Quentin Tarantino hit back at a journalist who asked why he hadn't given Margot Robbie 'many lines' in his latest film Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.
During a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival, the New York Times reporter asked why Robbie (who plays Sharon Tate) wasn't given many lines despite being a 'very talented actress/actor', suggesting that it was a 'deliberate choice' made by the director.
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Tarantino, 56, hit back immediately saying: "Well, I just reject your hypothesis".
Following his answer, the director looked visibly irritated before Margot jumped to his defence saying that she felt that showing the 'wonderful sides' of her character could be 'adequately done without speaking'.
She said: "Like I said earlier, I always look to the character and what the character is supposed to serve to the story. I think the moments that I got on screen gave an opportunity to honour Sharon and the likeness, I don't think it was intended to delve deeper.
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"Like Brad [Pitt] also mentioned, I think the tragedy ultimately was the loss of innocence and to really show those wonderful sides of her I think could be adequately done without speaking.
"I did feel like I got a lot of time to explore the character even without dialogue specifically. Which is an interesting thing because I often do look to the interaction with other characters to inform me on the character.
"Rarely do I get an opportunity to spend so much time on my own as a character going through a day to day existence. That was actually an interesting thing for me to do as an actor I actually really appreciated the exercise and felt that I could deliver what I wanted to on screen."
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The full-length official trailer for the eagerly-anticipated flick dropped days ago showing Tinseltown A-listers Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie, alongside the likes of Al Pacino, Kurt Russell and Dakota Fanning.
It tells the tale of former TV actor Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt), following their attempts to break into the film industry during 1969 in LA - right at the time of the famous Manson Family murders.
We saw more of Margot Robbie as well - she plays the wife of director Roman Polanski - who's proudly telling someone about her role in a movie.
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"I'm Sharon Tate," Robbie says excitedly. "I'm in the movie! I play Miss Carlson, the klutz."
After premiering at Cannes Film Festival, Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood will be released on 26 July in the US and on 15 August in the UK.
Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Quentin Tarantino, Margot Robbie