Fresh from her role as the explainer of subprime mortgages to moviegoers in 'The Big Short', Margot Robbie will play figure skater Tonya Harding in an upcoming film.
Hollywood has addressed the brutal, cut-throat world of figure skating before. 'Blades of Glory' was fictional, however. Ths skullduggery in Lillehammer really went down.
In the 1991 World Figure Skating Championships, American skaters finished 1, 2, 3. Kristi Yamaguchi won gold, Tonya Harding took silver, and the youthful Nancy Kerrigan took bronze.
Yamaguchi retired from competition after winning gold at the 1992 Winter Olympics. Kerrigan took silver in France and won gold in the 1993 US championship. She had moved ahead of Harding in the pecking order.
'I Tonya' will examine the sensational events of the 1994 Winter Olympics, when Harding's rival Nancy Kerrigan was attacked by two men determined to put her out of the Olympics.
The men were hired by Jeff Gillooly, Harding's husband. Kerrigan was clubbed in the leg by a police baton while taking a break in practice.
Amid a media hoopla, Kerrigan recovered to win silver in Lillehammer. Harding, also labouring under the weight of a media storm, slumped to eighth place.
Harding later confirmed that she had advance knowledge of the attack. A lifetime ban was the result.
The reality TV circuit beckoned in later years.
Robbie is working as a producer on 'I Tonya'. They are currently seeking a director for the script.
