From the rink to the red carpet! Tonya Harding joined Margot Robbie, who portrays her in I, Tonya, at the premiere in L.A. on Tuesday, December 5.
The pair were all smiles as they posed together. Harding, 47, wore a black gown while the Australian actress, 27, shined in a metallic Versace dress.
Late last month, Robbie joked to Us Weekly that ice skating probably won’t be her back-up plan if acting doesn’t work out. “I don’t know if I could do that!” she said at the film’s NYC opening on November 28. “But maybe I could be a good back-up, stand-in for them perhaps, I’m not quite at professional level yet.”
I, Tonya director Craig Gillespie previously opened up about the movie in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly. “This is not the Tonya Harding, Nancy Kerrigan story. It’s actually Tonya’s story. She was painted as such a villain and a punchline in our society. I wanted to understand the world she came from and how she arrived at these tragic choices in her life. I wanted to see her as a human being,” he said. “Margot and I flew to Portland and saw Tonya two weeks before we started shooting. She was very generous and candid, it was a real gift right before filming.”
Harding, meanwhile, hasn’t stepped out for a public event in years. In one of the biggest scandals in sports history, her ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, and bodyguard hired a hitman to injure Nancy Kerrigan seven weeks before the 1994 Winter Olympics. Harding avoided jail time but pleaded guilty to hindering the prosecution. She was banned for life from the U.S. Figure Skating Association, received three years probation, a $160,000 fine and 500 hours of community service.
Kerrigan spoke out about the incident in the NBC documentary Nancy & Tonya in 2014. “It’s sad, the bizarre craziness that all transpired. It’s too bad, because she’s talented,” she said.
I, Tonya also stars Sebastian Stan, Allison Janney and Bobby Cannavale. During the night out, Harding later embraced the other actors while taking photos.
The film hits theaters on Friday, December 8.
