Margaret Qualley Stars in "Maid" Alongside Her Mom, Andie MacDowell

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In 2011, 16-year-old Margaret Qualley made her debut as a debutant at a ball in Paris. It's fair to say that the last two years have been Qualley's "coming out" ball in...Hollywood. Since her appearance in the 2013 indie movie Palo Alto, Qualley has been in blockbusters, been nominated for an Emmy and SAG award, and worked with creators like Quentin Tarantino, Spike Jonze, Sofia Coppola, and Olivia Wilde.

Now, 26-year-old Qualley is the star of the Netflix miniseries Maid. Based on Stephanie Land's memoir of the same name, Maid is the story of a young single mother's fight to raise her daughter while struggling financially and relying on government assistance to stay afloat.

Qualley stars alongside her mom, Andie MacDowell, in the show. Speaking to Harper's Bazaar, Qualley revealed that when producers were looking to fill the part of Paula, Alex's unstable mother, she immediately started campaigning for MacDowell. "It just hit me that my mom should do it," Qualley said.

Here's what you need to know about Qualley—other than the fact that she and her mom are a dynamic duo.

Her mom is definitely a familiar face.

Qualley has acting in her blood. She was born in Montana to Andie MacDowell—an actress whom you likely know from Four Weddings and a Funeral, Groundhog Day, or Sex, Lies, and Videotapes–and Paul Qualley, a former model and a rancher. They met on the set of a GAP campaign, and were married from 1986 to 1999.

MacDowell encouraged her daughters to pursue entertainment careers, like she did. "It’s actually a really good business. I just didn’t want them to do it as children. Rainey [MacDowell's eldest daughter] was asking me at 14. I was like: ‘At 18, if you want to, you can,'" MacDowell told The Guardian. They both followed in her footsteps.

Qualley is the youngest of three children.

Qualley's sister Rainey is 31, and her brother Justin is 35. Rainey is an actress, model, and singer who performs under the name Rainsford. She once made an appearance in Mad Men wearing a fur coat that Don Draper comments is worth $15,000 (not adjusted for inflation). Justin is not in the public eye.

MacDowell moved to California from Asheville, NC to live near her daughters, who are both in the entertainment industry. The sisters occasionally collaborate. In 2020, Qualley appeared in the music video for one of her sister's songs. And they work with their mom, too—Rainey starred in a campaign for Coach alongside MacDowell this past Mother's Day.

She was a ballerina before becoming an actress.

Qualley was initially reluctant to follow her mom's career path. Instead, she wanted to become a ballerina, and went to boarding school at the North Carolina School of the Arts to study dance. But she quit at 16 after getting a scholarship to study in New York, telling The Hollywood Reporter she'd fallen out of love with the art form. "You’d go to these check-ins and they’d measure your fat and would send you a letter if you were too big or too small. But, like, no one is too small," she said.

Qualley encountered the same body image pressures when she signed with IMG and became a model, and quickly transitioned into acting. After a semester at NYU, she left college to star in The Leftovers. Her career came full-circle when she put her dancing background to work in the FX series Fosse/Verdon, where she played real-life dancer Ann Reinking.

You can see her in various movies and TV shows.

Among the highlights? Qualley played Justin Theroux's daughter in the HBO show The Leftovers; a Charles Manson follower who flirts with Brad Pitt's character in Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood...; and a nun in the indie movie Novitiate. Next up, catch her in the Netflix movie The Stars at Noon, based on a novel by Denis Johnson, alongside Robert Pattinson.

Qualley said she supports FKA Twigs.

Speaking to Harper's Bazaar, Qualley expressed her support for FKA Twigs, who alleged that their shared ex-boyfriend, Shia LaBeouf, physically and emotionally abused her. “I believe her,” Qualley said. Qualley was dating LaBeouf when the allegations emerged; they broke up soon after.

In Maid, Qualley's character flees from an emotionally and physically abusive relationship. "More than half of people experience some level of psychological threat within a relationship in their lifetime. I just did my best to read the script and experience Alex’s reality as much as possible within the scenes," Qualley told Harper's Bazaar.

You can follow along on Instagram.

Want more Qualley? She posts about her interviews, wedding-themed modeling shoots, New Yorker cartoon renderings, parents, impressive ability to do cartwheels, and more at the account @margaretqualley.

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