Hollywood has a weird way of remembering things. When we talk about the Margot Robbie sex scene in The Wolf of Wall Street, people usually default to the "glamour" of it all. They think about the high-octane energy of Martin Scorsese's 2013 epic and the visual of a blonde bombshell in a pink nursery. But if you actually talk to Robbie—or read any of her deep-dive interviews from the last decade—the reality was a lot more like a battlefield than a high-end photo shoot.
She was 22. Just a girl from the Gold Coast who had done some soap opera work. Suddenly, she's in a room with Leonardo DiCaprio and a legendary director, being told she could wear a robe if she wanted to.
She didn't.
That decision changed her life, but it wasn't because she wanted to be a pin-up. It was a tactical career move. Honestly, the "behind the scenes" of these moments involves way more tequila and paper cuts than most fans realize.
The Tequila Strategy and the "Million Paper Cuts"
Let’s get the most famous anecdote out of the way. Before filming that first full-frontal encounter, Margot Robbie didn't just walk onto the set ready to go. She was shaking. To settle the nerves, she knocked back three shots of tequila at 9:00 AM.
It worked.
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But then there was the "money" scene. You know the one: Jordan and Naomi having a romp on a literal bed of cash. It sounds like the ultimate rich-guy fantasy. In reality? It was a nightmare. The production used fake bills, which are essentially just stiff paper with sharp edges.
Robbie later told The Daily Beast that she walked away from that scene covered in "a million paper cuts" on her back. The crew was actually horrified when they saw her. They said she looked like she had been whipped. So, while the audience sees a seductive moment of excess, Robbie was basically getting exfoliated by counterfeit Benjamins in the most painful way possible.
Why the Nudity Was Actually Her Choice
One of the biggest misconceptions is that Scorsese "made" her do it. That couldn't be further from the truth. In an episode of the Talking Pictures podcast, Robbie explained that Scorsese actually gave her an out. He suggested she wear a robe during the scene where she seduces Jordan in their new apartment.
Robbie said no.
"The whole point is that she's going to come out completely naked—that's the card she's playing," she explained. To her, Naomi Lapaglia wasn't a victim of the male gaze; she was a woman who knew exactly what her "currency" was in a world of greedy millionaires. She used her body as a weapon to get what she wanted. If she wore a robe, the power dynamic of the scene would have evaporated.
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"It's Naomi's power over Jordan and that's her only way of getting what she wants," Robbie told IndieWire. "That's her form of currency."
17 Hours in a Nursery
If you think the nude scenes were the hard part, you haven't heard about the nursery scene. This is the one where Naomi is "punishing" Jordan by not wearing underwear, leading to that infamous "Mommy is just so tired" monologue.
Robbie described this as one of the most awkward experiences of her career. Why? Because the room was tiny.
She was stuck in a small bedroom for 17 hours with about 30 crew members—mostly men—crammed into the corners. She had to pretend to touch herself for nearly a full day of filming. When you watch the movie, it looks like a private, heated moment between two people. In reality, there’s a guy holding a boom mic three feet from her face and someone else worrying about the lighting on a stiletto.
She had to "bury the embarrassment" deep down just to get through it. It’s a level of professionalism that most people don't associate with "sex scenes," but it's what separates a movie star from an amateur.
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The Merkin Room and the "Wig for Genitalia"
Then there’s the technical side of things that people rarely talk about. When you’re filming a period piece (even one set in the 90s), the "look" has to be authentic. Robbie revealed during an interview with Fitzy & Wippa that there was an entire "merkin room" on the set of The Wolf of Wall Street.
For those who don't know, a merkin is basically a wig for your nether regions. Because the film required a specific look for that era, the wardrobe department had a literal library of them. Robbie found the whole thing fascinating but weirdly clinical. It takes the "sexy" out of a sex scene real fast when you're picking out a hairpiece for your crotch.
How to View These Scenes Today
Looking back from 2026, the Margot Robbie sex scene discourse has shifted. It’s no longer just about the shock value; it’s about the agency of the actress. Robbie wasn't just a face; she was a producer in the making (as we later saw with Barbie and LuckyChap Entertainment).
She knew that if she was going to do it, she had to do it with a director she trusted. She famously said that if there's ever a time to do nudity, it's in the hands of Scorsese because he doesn't use it for "shock value" or to "pick up the pace." He uses it to tell you something about the character's soul—or lack thereof.
Actionable Insights for Film Fans
If you're interested in the craft behind these scenes, here’s what to look for next time you watch:
- Observe the Power Dynamic: Notice who is in control of the frame. In the nursery scene, Naomi is almost always standing or positioned higher than Jordan, reinforcing her dominance.
- Check the Lighting: Most of these "intimate" scenes are lit with high-contrast shadows to hide the "awkward" reality of the set and emphasize the drama.
- Listen to the Scripting: Notice how little dialogue there actually is during the most explicit moments. The "story" is told through the actors' physicality, which Robbie mastered early on.
Robbie has since joked that when she's in her 50s, she’ll look back at those scenes and think, "Whoop, whoop, look how good Mom looked." But for now, they stand as a testament to a young actress who was brave enough to slap Leonardo DiCaprio in an audition and smart enough to know when to take her clothes off for the sake of the story.