A drugged-out Margot Robbie is born in the latest Babylon trailer
A new teaser for Damien Chazelle's Old Hollywood epic Babylon finds Robbie's manic ingenue Nellie LaRoy ascending (and descending) in L.A.
Babylon’s release date may have been pushed back from January 6, but that doesn’t mean there’s any less feverish chaos in store from Damien Chazelle’s latest project. A new trailer for the 1920s epic is here, and the intersecting characters it follows remain as immersed in the highs and lows of early-Golden Age Hollywood as ever.
The film’s first trailer established the hedonistic tone of the 3-plus-hour epic— now, it’s time to explore the darker side. Embodying that best is Toby Maguire’s James McKay, whose yellow-toothed leer is on full display towards the end. We also get a closer look at a mustachioed Brad Pitt, who plays swaggering actor Jack Conrad. Jack has enough sensual sway in the industry he inspires women to tattoo his face on their backs—yet, as smooth as he is, even he can’t avoid the occasional (literal) tumble.
“You know, when I first moved to L.A., you know what the signs on all the doors read? No actors or dogs allowed. I changed all that,” Jack proudly tells a skeptical silent-film actor Enid St. Cloud (Emmy winner Jean Smart).
Young starlet Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) still appears to be the film’s muse and madness, usually on cocaine and at the center of any party or premiere. The new trailer delves further into the good, bad, and ugly of her career, from standing ovations to icing her nipples off-camera to sobbing on a cold bathroom floor. While the first trailer focused on Robbie’s more decadent antics, the second offers new glimpses of her struggles—with drugs, career competition, and her own self-worth.
“I’ve never done nothing ‘cept disappoint people my whole life,” she tells film assistant Manny Torres (Diego Calva) in the back of a taxi. “But I made it on my terms, not theirs.”
Rounding out the film’s ensemble cast are Jovan Adepo, Li Jun Li, P.J. Byrne, Lukas Haas, Olivia Hamilton, Max Minghella, Rory Scovel, Katherine Waterston, Flea, Jeff Garlin, Eric Roberts, Ethan Suplee, Samara Weaving, and Olivia Wilde. Babylon premieres in theaters on December 23.