Back when Margaret Qualley first “arrived” on the scene, I thought she would just turn out to be another nepotism model/actress. But then Fosse/Verdon happened and I now I find her so impressive. She played Ann Reinking (Bob Fosse’s wife after Gwen Verdon) and she was flat-out great. She’s currently promoting Maid, about a “young mother navigating an abusive relationship and the nightmarish US welfare system, as she struggles to make ends meet cleaning houses.” The film was executive produced by Margot Robbie, who loved the book and bought the rights. Margot is the one interviewing Margaret for Porter Magazine (net-a-porter’s in-house magazine), and they had a nice chemistry in this piece. Some highlights:
Qualley on trying to be more instinctive: “I feel like the dial of those voices was louder when I was a kid. Now I’m an adult, I’m constantly working on trying to maximize the volume.”
She’s not going to pretend to be shy: “I think it’s more that I gave myself adjectives that didn’t necessarily align with my person. I tried on the idea of being shy when I moved to New York at 16, but it’s not really true to my nature. I didn’t want to be an actor growing up – I was a dancer – but I’d go to the movies and sprint down to the front at the end and start dancing while the credits rolled. For those five seconds, the audience would be forced to watch me dance. I was just a total attention [seeker]! I guess I felt ashamed about that. The cool, mysterious girl in the corner is always romanticized in film. I very much wanted to be that girl, but it’s just not who I am. Like, I’m not cool! I’m very goofy. So, it’s more about trying to get back to the unfiltered version of myself.”
She’s getting more domestic: “I moved to New York when I was 16 and I’ve only ever had, like, a mattress on the floor and one lamp from Ikea. I felt like after 10 years of doing that, maybe it wasn’t so cute anymore, so I finally made myself buckle down and get domestic for the first time. That’s been my little accomplishment of late!”
What she knows now: “I really feel like I know less every day. I have more questions and less answers the more that time goes on. With acting, my whole thing has just been reckoning with the fact that I have no real control. It’s a small example of the way that everything in life works. Coming from a ballet background, there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things; a certain amount of work will get you [to] a certain place. But with acting, it’s so not that way. Like, the harder you try, it might be the worse that you are. And the harder that you try to force something to happen that shouldn’t happen, the more impossible it all is. Reckoning with the fact I have no control is my big thing in life, in general. I’m an insomniac and forcing myself to be asleep is no way to fall asleep, you know… but I don’t have any answers. Margot, maybe you should just be giving me the answers!”
I really appreciate what she said about “trying on” a “shy” personality. I think so many actors and actresses do that, because they don’t want to admit to themselves or anyone else that they actually like attention and they love being watched and in the center of things. It’s “cool” to be the shy introvert these days. I like that Qualley was like “yeah, tried it, that’s not me.” As for getting domestic and finally decorating her apartment… I bet finances were part of that too! She’s getting more work, she’s making more money, she should have a cute little bachelorette pad in New York.
Covers courtesy of Porter.
LOL goofball is the flipside of the coolgirl coin – bless her
Totally! Goofball, girl next door, I’m so relatable. It’s just another cliché.
lol i think you’re being unnecessarily rude about her
She did say she’s an attention seeker though I found it interesting she’d admit that. Most people wouldn’t. Attention-seeker seems much more negative than being merely a goofball.
I think attention-seeking might be the most common trait of the 21st century, but we also seem to be in denial about it. So I found it kind of refreshing she’d admit that she seeks out and likes attention.
The first time I remember seeing her was in that Kenzo World music video and it was amazing. Reminded me of Fatboy Slim’s Weapon of Choice and I instantly loved her
Both she and her sister Rain seem like really good people. Andy McDowell also is a really good person so I guess she and their father did right by the world in raising their children
I have only seen her in Maid and that QT movie and really thought she was good
I like the interviews she does
just a correction, it’s a miniseries, not a film
Yes, many of us have already binged the whole season. Stephanie Land’s book is a wonderful memoir, gritty, funny, Lovely to see such a kind, generous writer– with kids to raise still and college loans to pay off–get so much success. Qualley is terrific in the role. The way she looks at abusive men! Patient, with concealed contempt. Classic.
Honestly she is truely talented,i totally believed her character in MAID.So even if it was a little nepotism that got her through the door she actually deserves it.
She comes across as really likable. I still haven’t seen her in anything, I’ll have to seek something out.
She was also in Once About a TIme in Hollywood.
The first time I heard of her was some random thing on tv (fashion network maybe???) where Andy was with her and she was a teen debutante. It’s crazy to flash forward and hear of her in all these things.
I was hesitant to watch Maid even though it was filmed here on Vancouver Island because I heard it was depressing, but I might give it a shot!
She was so good in “Maid”.
She was great! Enjoyed Maid much more than I anticipated.
She was very good as one of the Manson cult girls in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
I just saw Maid and it and Margaret were fantastic! She has such a natural way about her, and her dialogue with her screen daughter even made the daughter’s acting relaxed and believable.
This makes the dancing scene in Maid make so much more sense now lol. I first saw her in The Leftovers and she was really good in that too. She has real talent.
I didn’t even realize that was her! She is very impressive.
She is on video game too. They used her face for some new cgi like technology that can put the faces of the actors on video game characters. Anyway, that is where I saw her first and thought she was a just a pretty face. I’m impressed with her acting in Maid, she is just amazing.
Do you mean Death Stranding where she played Mama?