Margot Robbie on Chanel No. 5, Jacob Elordi, and Her Best-Smelling Costar
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The premise of Chanel's new No. 5 campaign, out in October, is simple but oh-so effective: What if Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi went on a date? Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the short film See You at 5 follows the two Hollywood stars as they cross paths to meet each other. The piece marks Robbie’s new role as the face of Chanel No. 5, though she has been an ambassador of the house since March 2018.
“I think Chanel No. 5 is one of the most iconic fragrances in the world. It’s incredible to be a part of it,” the Barbie star says. “There’s such an impressive lineage of women who’ve been associated with the fragrance over the years. I am very honored to be joining that long list of incredible talents.”
Bazaar caught up with the Academy Award–nominated actress and producer in Los Angeles this week to chat about all things perfume, working with both Guadagnino and Elordi, and how she defines originality.
Do you prepare for a role like this differently than you would for one of your feature films?
The little film we made, See You at 5, was, I guess, a little more of like an instinctual thing. When you’re prepping for a film, you have to take into account that there’s like a bigger plot and exposition and all that kind of stuff, and maybe some research, so you understand the period and the time and all that kind of stuff. Whereas I think the woman I’m playing in See You at 5—I could rely on my instincts a little bit more. And just being on set with Luca, too, I knew it was very much going to be guided by conversations with him. So I kind of just really got to enjoy it.
You mention in the behind-the-scenes footage that you pick a fragrance to help actualize your characters when you’re working on them. Can you give me an example?
I do it for every character. Every character has a different scent, and I spend a lot of time trying to figure out who it is and what makes me be able to jump immediately into them. I think a lot of people find this, but I really, really do find that a particular smell can immediately take me to a different time, place, or person. So I find it really, really helpful. It’s kind of like the last thing I do before I step out of the trailer and set step onto set. It’s like the last thing to put on with the character.
And which one of your characters do you think would wear Chanel No. 5?
Maybe Sharon Tate? [Robbie played the actor and Manson Family murder victim in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 film Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.] I just always loved that she had this black Chanel bag. So I always think of her in that way anyway. She was so feminine but independent. The woman I’m playing in See You at 5, for example, has that serenity about her and a little bit of playfulness.
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What does happiness smell like to you?
This might sound way too abstract, but the smell of rain, honestly. Probably the thing I miss most about home is the thunderstorms. So when I smell rain, I kind of feel like I’m home.
Who is the best-smelling person you’ve ever met?
I don’t know who the best-smelling person I’ve ever met is, but I have to say I was just recently working with Jodie Turner-Smith, and she had this perfume on. She just smelled so good every time. I literally smelled her before I’d see her come to set. And I was just obsessed with this perfume that she was wearing. And then at the end of the job, she gave me the perfume.
Marilyn Monroe famously wore Chanel No. Five to bed. So when do you apply fragrance, and how much do you use?
I wear it to bed sometimes. It feels a little indulgent, because you’re like, I’m just going to bed. The nice thing about perfume is that you’re doing it for yourself. Or anything— outfits, a facial, whatever. You always feel like, ‘Oh, God, I’m being indulgent.’ And then you’re like, ‘No, this is the point of all this, to do it for me and not for someone else.’ I love wearing perfume to bed. I wear it every day—I love it.
This is your first project with Jacob Elordi, outside of producing Saltburn. You don’t share screen time in See You at 5, but there is still a really beautiful undercurrent of chemistry and desire in the film. How do you achieve that without physically being onscreen simultaneously?
It’s tough with someone like Jacob—just try to find something desirable about him! He’s wonderful. And as you said, I worked with him on Saltburn in a producer-actor capacity. So I haven’t shared the screen with him before, but I know I’ve seen him on set, I’ve been around him on set, and he’s just—he’s got an incredible presence. He’s a movie star—he’s got that charisma. He holds a frame. He’s also really lovely and from the same state that I’m from in Australia. We’re about an hour away from each other, but he’s from Brisbane, and I’m from the Gold Coast. Even though the whole point of our film is that we cross paths and miss each other, it still felt like we did the campaign together.
So Chanel No. 5 is the ultimate in originality—it basically invented modern fragrance. You mentioned that originality is paramount for your company, LuckyChap. I imagine you must consume a ton of media, books, and movies to weed through what's out there and what feels fresh. So, what does originality look or feel like to you? And how do you know when you found it?
It is something that we look for and get most excited about, which is something original. I think you can even have something recognizable, like Barbie, and it can be approached with such an original voice and authorship that you’re like, “This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.” I think that’s what makes it exciting, especially when you’re reading a script. You don’t want to know what’s going to happen. I feel like an ending should always feel surprising but inevitable—if that makes sense. You should get to the end and be like, “That’s what happened. But I didn’t see it coming.” Right? You know, that’s the most satisfying ending to me. I think anything where you’re too ahead of it when you’re reading it—just, even if it is an original idea, the concepts might be just paced out in a way that doesn’t feel wholly original. And it’s so exciting when you come across someone with a really original voice. Directors and writers, there’s something like their style—it’s distinctly them. Luca Guadagnino being such an example of that as well. Like, you know when you’re watching a Guadagnino film. For so many reasons, he was the perfect director for this shoot, but I think he captures desire in a really incredible way. I think that’s a real hallmark throughout his films, too—characters with desire and finding sensuality. He does that really cinematically, which was nice to be able to incorporate here.
My last question is purely for the book nerd in me. Can you tell us anything on the record about your meeting or coffee date with author Sarah J. Maas?
[Laughs.] I’m so happy you’re a fan!
My Apple Watch band says, “You do not fear, you do not falter, you do not yield.” I am literally obsessed.
No, I’m beyond obsessed. She’s the coolest. You know she’s in her 30s? We’ve become friends. It’s like, oh, you’re like all my girls—I love it. She’s also a genius.
Have you read the books?
Yeah, like all of them, a million times over.
Did you have a favorite?
I think ACOTAR was like my way in, so that’s always—I don’t know, it’s tough.
I’m a Throne of Glass girlie.
Yeah? I mean, God, I really couldn’t say! It’s like picking a favorite child. They’re all perfect.
I know it’s hard to rank them! I have to tell you, if there’s anything you can do from a production standpoint to make an adaptation happen—please!
We all need that. The world needs that.
We need you to do it!
[Laughs.] I will see what I can do!
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