Sex Education's Emma Mackey wants to 'move past' being compared to Margot Robbie

Sex Education star Emma Mackey has admitted she’d rather ‘move past’ the comparisons with Hollywood A-lister Margot Robbie, saying she doesn't think they look anything like one another. 

Mackey rose to fame as Maeve in Netflix comedy-drama Sex Education, with many viewers noticing her resemblance to the Wolf of Wall Street actor. 

The running observation reached fever pitch earlier this year when it was announced that Mackey had been cast in the forthcoming Barbie movie, sharing the bill with her Hollywood doppelgänger, who’s taking on the titular character. 

Abaca Press/Alamy Stock Photo

But in a new interview with Total Film, Mackey explained that – while she doesn’t mind the flattering comparison – she is understandably slightly over it. 

"It's just funny," Mackey said. 

"And I think Margot has had the grace and humour to be able to play on that, and allow me to be in the same film as her – bless her. It's just a joke in real life. I'm like, 'We don't look anything like each other.'" 

Paramount

She continued: "I don't mind it. It's Margot Robbie. Are you kidding me? She's the best. I look up to her so much. I don't mind the comparisons. But it would be nice to move past that." 

It’s not the first time she’s had to address the comments either, having told the Independent back in 2020 that she wished ‘people would stop comparing’ her to Robbie. 

"I genuinely just don't see it at all," Mackey explained. 

“Like, it's lovely to be compared to Margot Robbie, but mostly I'd rather people focus on the jobs that we're both doing rather than what we look like." 

Netflix

The actor added: "Hollywood churns out people who look the same and we love to put people in boxes. It's just a thing that we do as a species, we categorise people, we always have." 

As for Robbie? She’s been at the forefront of the lookalike saga, too. 

When asked by BBC Radio 1's Ali Plumb about the last time someone asked her if they knew her, or got her 'confused with another famous person', Robbie admitted it happened just a few weeks ago. 

She said: "I was eating a burger at Apple Pan and they were like: 'I loved you in Sex Education. That show was so cool. We just started watching it.' 

"And I was like, 'Oh, I'm so sorry it's not me'." 

Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity, Margot RObbie

Jess Hardiman

Jess is Entertainment Desk Lead at LADbible Group. She graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Film Studies, English Language and Linguistics. You can contact Jess at [email protected].

@Jess_Hardiman