I, Tonya is coming soon to a theater near you. But first, a sneak peek trailer released by the film’s distributor, Neon, and embedded below, will give you a look at Australian actress Margot Robbie as disgraced U.S. Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding. And while Robbie’s real-life voice is far different than Harding’s Oregonian accent, the Aussie actress nails it as she declares, “America, they want someone to love. But they want someone to hate,” before capping off her quote with a curse word.
According to People , I, Tonya will follow Tonya Harding’s story from her early skating days to her training for the 1994 Winter Olympics where her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, concocted a plot to sabotage rival skater Nancy Kerrigan by incapacitating her legs with a club. Tonya Harding long denied her involvement in the attack on Nancy Kerrigan but was eventually convicted of hindering the investigation into the incident and was ultimately banned from the U.S. Figure Skating Association for life.
The dark comedy, based on one of the biggest sports scandals of the 1990s, is directed by Craig Gillespie ( The Finest Hours ), and it debuted to rave reviews at the Toronto Film Festival, where it has already garnered an awards buzz.
In addition to Margot Robbie, the I, Tonya teaser features Allison Janney as Harding’s mother, LaVona, Sebastian Stan as Jeff Gillooly, and Julianne Nicholson as Tonya’s empathetic coach. Caitlyn Carver has been cast as Nancy Kerrigan in the film.
#ITonya First Trailer: Margot Robbie Is America’s Foul-Mouthed Anti-Heroine in Wild New Biopic https://t.co/iBdMUFXRIP pic.twitter.com/PQlb9FOHxq
— IndieWire (@IndieWire) October 19, 2017
The I, Tonya trailer comes a few weeks after star Sebastian Stan made a tone-deaf joke to promote the movie. According to Page Six , Stan shared a meme of Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan with the caption, “Back when ‘taking a knee’ meant taking a knee,” referencing the 1994 attack and the NFL’s national anthem protest. The I, Tonya star then captioned the photo with a plug for the movie. Sebastian Stan later took to social media to apologize for the inappropriate joke.
I, Tonya opens in New York City and Los Angeles on December 8, before the movie is rolled out nationwide in January.
You can check out the first I, Tonya trailer in all its campy glory below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=c_weoC3HT6Q
[Featured Image by Mike Powell/Getty Images]