FLYING FREE

MARGOT ROBBIE BRINGS HARLEY QUINN BACK TO CINEMAS –WITH SOME FRIENDS. SFX ROUNDS UP THE BIRDS OF PREY FOR A CHAT

- JAMES WHITE

YOU MAY HAVE thought you met Margot Robbie’s version of Harley Quinn when she showed up as part of the ensemble for 2016’s Suicide Squad. But as the character’s comic book history might suggest, she’d only begun to scratch the surface of the artist formerly known as Dr. Harleen Quinzel. Birds Of Prey sees the actress at an even more proactive level than in past work, and aiming to bring out a new side of Harley at the same time.

There’s a reason the movie’s name boasts the weirdly long subtitle And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn – because, as we meet her here, she’s finally free of the pernicious influence of “Mistah J” and ready to cause some mayhem of her own.

“Emancipation is definitely a big theme for the film, and everyone is being emancipated from either a system or a relationship,” Robbie says. “And so it kind of resonates with every character and at some point in the story everyone’s individual journeys kind of coalesce and collide. But yes, it’s definitely the main theme.”

Even so, don’t expect the Harley we meet to be completely over her time with the Clown Prince Of Crime. “Now that they’ve broken up, she’s not quite OK,” Robbie explains. “I wouldn’t say she’s really found her feet and she’s kind of single and pretending to be really happy about it – but really, she’s still completely messed-up over the break-up. So it’s a different version of Harley.