Margaret Qualley revealed that starting her acting career was far from simple, highlighting the significant pressure she faced in her late teens and early twenties. Although she initially worked as a model, transitioning to acting brought overwhelming challenges, as she shared in a Vanity Fair interview published on February 12.
Qualley, daughter of actress-model Andie McDowell and former model Paul Qualley, explained,
“I started working so young, and when I first started acting, I was just overwhelmed,”
recalling the difficulty she felt balancing the demands of her new profession.
Struggling with Self-Identity and Confidence on Set
Early in her career, Qualley struggled with expressing her true self, feeling vulnerable in a highly competitive industry. She noted her fears about being judged or hurt by others, which limited her ability to fully embrace her femininity.
“I felt like if I was fully myself, women would hate me and men would hurt me. And so that took away some of the tools that come with being a woman because I was scared. Gradually, now that I feel like I have more control of my life, I can kind of lean more into the sensual and the feminine,”
she revealed.
Despite her progress, Qualley admitted to being particularly hard on herself, driven by a strong competitive streak and ambition.
Learning from Mistakes and Finding Support Through Marriage
At 31, Qualley acknowledged she has made choices in her acting career she would avoid repeating. She clarified,
“When I say mistakes, I don’t mean it was the wrong thing, I mean I wouldn’t do it again,”
illustrating her ongoing self-reflection.
Her marriage to musician Jack Antonoff in 2023 has played a significant role in boosting her confidence and encouraging her to embrace her full identity. Qualley shared,
“Jack has helped me for sure, because he has made me feel more confident to explore all the parts of myself.”
She also cited her spiritual interests as guiding forces, stating,
“But I’m also thinking about Mother Earth and the divine feminine and surrender. Those are the things I’m trying to lean into, that moment in my life.”
Building a Notable Career and Overcoming Demanding Roles
Qualley has steadily accumulated acting credits, appearing in projects like the HBO drama The Leftovers (2014), the action comedy The Nice Guys (2016) with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe, and films such as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Honey Don’t!, and Blue Moon. Her performance in Netflix’s Maid earned her Golden Globe and Emmy nominations, while her role in 2024’s The Substance brought her a second Golden Globe nomination.
The Substance garnered a 13-minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival and sparked conversations about her exclusion from the 2025 Academy Awards, which many considered a snub given her exhaustive emotional and physical commitment to the role.
Reflecting on the experience, Qualley told EW,
“To act confident when you don’t feel confident, to act like you feel hot when you don’t feel hot, is so much harder,”
describing how she felt pushed to her limits daily and calling the demanding dance scenes “brutal” in hindsight.
The Physical Toll of Intense Performances
Qualley exposed the physical challenges that accompanied her role in The Substance, including the use of prosthetics that severely affected her appearance. On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, she explained,
“It took me probably, like, a year to recover physically from all of it.”
She detailed the difficulty of filming scenes with prosthetics, saying,
“When they’re shooting up my skirt at the end, or in the beginning credits, when it’s, like, the palm trees all around, and they have, like, all these long lenses from the bottom. That’s just because my face was so f—ed up by that time that they couldn’t, like, shoot my face anymore.”
Upcoming Projects and Continuing Career
The Substance is now available for streaming on HBOMax, allowing audiences worldwide to witness Qualley’s powerful performance. Looking ahead, she co-stars with Glen Powell in the A24 comedy-thriller How to Make a Killing, which is set to release in theaters on February 20.
Margaret Qualley’s candid sharing about her acting struggles reveals the emotional and physical challenges behind her rising career, highlighting the resilience required to succeed in Hollywood’s demanding environment. With ongoing support from her personal life and a growing body of acclaimed work, she remains a notable presence to watch in the industry.
