The morning sun beats down on Airlie Beach, a sleepy coastal town on the Great Barrier Reef. Doug, a retired farm owner, is a quiet, unremarkable figure in a white polo shirt, gray shorts and sandals as a paparazzi lens captures him arriving at his local Bunnings Warehouse.
Look for tools and chat briefly with the staff before getting a set of wrenches. Later, he stops at a body shop to inspect a dent in his car before returning to his home and his modest life.
A modest but rich life, it should be noted, but still far removed from the glitz and glamor of her daughter, an actress turned film producer who is one of the highest-paid women in Hollywood.
It’s an image of stark contrast: Douglas Robbie’s leisurely routine, a universe away from the fast-paced Los Angeles lifestyle of his daughter Margot, who recently welcomed her first child, a boy. It is unclear if Doug ever met the boy.
However, the chasm between them is deeper than geography. Margot, who rarely talks about her father, was raised along with her siblings by her mother, physical therapist Sarie Kessler, after her parents separated in the 1990s.
By all indications, Doug remains a distant figure in Margot’s life. A cursory Google search reveals that she has said eight words about him in interviews over the years.
Doug, a retired farm owner, is a calm, unremarkable figure in a white polo shirt, gray shorts and sandals when a photographer finds him arriving at his local Bunnings in Airlie Beach, Queensland.
She lives a modest life far removed from the glitz and glamor of her daughter, an actress turned film producer and one of the highest-paid women in Hollywood.
By all indications, Doug remains a distant figure in his daughter Margot Robbie’s life. A cursory Google search reveals that she has said eight words about him in interviews over the years.
When Harper’s Bazaar asked her in 2016 what qualities she shares with her father, she told her interviewer: “None.” Nothing. I don’t look like him at all. And that was it.
Although Doug’s brother insists that the estrangement is not absolute, it is clear that they lack the bond that most fathers share with their daughters. They apparently met when Margot came to Sydney last year for the premiere of her ill-fated film Babylon. In 2016, Doug was seen at a local cafe watching Margot attend the Oscars on television.
Margot’s silence on the subject of her father says it all, and during our surveillance at Airlie Beach, we discover a deeply lonely man.
As Margot’s family grows, one can’t help but wonder if their new chapter will include her father, or if Doug’s quiet life, marked by Bunnings runs and car repairs, will remain unchanged, a sad reflection of the family ties that were loosened for more than three years. decades ago when he separated from Margot’s mother when their children were still young.
The actress has not commented on her father since the interview with Harper, but previous reports have indicated that she “doesn’t want to meet him.”
Since then, Margot, 34, has started her own family and in 2016 married her husband, Tom Ackerley, a privately educated English film producer who appears to be the polar opposite of her father. In November of this year it was confirmed that Margot had given birth to a baby.
Contrary to the silence about her father, the Barbie star has repeatedly praised her mother Sarie, commenting in multiple media appearances on how she single-handedly raised four children.
The Wolf of Wall Street star said GQ in 2014: ‘My mother is the sweetest person in the world and if I became her, I wouldn’t be so angry; In fact, it would be an honor.
He searched for tools and spoke briefly with staff before having a set of wrenches cut off at the hardware store.
Later, he stopped at a body shop to inspect a dent in his car before returning home.
Doug has been described as a sugar cane magnate and does not appear to be short of money.
Two years later, Margot sat next to her mother in the backyard of Sarie’s house, as the Hollywood star assured her that her future children would grow up near their grandmother in Australia, although the actress and her family live in United States for now.
Margot used her first big paycheck to pay back all the money her mother had lent her when she was a broke actress trying to make it big, first in Australia and then in Los Angeles.
‘I spent it on paying you, mom. Don’t you remember? “I was in a lot of debt at the end of 12th grade,” she said in a 2019 Vogue interview.
‘I had everything I owed you written down on a piece of paper, and every time I got a paycheck I paid my debt, but then I kept the piece of paper because in the end it was so satisfying to know that I had paid it off. everyone back.’
While there are reports that Doug, who has been described as a wealthy “sugar cane magnate,” helped pay for her children’s education, Margot has not talked about repaying him.
The exact nature of their relationship is unclear and does not seem to be a topic Margot wants to dwell on. However, Douglas’s brother, Waynewho operates a large real estate company on the Gold Coast, denied claims they had contactless distancing.
“That’s never been the case,” Wayne told Daily Mail Australia in January last year. ‘He certainly has a relationship with her. He is very proud of her.
Margot (pictured in September while pregnant with her first child) has not commented on her father since revealing in a 2016 interview with Harper’s Bazaar that they had nothing in common.
In 2016, Margot, 34, married Tom Ackerley (right), a privately educated English film producer who appears to be the polar opposite of her father. In November of this year they welcomed a baby.
Margot’s mother, Sarie Kessler (left), raised the actress and her siblings as a single mother on the Gold Coast. The two (pictured in Los Angeles in December 2022) remain close to this day.
While Margot and her siblings Anya and Cameron don’t appear to be close to their father, it appears her brother Lachlan ‘Lockie’ Robbie is. Lockie appears with his father in an undated photo.
When asked about the qualities she shares with her father, Margot (pictured in Los Angeles in April 2024) responded: “None.” Nothing. I’m not like him at all’
Wayne said his brother had traveled to Sydney to see Margot when she was in town for the premiere of Babylon, a film that would become the biggest box office flop of her career.
He added that his niece’s career was a great source of pride for the Robbie family, most of whom still live on the Gold Coast.
‘It’s Margot’s life and we don’t get involved in giving comments. But we are very proud of Margot and everything she has achieved,” he said.
“We just have a policy about talking to the media; that’s really up to her if she wants to say anything publicly.”
‘But we’re proud of her, and Doug is exactly the same. He was there for the premiere of the movie and I know they have a relationship.
‘Doug is now retired; It has been for a long time. But he is in contact with Margot and all the children.
While Margot and her siblings Anya and Cameron don’t appear to be particularly close to their father, it appears that her brother Lachlan, known as ‘Lockie’, is.
Lockie, a stuntman, has posted a handful of photos of “this old guy” on social media over the years. In 2015, she shared a Father’s Day message that hinted that Doug wasn’t always a present father, but he did offer financial support.
“You may not have a normal family, but you gave me education and help when I needed it.”