Showbiz

Saltburn producer Margot Robbie admits bathtub scene 'wasn't as shocking' in the script

Saltburn producer Margot Robbie admits bathtub scene 'wasn't as shocking' in the script
Saltburn | Official Trailer

The now-notorious bathtub scene in Saltburn may have shocked fans up and down the country – but producer Margot Robbie was decidedly unsurprised.

Since its release on Amazon Prime in December, the film has left people open mouthed and become its own niche in internet discourse.

It even ruined several family Christmases, with some people's families totally unable to deal with some of its more risqué scenes.

*Be warned: spoilers lie ahead*

The movie focuses on Oxford University students Felix (Jacob Elordi) and Oliver (Barry Keoghan), one of whom is heir to a gigantic country pile, Saltburn.

Not long after Felix invites Oliver to visit over the summer, there is a pretty racy scene in which Felix masturbates in a bathtub, with Oliver secretly watching.

Then, when Felix leaves, Oliver jumps in and starts slurping up the bathwater before it goes down the plughole.

Safe to say, TikTok users found it pretty shocking – but Robbie, who is one of four producers of the movie, had a totally different take.

Valerie Macon/AFP via Getty Images

She said: "It didn't feel that shocking in the script, because Emerald immerses you into a world so quickly.

"She's so masterful at tone and plot; she gets you into it so quickly — you're just immediately like, 'I'm in this world.'

"So by the time you get to something like the bathtub scene, she's primed you for it."

"She's got you, you're, like, picking at a scab; you're like, 'I can't help myself,' or like popping a pimple: 'I know I shouldn't squeeze but I'm gonna.'"


Robbie added that she thought Emerald's script was "intentionally disgusting and satisfying".

"I think she wanted you to be equally as disgusted as you are titillated, and equally as shocked as you are by finding that depravity in yourself."

Now, there's even a candle being sold as smelling like "Jacob Elordi's bathwater".

The description of the candle says: "There’s nothing quite like the smell of a quality candle, particularly when that smell is inspired by Jacob Elordi and what we imagine His Highness to smell like."

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