmering below the surface. It’s also heartening that, despite the Hollywood trappings, Robbie worries about the same things as other 26-year-olds: house prices, Brexit and missing out on fun.

Robbie grew up modestly on the Gold Coast in Australia, with her three siblings and physiotherapist mother until a move to Melbourne at 17. There she paired couch surfing and a job in Subway with coldcalling the producers of Neighbours until she eventually got the part of Donna Freedman – a one-off appearance that morphed into a three year stretch. A strategic move to LA and a role in Pan Am followed. But it was her voracious turn as the wife of a corrupt banker (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) in the Martin Scorsese-directed The Wolf Of Wall Street in 2013, that blew everything out of the water. There are few actresses that could so sublimely torment DiCaprio with the line: “Mommy is just so sick and tired of wearing panties,” let alone one so juvenile in her career.

This summer things have shifted up another gear. Firstly in The Legend Of Tarzan as Jane to Alexander Skarsgård’s eponymous hero. And next, and this is the exciting one, is Suicide Squad alongside Will Smith, Jared Leto and Viola Davis. A comic book adaptation about imprisoned supervillains recruited to carry out black ops missions, Robbie plays Harley Quinn, a psychotherapist turned psychopath after falling in love with the Joker. It’s all dark anti-heroes rather than glossy buffed world savers and if rumours are to be believed – which Robbie nimbly dodges when I ask – she’ll also take centre stage in a spin off.

All this means she’s not spent much time at home: South London, where she rents with three others including her boyfriend Tom Ackerley, an assistant director she met filming Suite Française, and her pet rat, called Rat Rat. “The Northern line will always have a special place in my heart” she laughs, before admitting to a fondness for ‘legendary’ Clapham nightclub Infernos. Interestingly the roomies have recently become business partners, with the four of them setting up a production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, which is currently working on I, Tonya about ice-skater Tonya Harding, who Robbie will also play, and Terminal, a dystopian thriller.

With her star firmly in orbit, Stylist asked her what it means to be living the Hollywood dream…

Was the world of comic books something you were interested in growing up?
Not at all [laughs] just because I wasn’t exposed to them. Then at 24 I became a comic book nerd! People hand me comics to sign, and when it’s one I haven’t read I’m like, “Wait, where did you get that?” And try to remember so I can look it up online later.

What’s the appeal?
They are really smart and can convey so much in one little frame plus the DC comics are really, really dark sometimes.

Are you a natural reader?
No, my attention span is not so good. But if I love a book I will read it repeatedly – the Harry Potter series, I have read probably 30 times.

Are you more visual then?
I have a really vivid imagination, I have the weirdest dreams every single night. I have written them down a few times and frightened myself so I stopped. I literally ripped out the piece of paper because I thought, ‘Someone might put me in a mental asylum if they read this.’

Harley is a comic book heroine – which we haven’t seen much of previously. Is that important?
Totally! And it’s not just comic book films, it’s all films. I think the industry has recognised that half the ticket sales are female moviegoers, so you need to provide. It is important to have characters like Harley; it is super important to be flawed, no-one is perfect. It’s a bold thing to tackle and I am glad we did it.

I’m from the generation that religiously watched Home And Away, then Neighbours and then had our tea. As a soap alumna, what was your experience?
I didn’t watch much TV, I watched movies all the time. I joined the show to play a guest role, I didn’t even know that you could do acting as a job. When I got there [Neighbours] I talked to people saying, “So you have been here for 17 years and you don’t have another job?” I thought, ‘Wow, you bought a house and supported your family. I could do this for a job. That is amazing.’

Tina Fey says she loves working with soap actors because they “make a choice and don’t overthink it”. Is there truth in that?
Oh for sure, I love it too. When you are working with someone who is actively thinking ahead, I want to know that too because it means we’ll have a 40 minute break and what could I get done in a 40 minute break? A lot of actors don’t work that way and I think that is good but they will chat with the director and there are 200 people waiting and then they have just wasted $30,000 to have a conversation but everyone is so scared of ruining the creative process…

Is money something you are sensitive to?
Yeah, when I see something like ‘half price drinks’ I am like, ‘Brilliant we should get twice as many then’.

I noticed when the waiter came over, you didn’t order prosecco because it’s only sold by the bottle. You don’t like waste?
I grew up in a family where you can’t leave food on your plate so that would make me anxious.

Our kind of woman: Margot Robbie on backpacking, Brexit and being at home on the Northern Line