Margot Robbie talks daunting fight with rattlesnake in ‘Babylon’: ‘I was ready to run’

Margot Robbie performed quite a daring stunt in her new movie Babylon.

The actress, 32, was joined with fellow cast members Jean Smart, Diego Calva, Jovan Adepo, and Brad Pitt for Entertainment Weekly’s Around the Table discussion for the newly-released movie.

Among the many crazy scenes set amid the backdrop of old Hollywood in Damien Chazelle’s directorial, Robbie’s character Nellie LaRoy, fights a large rattlesnake with her bare hands.

The fight scene with the snake mostly involved as fake one. However, preceding the fight scene, a real one was used in moments where there was no Plexiglass between Robbie and the animal, which was unnerving for her.

“I asked the [snake wrangler] if I got bitten how long I had, because we were far away,” Robbie recalled. “I was like, ‘Well, where’s the closest hospital if I do get bit, and how long do I have before we don’t get to the hospital?’ He was pretty vague on the answer, too. I was like, ‘I would love some specificity on this one’.”

Although, Robbie was ready with a backup plan, just in case. “I was ready to run, though, if I had to.”

Li Jun Li, whose character Lady Fay Zhu takes it upon herself to suck the venom from Nellie’s neck when she gets bit. Li admitted that she was nervous about the scene. “I don’t know how you kept a straight face when [I sucked the venom], you laid there so still,” she told the Aussie actress.

“And then, Damien just kept saying ‘Suck harder’,” she continued. “And, I’m just thinking, ‘Oh, my God, this is so embarrassing.’ And, all I could think about was…”

“The worst direction I’ve ever received: ‘Suck harder’,” Pitt chimed in with a joke.

Jokes aside, Li added that the Barbie actress’ eyes were closed during that scene, she wanted to try telepathically communicate with her costar. “I really wanted to just say, ‘I’m so sorry, Margot. I’m so sorry.”