It’s been a long time coming, but the first look at Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding is here. In the I, Tonya trailer released on Thursday, October 19, the actress, 27, takes on the iconic role of the two-time Olympian.
The dark comedy is based on a series of interviews with Harding done over the years and will chronicle her career — from her training, to her Olympic medals, to her attack on the legendary skater, Nancy Kerrigan.
“America, they want someone to love,” Robbie’s voiceover in the trailer says. “They want someone to hate. The haters always say, ‘Tonya, tell the truth.’ There’s no such thing as truth, I mean, it’s bulls—t.”
In the trailer, she’s smoking cigarettes between skating, she’s being hounded by the press and there’s even a quick glance of what appears to be her beating someone, most likely Kerrigan, with a baseball bat.
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As for the skating, most of it was done by Robbie herself, thanks to a great deal of preparation and training. “[I did] quite a bit — as much as we could possibly do before production started,” she said in a Q&A at the Toronto Film Festival where the film premiered. “I think I did about three or four months of skating, like five times a week for a couple of hours a day. Even if I had 10 years to practice, I could never do a triple axel. I needed help.”
The actress also adding that she only spent a few hours with Harding for her research, and that was intentional. “Otherwise I might have too much empathy for her,” she said.
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Sebastian Stan and Allison Janney are also unrecognizable in the film, respectively playing Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and her mother, LaVona Golden.
I, Tonya will be released in theaters on December 8.
