There's nothing I dislike more than being in a photo shoot where

“There’s nothing I dislike more than being in a photo shoot where they say, ‘Be yourself.’ That’s not why I became an actress. That’s what I find so funny: that you become an actor, and all of a sudden, everyone wants to know about you. But I didn’t become an actor so I could show you me.” – Margot Robbie

In these words of Margot Robbie, there echoes a timeless paradox of the artist’s soul — that in the act of creation, the self is both revealed and concealed. The modern world, obsessed with identity and personality, demands of the actor, “Show us who you are!” But Robbie’s declaration cuts like a blade through this illusion: the calling of an artist is not self-exposure, but transformation. The actor is not a mirror of herself; she is a vessel through which countless lives may speak. Her art is not confession — it is creation.

To “be yourself”, as she says, is the opposite of what true artistry requires. For to act, in its purest form, is to dissolve the ego, to become fluid as water, to inhabit souls beyond one’s own. The great tragedians of ancient Greece wore masks not to hide, but to transcend. Behind those painted faces, they became kings and fools, gods and mortals, saints and sinners. They understood, as Robbie does, that the power of art lies in the shedding of self, not its display. The actor’s task is not to show the world her face — it is to show the faces of humanity itself.

And yet, in our age, the line between art and fame has grown faint. The crowd hungers not for the performance, but for the person behind it. They demand that the actor’s private life become part of the spectacle, that her truth be packaged as entertainment. But Robbie, wise in her simplicity, resists this false demand. Her words are a quiet rebellion against a culture that mistakes vulnerability for performance, and authenticity for exhibition. She reminds us that mystery is sacred, and that art loses its soul when the artist must stand naked before the crowd merely to be seen.

Consider Greta Garbo, the legendary actress of the silver screen. At the height of her fame, she withdrew from the world, retreating into solitude. The public cried out, “Why does she hide?” But Garbo understood what few could grasp — that an artist’s power depends upon her distance. Her silence became mythic; her absence became presence. Like a temple hidden in the forest, her mystery invited reverence rather than intrusion. In her withdrawal, she preserved the purity of her art — she remained an actress, not a spectacle.

To act is to serve something larger than the self. It is to become a vessel for the stories of others — for their grief, their joy, their longing. When Margot Robbie speaks of her dislike for being told to “be herself,” she reminds us that the artist’s greatest act of love is to disappear into her work. For in disappearing, she gives voice to countless lives that would otherwise remain silent. The world does not need another version of the self — it needs a mirror through which humanity may see its infinite forms.

There is also a deeper truth here, one that applies beyond the realm of acting: that not every truth must be performed. In a time when everyone is urged to “be authentic” for the watching world, Robbie’s words offer a counter-teaching — to protect the sanctity of one’s inner life. To withhold is not deceit; it is wisdom. The tree does not reveal the secrets of its roots, yet from those unseen depths it draws its strength. So too must we learn to guard our essence, to let our actions speak more loudly than our self-display.

So take this lesson, seekers of truth: Do not confuse exposure with expression. Your soul is not a stage, and your worth is not measured by how much of yourself you reveal. Create, act, love, and live — but remember that what gives beauty its power is its restraint. Let your work, your words, your deeds speak for you. Like Margot Robbie, choose not to “show you” but to become something greater than you — a vessel through which truth, art, and humanity may pass. For the artist who knows when to reveal and when to hide walks the path of immortals, leaving behind not her image, but her legacy.