Margot Robbie watched TED Talks to prepare for Harley Quinn role

NEW YORK, Aug. 6 (UPI) -- Australian actress Margot Robbie says comic books and TED Talks helped her prepare to play the brilliant, but deranged Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad.

"We had an amazing resource with the comic books, but there are still little gaps in the back story and things you need to fill in yourself," Robbie said at a New York press conference this week.

"I watched a couple of TED Talks about schizophrenia and that really helped because the women who were doing these talks were so intelligent and Harley needs to be wickedly intelligent, but also kind of psychotic. That was so helpful and I also read a play called Fool for Love about this really dysfunctional relationship and that helped me to unlock the whole feeling towards the Joker. Some things hit home when you're doing all your research and some things don't, but those things really helped."

Co-starring Jared Leto as the Joker, Suicide Squad is in theaters now.