Margot Robbie says she kept Jared Leto’s rat gift, but is she fibbing?

Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie covers the August issue of ELLE to promote Z for Zachariah. She has so many movies in the works, including Tarzan and Suicide Squad. I wasn’t convinced by her Gwen Stefani-esque Harley Quinn costume, but the Comic-Con footage (included below) looks more promising than I expected.

The interview excerpts are pretty sparse so far, but one part sticks out. We talked about how Jared Leto decided to be the most “method” Joker ever and gifted a live rat to Margot. He gave presents to all the cast members to set the mood, and Margot’s rat gift was the most outrageous. Now Margot tells ELLE that she kept the rat as a pet, and they’re very happy together eating from Whole Foods:

On her true age: “People seem outraged that I’m 24. People think I’m a decade older.”

She kept the rat: Several crew members suggested killing it, but Robbie kept the rat because, “If Harley [her character in Suicide Squad] got something from Joker, she’d probably cherish it.” Rat Rat now dines on organic berries from Whole Foods.

She won’t talk about her boyfriend, Tom Ackerly: “He was a third AD, he’s now working as a second AD, and that’s, yeah.”

[From ELLE]

Here’s where things get sketchy. When Jai Courntey promoted Terminator Genisys, he claimed that the rat went to an unlikely owner, director Guillermo del Toro. So someone is making stuff up, and I’m not sure whether it’s Jai or Margot. Jai seems like a jokey guy, but Margot recently claimed to eat four pounds of spaghetti in one sitting. So yeah, I’m a little suspicious of both versions. Who has the rat?

Oh, and Warner Bros. officially released the Suicide Squad sizzle reel from Comic-Con. Margot’s Harley Quinn dominates, but Jared’s Joker makes a late entrance.

Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie

Photos courtesy of Cedric Buchet for ELLE & Fame/Flynet

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67 Responses to “Margot Robbie says she kept Jared Leto’s rat gift, but is she fibbing?”

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  1. LooLoo says:

    It’s incredibly cruel to keep a rat by itself.

    • Ronda says:

      The whole idea to send a live animal was disgusting.

      • Jill says:

        I agree – typical Jared Leto.

      • qwerty says:

        He probably bought it too, when there are so many rescued lab rats looking for a home

      • laura in LA says:

        Yep, next time I see Jared in Whole Foods pretending as he does to be a “vegan” and an animal-lover, I’m gonna go all “method” on his ass…

        The fact of the matter is: If he were really any good as an actor, he wouldn’t feel the need to pull stunts like this. He’ll never do what Heath Ledger did as The Joker – and he knows it.

        Animal cruelty isn’t funny, and Jared’s attempts at “becoming” his character are just pathetic.

      • Liv says:

        laura, yes! His Joker is so, so, so ridiculous…he looks like the character he got the Oscar for who just put a Joker makeup on, not like the actual Joker. Ledger was simply amazing. Plus Ben Affleck as Batman. I don’t know if I can take them anymore. I don’t think I’ll see the films and I’m such a big fan!

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      Yes, I can’t stand Leto, and the whole thing was too stupid. Poor rat. I don’t want one, but I think it’s mean to use an animal as a joke.

    • Nicole says:

      Yes. They’re colony animals. It’s awful to keep them alone, even if you play with them frequently. They cuddle to sleep and they’re highly intelligent. That would be so lonely!

    • msw says:

      I opened this post to say this, too. Rats need companions. They are not solo pets. I always adopt my rats in pairs and when one dies before the other (their life spans usually are very close and the new rats have to be quarantined when they are added to a group) we up the human social time significantly to accommodate, until we adopt the next pair.

    • Goodnight says:

      It can work out, but only if you’re there to give the rat lots of time with you. My last rat had to be an only rat because he contracted myco (a highly infectious respiratory infection that passes from rat to rat but cannot be passed to humans) when he was only a baby and if I’d brought home a friend for him it would have been extremely irresponsible.

      I study long distance full time so I was able to be home with him all day and he pretty much only went into his cage to sleep. I still felt guilty that he had nobody to snuggle with at night, but I couldn’t bring in another rat knowing it would almost certainly contract his life-threatening infection.

      Unless that rat is going everywhere with its new owner, it’s pretty horrible to keep it by itself, no matter how many berries they give. Also too many berries will cause loose stools, so not exactly an ideal diet.

  2. Loopy says:

    Didn’t she grow up in Aussie maybe she looks older because of the hot weather.

    • qwerty says:

      Elle MacPherson, hell yeah. Margot has no visible sun damage, usually people mean her features when they say it about her. She’ll probably look 35 till she axtually is that age (or longer, depending on whether she tans etc)

  3. Anna says:

    She really looks like a 35 years old

  4. Jill says:

    I like Margot, think she’s a really good actress, and suspect that she is going to be fabulous in Suicide Squad. She’s well on the way to A-list status. Her look is fairly generic, but she has personality – and you can’t go too far wrong in Hollywood with a face like that. I look forward to the next twelve months of everyone going on about how great she is and comparing her favorably to ScarJo, J-Law and all the other established female stars of a generally similar age – until people get bored and turn viciously on her…

  5. Franca says:

    I like the trailer, Jared look sketchy but the acting seems good, but Margot’s acting seems a bit too cartoon-y?

    • Pamela says:

      Harley Quinn is an outrageously cartoony character. I think we will have to wait for the full movie to know for sure if she is acting too cartoony, or doing the character justice. My jury is still out– but hopeful.

  6. Mira says:

    She’s just got an adult facial structure, if she takes care of her skin and keeps her weight up she’ll look the same age in 20 years. She’s not prematurely aged at all. It’s the grown up looking faces that age better and continue to look beautiful in middle age. Baby faces lose their youthful pretty very quickly as there’s nothing refined to grow into.

    I’m really looking forward to this movie and expect her to be great in it. I loved her in Wolf of Wall Street.

    The rat comment was likely a joke but she seems a bit nuts so who knows?

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      Agree with your assessment. She doesn’t look old, she doesn’t have that roundness of a baby face. And she will age beautifully if she doesn’t mess around with her face.

    • littlemissnaughty says:

      That’s what I was thinking. I would’ve put her more in my age group (31) but when you see her in interviews, it shows that she’s in her mid-twenties. She seems very youthful. I think it’s just her bone structure that looks more adult in photographs.

      I LOVE the trailer and I did not see that coming. But they edited it beautifully and I can’t wait to see the movie. Let’s hope it’s not a case of good trailer, boring movie. Robbie’s Harley Quinn looks so fun and interesting.

    • Jessica says:

      Agree. I think she might have shaved 1-2 years off her age (as most up and coming actresses do) because I’m sure she was just a touch older when she started out on Neighbours. But she’s certainly not a decade older.

      She just has a more adult look about her, and a more sophisticated Old Hollywood style compared to her peers. She reminds me a little of Michelle Pfeiffer. She was only 26 in Scarface, but she could have passed for a decade older because she had a grown-up face. Most people are still sort of growing into their face until they hit about 30. Robbie is just an example of someone who did that in her early 20’s.

      • Scarlet Vixen says:

        Michelle Pfeiffer is a good comparison. I think the super high cheekbones hollow out the cheeks so their faces don’t have that fullness to make them look young. Jennifer Lawrence will probably look 17 until she’s 35 because she has a much fuller face.

    • Naddie says:

      Exactly. It’s not in her skin, it’s in her bones.

  7. JWQ says:

    God, I can’ t stand Jared Leto, his pretentiousness and his stupid method acting!

    Margot does look a good decade older, but to be honest I don’ t really care. She looks great anyway!

  8. Allie says:

    Oh, come on. You kept the rat because your character would? YOU ARE NOT YOUR CHARACTER. Its called acting. This whole story is just so ridiculous. And while I’m not outraged that she’s younger than me, but looks 10 years older, I am skeptical.

  9. Gloria says:

    Probably she will end up doing the sexy woman in movies

    • Jill says:

      Yes, you’re probably right – but she’s trying to break out of that trap, by taking on J-Law style roles like Z for Zachariah. A good sign of ambition, in my view.

      • JENNA says:

        I agree, she seems ambitious. I can see her having an interesting career between commercial and indie films.

      • Katherine says:

        @Jill
        She will not have roles like Jlaw because she looks older. She was sexy on Wolf of the Wall Street, sexy on Focus, She will be sexy also in Tarzan and Suicide Squad. In Z for Zacharian the actor with better reviews was Ejiofor (from Sundance). She will have mainly sexy roles

      • Beth says:

        Isn’t JLaw the actress who gets roles that are originally intended for actresses 30+? Actresses who look younger have it worse. They get stuck playing teens for the longest time until they hit an age where it is no longer believable, yet they don’t look believable in mature roles, hence never making the transition. Looking older isn’t going to harm Robbie, if she can get out of that sexpot rut.

  10. Izzy says:

    She looks a bit like Anne Hathaway in some of the magazine photos. She is very pretty, and I like that she hasn’t starved herself down to a ridiculous “hollywood” standard.

  11. Lucy2 says:

    It looks like she’s doing a good job in the movie, and yay for Viola, but I’m just not that interested in the film.

  12. Brittney B says:

    “Several crew members suggested killing it”

    Wow. Bet the Humane Society would love to hear about that: unionized crew members suggesting on-set animal cruelty. Not that their “no animals were harmed” statements mean very much in the first place. Thought it was bad enough to give a co-worker a living creature because it’s “in character”… but if they’d killed it? Jesus. And I hope her character wasn’t the only reason she let it live, either.

    ANYWAY, it does make me really happy to hear that the rat’s alive and eating well these days (though the first commenter was right; it shouldn’t be living alone)… so thank you for sharing this story. My rabbits also eat organic berries, incidentally. If you limit the amount, it’s fantastic for them.

    Really can’t believe ANYONE would be taken aback by her keeping it, though. That’s not weird. It’s making the best of a stupid situation, and valuing the life of an animal. Rats are friendly, smart, funny creatures (and if you’re open to it, they can also be ADORABLE). There’s a reason they’re used in laboratory testing… their anatomies and brain structures are remarkably similar to our own. They form friendships, learn tricks, show empathy… if I didn’t have cats and rabbits already, I’d want a pet rat. There’s nothing weird about that. There’s something very cruel about treating it like an inanimate gag gift, though.

    • Franca says:

      While I would never kill it, I would also never keep it. My stomach turns when I see pictures of rats, let alone seeing a live one. I’d probably give it away.

    • Deb says:

      I hope she is feeding the rat a much more diverse diet than just the berries though. The berries are fine, but rats are omnivores. They need a variety of healthy foods to get their nutrients.

      For what it’s worth, rats are my absolute favorite animals.

    • laura in LA says:

      Where’s the outcry from animal groups like the HSUS and PETA? Jared’s self-proclaimed status as a “vegan” needs to be revoked. And what about the dead hog? What a douchebag.

  13. ToodySezHey says:

    Margot Robbie is giving me young blonde Lena Hedley realness.

  14. Jill says:

    Set it loose – best thing to do!

    • msw says:

      Noooooo. No no no. That’s like saying you should release a pet dog to go find a wolf pack.

  15. kri says:

    I would be more likely to think that she actually kept the toup Ben Affleck left on her nightstand. No, just kidding. Leto is a total ass for pulling that crap with a poor rat.

  16. Mary says:

    Second pic down, her with the animal print. I thought she was Mila Kunis with blonde hair.

  17. danielle says:

    she was hard to take your eyes off of in that trailer. Might have to see Wolfs of Wallstreet now. she was adorable and funny in focus.

  18. Catherine says:

    She looks 35 but speaks and acts like a 15 year old….and not a smart one at that.

  19. Jenna says:

    Lainey wrote an interesting thing once about how she sticks out and appears ‘older’ because she doesn’t have the “aww shucks” wackiness of someone like Jennifer Lawrence or Emma Stone. As much as I like those two, they do come off like teenage girls even if they’re nearly mid-20s at this point. I guess it’s jarring to see a young woman in pop culture who acts, looks and dresses sort of sophisticated and mature, which in itself is kind of depressing.

    • Agatha says:

      @Jenna
      Emma Watson has a mature behaviour but she doesn’t seem older.Isn’t the behavior that makes Margot older. It’s her face. Sorry but she seems 30-35 years old. Maybe she lied about her age

    • Catherine says:

      Lol did you not read the article? She acts so much worse then them! She asked the interviewer how she lost her virginity and then high fived her. Then they get in a car and she starts rapping to lil wayne. She seems really dumb too.

      • korra says:

        ” She asked the interviewer how she lost her virginity and then high fived her. Then they get in a car and she starts rapping to lil wayne.”

        Oh girl. Trying way too hard.

  20. lila fowler says:

    The Suicide Squad trailer was awesome. I can’t wait for that movie.

    • Naddie says:

      Yes. I was ready to pass it away, but now I’ll give it a try. Trailer was awesome.

  21. Dash says:

    There is a picture of the rat on her boyfriend’s Instagram from nine weeks ago but then the case runs cold… I should be an investigative reporter.

    • laura in LA says:

      Yeah, I want photo-proof of this! (And I sure hope he wasn’t one of the crew members calling for her to kill it.) Does Margot have the rat – or did she give it to Guillermo?

    • Skedaddle says:

      Jai also had a picture of a (the?) rat on his Instagram six weeks ago, saying it was his new roommate. (He may have been joking haha) Idk if it’s the same rat, not on the case just obsessed with him and his beefcake bod. 😉

      • Miss M says:

        I don’t know the real story. But I am glad Jai, my on growing crush, has been mentioned on CB. Thank you, Bedhead!!!!

  22. Chinoiserie says:

    Well apparently she was born 2nd of July so she is 25 now. I was wondering about her age since I remembered she was a year olleet than I am.

  23. Happy21 says:

    I’m a big fan. She’s a terrific young actress. I just re-watched The Wolf of Wall Street over the weekend and she truly was exceptional in that move. And breathtaking, wow. She is extremely gorgeous. Almost unnatural gorgeous in that movie. That being said I don’t find her as attractive in other stuff or photo shoots as I found her in that movie. They really played up the bombshell for her in that movie.

  24. Josefa says:

    I would peg her as a decade older than she is, but I’d kill for that face anyway. She’s gorgeous and I’m pretty sure she’ll age well. Baby faces only last so long.

  25. Tacos and TV says:

    She does look mature for her age, but she is gorg. I love her. I loved in wolf of wall street and focus. She’s fun! And hot. I’m a fan

  26. rahrahrooey says:

    Several people suggested killing the rat? Some people are douche canoes. :/

  27. Kelly says:

    I don’t get the “buzz” around her although I have only seen her in “The Wolf of Wall Street.” She was just ok.

  28. Nimbolicious says:

    Judging by the photo, the rat must live in her hair.

  29. mj says:

    #ratgate

  30. Saks says:

    I like her. To me she seems more real and down to Earth than Lawrence.

  31. Shoe_Lover says:

    the 4 pounds of spaghetti thing could be a mistake based on the fact that we are metric in Australia. scratch that i just read what she actually said and she doesn’t mention 4 pounds at all and only mentions vomiting 1.8 kilos of pasta. here in Australia if we say a bucket load we very rarely mean literally a bucket load. it could range from a kilo to 100 kilos when using that terminology.

    • korra says:

      Meh. I could pack away a couple pounds of pasta. That ain’t hard. 4 pounds is insane, but she was supposedly in a food eating contest so it makes more sense.

      • Shoe_Lover says:

        i know but the commentary seems to be “Margot Robbie tells tall tales because remember the 4 pounds of pasta” so i felt it was a bit unfair to use that against her.

        pasta is life though and i too could pack away a fair bit