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The ‘I’ in ‘I, Tonya’ Stands For ‘Ice Skating’: Everything You Need To Know About ‘I, Tonya’

The critically acclaimed biopic I, Tonya, which was nominated for three Golden Globes and three Oscars, stars Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding, an Olympic ice-skater who gets swept up in an international scandal when her boyfriend brutally attacks her fiercest competitor, World Champion ice-skater Nancy Kerrigan. In case you haven’t seen it yet and need a primer, here’s everything you need to know about I, Tonya.


1. Although she grew up in a family that specialized in attacking figure skaters, Margot Robbie didn’t have that much figure skating experience before taking on the role of Tonya Harding.

2. Margot Robbie spent five months learning how to walk on water before producers told her that the rink would be frozen.

3. The film has been accused of taking some liberties to make Tonya Harding more sympathetic, particularly in the scene in which Tonya does a triple axel and slashes Osama bin Laden’s throat with her skate.

4. The “I” in I, Tonya stands for “ice skating.”

5. Despite no formal casting agreement, Gerard Butler trained vigorously to portray Georg Hackl, the 1994 gold medalist in the men’s luge competition on the off chance that the filmmakers wanted to spruce up the authenticity a bit.

6. The scene in which an ice skate flies off the hoof of an ice-skating cow and severs Tonya’s head was completely improvised.

7. Margot Robbie’s figure skating body double was the same woman who stood in for Michelle Kwan in the 2002 Winter Olympics.