- In full:
- Sarah Margaret Qualley
Margaret Qualley
News •
-
Who is Margaret Qualley?
Margaret Qualley (born October 23, 1994) is an American actor, dancer, and model. She is the daughter of actor Andie MacDowell and model Paul Qualley.
Qualley initially trained in classical ballet, but gave it up as a career at age 16. She briefly worked as a model before pursuing acting. Qualley is known for her roles in Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019) and the TV miniseries Maid (2021). Since Maid, she has appeared in films such as Poor Things (2023) and Kinds of Kindness (2024).
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is Margaret Qualley best known for?
Margaret Qualley (born in Kalispell, Montana, on October 23, 1994) is an American actress, dancer, and model. She is best known for her roles in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (2019) and the TV miniseries Maid (2021).
Qualley is the daughter of actor Andie MacDowell, known for Groundhog Day (1993) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), and model Paul Qualley. Qualley was a ballet dancer as a child but gave it up to work as a model before pursuing acting. Since Maid, she has appeared in films such as Poor Things (2023) and Kinds of Kindness (2024).
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
In which TV series and movies has Margaret Qualley acted?
Margaret Qualley (born October 23, 1994) is an American actress, dancer, and model. She is known for her roles in Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019) and the TV miniseries Maid (2021).
Qualley's first movie role was a small part in Palo Alto (2013). Soon afterward, she earned a recurring role on the acclaimed television series The Leftovers (2014–17). Qualley appeared in The Nice Guys (2016) and starred in Novitiate (2017). She portrayed Ann Reinking in the TV miniseries Fosse/Verdon (2019) and Joanna Rakoff in My Salinger Year (2020).
Since Maid, Qualley has appeared in two features by director Yorgos Lanthimos: Poor Things (2023) and Kinds of Kindness (2024). Her other credits from 2024 include Drive-Away Dolls and The Substance.
2 Britannica SourcesCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
What is Margaret Qualley's background and family like?
Margaret Qualley (born October 23, 1994) is an American actor, dancer, and model. She is the youngest child of actor Andie MacDowell (known for Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral) and model Paul Qualley. Her parents married in 1986 but divorced in 1999, after which MacDowell raised Margaret and her two siblings, Rainey and Justin Qualley, in Montana and North Carolina. Qualley has acknowledged the privilege her parentage has afforded her, especially after she and MacDowell played mother and daughter in the miniseries Maid (2021).
As a child, Qualley enjoyed dancing and studied classical ballet. She later gave up ballet and briefly worked as a model before pursuing acting.
1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Margaret Qualley (born October 23, 1994, Kalispell, Montana, U.S.) is an American actress best known for her roles in the movies Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (2019) and The Substance (2024) and the TV miniseries Maid (2021).
Early life
Qualley is the youngest child of actor Andie MacDowell, who is known for starring roles in the movies Groundhog Day (1993) and Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), and model Paul Qualley. The couple married in 1986, and, in addition to Margaret Qualley, had two other children: Rainey Qualley and Justin Qualley. MacDowell and Paul Qualley divorced in 1999. After her marriage to her second husband, businessman Rhett DeCamp Hartzog, ended in 2004, MacDowell raised her children in Montana and North Carolina.
As a child, Margaret Qualley found joy in dancing—taking part in competitions and eventually studying classical ballet. As a teenager, she attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, a boarding school, to study dance. At age 16 she participated in a summer workshop at the American Ballet Theatre in New York City, where she realized the toll the art form was taking on her body and mind. She gave up ballet as a potential career and briefly worked as a model before pursuing acting.
Early acting roles
Qualley’s first movie role was a small part in Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto (2013), a movie based on actor James Franco’s short-story collection. Soon afterward she earned a recurring role on the acclaimed television series The Leftovers (2014–17), about a small town grappling with the unexplained disappearance of 140 million people globally in what some believe was the Rapture. Meanwhile, Qualley appeared in the Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling comedic thriller The Nice Guys (2016) and starred as a young woman training to become a nun in Novitiate (2017).
After playing a young member of the Manson Family who flirts with Brad Pitt’s character in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, she began to book more projects. She portrayed American dancer Ann Reinking in the TV miniseries Fosse/Verdon (2019) and memoirist Joanna Rakoff in My Salinger Year (2020).
Breakthrough in Maid
Qualley’s parentage has resulted in her occasionally being labeled a “nepo baby”—a child of a celebrity who benefits from nepotism in his or her career. She and MacDowell even played mother and daughter on-screen in Maid. The 2021 miniseries, based on Stephanie Land’s memoir of the same name, follows Alex Russell, a young mother who struggles to provide for her child after fleeing an abusive relationship. The show was a breakthrough for Qualley. Reviewers found her performance grounding in an otherwise “not exactly naturalistic” series. “Having the opportunity to share a scene with [MacDowell] was surreal and exciting,” Qualley told Elle in 2021. “My mom is my mom. I grew up privileged. I certainly, certainly did, and playing a part like Alex only highlights that more.”
Other roles in the 2020s
Since Maid, Qualley has continued to act in films and her star has continued to rise. She has appeared in two features by director Yorgos Lanthimos: Poor Things (2023), which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, and Kinds of Kindness (2024). Qualley is “willing to try things without questioning anything, and she loves to explore,” Lanthimos told Bazaar in 2023. “I also like the fact that she doesn’t take herself too seriously. It’s the only way to achieve more profound work.” Qualley also starred in Ethan Coen’s 2024 comedy Drive-Away Dolls as Jamie, a young woman who embarks on a road trip after breaking up with her girlfriend. Capers, of course, ensue. Her other credits from 2024 include The Substance, a body horror film centering on an aging actress (Demi Moore) who undergoes a medical treatment that creates a younger alter ego (Qualley).
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
In 2025 Qualley appeared in Richard Linklater’s Blue Moon, about the lyricist Lorenz Hart, as an alluring student with whom Hart is infatuated. Also that year she reteamed with Ethan Coen on the crime comedy Honey Don’t!, playing a private investigator. In 2026 Qualley costarred in the dark comedy How to Make a Killing and the postapocalyptic drama The Dog Stars.
Personal life
In 2021 Qualley began dating Jack Antonoff, frontman of the band Bleachers and frequent collaborator of artists including Taylor Swift, Lorde, and Lana Del Rey. Del Rey’s song “Margaret,” featuring Bleachers, was inspired by the couple’s relationship. Del Rey sings, “He met Margaret on a rooftop; she was wearin’ white, / And he was like, ‘I might be in trouble.’ ” The couple married in 2023 on Long Beach Island, New Jersey. “Before I met Jack…I never made a home at all. I didn’t care; I cared about movies,” Qualley told Bazaar that year. “It’s really exciting now to be making a home and to have something to care for.” However, she and Antonoff reportedly separated in 2026.