Margot Robbie Recalls Paying Off Her Mom’s Mortgage With Her Acting Paychecks

Image Source: Getty / Antony Jones / Warner Bros.

Some actors use their first paycheck to buy a new car or a cool guitar. For Margot Robbie, the expense was a bit more personal. Speaking with CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Tracy Smith on July 23, Robbie, who rocked the world with her portrayal of the titular character in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” movie, revealed that she saved up her first big paychecks to pay off her mom’s mortgage.

“Everything I owed my mum, I had it written down. She’d take money out of the house mortgage [to] lend me money. So I always knew, I was like, ‘I’ve gotta pay that back,'” Robbie said. “And then one day, when I made enough money, I just paid that whole mortgage off completely. I was like, ‘Mum, don’t even worry about that mortgage anymore. It doesn’t even exist anymore.'”

After getting her onscreen start as Donna Freedman in the Australian soap opera “Neighbours” in 2008, Robbie began pursuing roles on the big screen. In 2013, she scored her breakout role as Naomi Lapaglia in “The Wolf of Wall Street” opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, a role that likely contributed to helping her mom, Sarie Kessler, financially. “Honestly, anyone in my position, you’d do that for your mum. Of course, you would,” Robbie said of the kind gesture.

In a 2019 interview with Vogue Australia, Kessler recalled the first time Robbie expressed her desire to become an actor. “I really admired the way you set about deciding how your future was going to unfold,” Kessler told Robbie. “I remember the first time you told me you were going to be an actor in grade 12.”

Kessler also revealed that she was initially wary of Robbie’s decision to become an actor, especially because the majority of their family had studied medicine and business. “I was very concerned you were intending to take a pathway that, to me, didn’t have a really extensive future. And now you could say: ‘Mum, you needed more faith in what I can achieve,'” Kessler said. “I’m just absolutely so happy for you that you’re in a situation where you love what you do and you have the independence to do what you do because you guys started up your own company.”

Though Robbie has since paid her mom back for the financial sacrifices she made over the years – and brought her mom as her date to the European premiere of “Barbie” in London – Robbie still keeps the list of expenses as a reminder of her mom’s support and how far she’s come as a result. “I have that piece of paper still,” she said. “I kept it.”

Related: 6 Things to Know About Margot Robbie’s Husband, Tom Ackerley