"It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning, all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters, the way Macbeth or Batman always gets passed from great actor to great actor," the actress says
Margot Robbie is more than happy to be passing the torch for one of her most iconic roles.
The 32-year-old actress said in an interview with MTV posted Thursday that she is "so happy" to see other actresses stepping into the role of Harley Quinn, specifically Lady Gaga, who is rumored to be playing the part in the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux.
"It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning, all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters, the way Macbeth or Batman always gets passed from great actor to great actor," Robbie said.
She continued by saying that there is an opportunity for a performer to make an iconic role their own.
"And I feel like in not so many cases are they female characters," she explained. "Queen Elizabeth I, but like beyond that — which I got to have a crack at as well, which I was honored to do. I was like, 'Wow, Cate Blanchett did Queen Elizabeth I. Now I get to.'"
She added of Gaga: "It's such an honor to have built a foundation strong enough that Harley can now be one of those characters who other actors get to have a go at playing. And I think she'll do something incredible with it."
The Hollywood Reporter first reported that a new iteration of Harley would exist "in a different DC universe" than the one played by Robbie in Suicide Squad (2016), Birds of Prey (2020) and The Suicide Squad (2020).
Robbie has spoken out about needing to take a "break" from portraying the fictional psychiatrist-turned-vigilante.
Admitting that she has no plans to reprise her DC Extended Universe character in the near future, Robbie told Entertainment Weekly last year, "I was like, 'Oof, I need a break from Harley, because she's exhausting.' I don't know when we're next going to see her."
Lady Gaga confirmed her casting in director Todd Phillips' Joker: Folie à Deux on social media in August, posting an animated video of her and Joaquin Phoenix's silhouettes set to old-timey music.
The 36-year-old superstar actress and musician is set to star alongside Phoenix, 47, in the upcoming musical sequel to 2019's Joker, though her role has not been announced.
Confirmed Gaga's involvement in the film — specifically, that she was in talks to play Harley Quinn — back in June.
Folie à Deux, which references a delusion or mental illness shared by two people, suggests that Joker may also team up with another supervillain — possibly his sometimes-girlfriend Harley.
While plot and character details are still unknown, Harley — originally known as Dr. Harleen Quinzel — is villain Joker's love interest/sidekick in several iterations of the Batman story, and met the sinister prankster while serving as his psychiatrist at Gotham City's Arkham Asylum.
