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.
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