More than a decade ago, before she established herself as a Hollywood power player with roles in everything from The Wolf of Wall Street and Suicide Squad to I, Tonya and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Margot Robbie was best known for playing the fiery teenager Donna Freedman in the Australian soap opera Neighbours. After a splashy debut in 2008, she was quickly promoted from guest star to regular, and over the next three years, her character grew from a single-minded groupie hellbent on wooing Dean Geyer’s Ty Harper to a Ramsay Street favorite whose storylines included a life-altering hit-and-run, a bid to find her biological father, and a long-running romance with Sam Clark’s Ringo Brown. Now, there’s good news for those who felt Donna’s arc was cut short when Robbie departed the show in 2011 to pursue other opportunities: she’s about to return to Neighbours one last time.
The final episode of the era-defining series is set to air in the U.K. on July 29, rounding off a formidable 37-year run, and it will feature the twice-Oscar-nominated actor in a “small cameo role,” according to Australian broadcaster Network 10. Further details—including where Donna has been since she left Ramsay Street to attend design school in New York, and why she’s returned—are still under wraps, but we do know that she won’t be the only familiar face reprising a part after a substantial break. It’s already been confirmed that Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan will reappear as power couple Charlene and Scott Robinson, while Guy Pearce will come back as the troubled Mike Young and Natalie Imbruglia as the sweet-natured Beth Brennan.
Even more so than her in-demand co-stars, it’s a wonder that Robbie found time to squeeze the cameo into her schedule. The 32-year-old will soon be seen in a spate of other high-profile projects: David O. Russell’s ’30s-set mystery Amsterdam; Damien Chazelle’s Babylon in which she’ll play a ’20s starlet; Wes Anderson’s kooky ensemble comedy Asteroid City; Greta Gerwig’s hotly anticipated Barbie; and an Ocean’s Eleven prequel that will play out in Europe in the ’60s. And as for behind the camera? She’s currently producing Saltburn, Emerald Fennell’s buzzy follow-up to Promising Young Woman. In the end though, no matter how big she gets, Robbie isn’t one to forget her roots.
