Craig Gillespie has revealed just how punishing Margot Robbie’s preparation for I, Tonya really was, describing a four-month stretch of ice training so intense that even the people around her feared her body was beginning to break down. Long before audiences saw the finished performance that earned Robbie her first Oscar nomination in 2018, the actress was enduring brutal early mornings, repeated falls, and relentless physical punishment in pursuit of total authenticity.
According to Gillespie, the experience of directing I, Tonya meant witnessing Robbie test her limits in a way that went far beyond standard movie-star commitment. He recalled standing behind the plexiglass at a freezing rink at 5 a.m., bundled in a parka, watching her throw herself into training sessions that often looked more like survival than rehearsal. The conditions were harsh, the ice was unforgiving, and the routine quickly became a physical war of endurance.
What stunned the director most was not simply the number of hours Robbie put in, but the violence of what she was willing to absorb. During one especially ugly spill, she crashed hard onto her hip and let out what Gillespie described as a raw cry of frustration. The choreographers immediately rushed toward her, expecting the session to stop. Instead, Robbie reportedly waved them off in anger, grabbed the boards with bruised hands, and dragged herself back upright. It was the kind of moment that, in Gillespie’s telling, made everyone nearby believe they were watching an actress push herself dangerously close to collapse.
That intensity became central to the spirit of I, Tonya, a film that demanded not glamour but grit. Robbie was portraying Tonya Harding, one of the most controversial and physically explosive figures in sports history, and she apparently understood that the performance would only work if it looked lived-in rather than carefully protected. Gillespie’s comments suggest she had little interest in taking the comfortable route. He said she resisted the temptation to let a double handle the easier skating beats, determined instead to carry as much of the physical burden herself as possible.
The result was a performance that felt jagged, defiant, and deeply human. Robbie’s work in I, Tonya stood out because it never seemed polished in the traditional prestige-drama way. There was sweat in it, pain in it, and a visible sense of someone fighting through humiliation and fury. Gillespie’s recollection of the training helps explain why that performance landed with such force: the bruises were not metaphorical. They were real, and they informed every movement.
In hindsight, Robbie’s first Oscar nomination now looks like the final reward for a process built on sheer stubbornness. Gillespie’s account does more than praise her professionalism; it reframes the performance as an act of physical courage. On the ice, before the cameras ever captured the magic, Margot Robbie was apparently enduring the kind of punishing routine that left even her own team wondering whether her legs were giving out. That fear, and her refusal to stop, became part of what made I, Tonya unforgettable.
@primevideoaunz Before filming ‘I, Tonya’, Margot Robbie spent three months with a skating choreographer and did nearly all the skating herself, leaving only the jumps and spins to doubles. #ITonya #MargotRobbie #SebastianStan #FigureSkating
