5 things to know about Margaret Qualley, the star of MAID

If you haven't watched MAID yet because you're still addicted to Squid Game, stop doing anything else, go to Netflix and press play. Cause this miniseries is a beautiful punch in the gut that will keep you stuck to the screen. The story, created by Molly Smith Metzler ( who previously wrote Orange is the New Black) and based on Stephanie Land's memoir  Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive,  follows the struggles (and countless downfalls) of Alex, "a single mother who turns to housecleaning to – barely – make ends meet as she escapes an abusive relationship and overcomes homelessness to create a better life for her daughter". 

What makes the Netflix hit all the more special is not only the measured, graceful way it talks about difficult topics like emotional abuse, toxic relationships, the difficulty of surviving or mental illness, but it's Margaret Qualley, the up-and-coming actress who plays the main character. There is something absolutely irresistible about this talented young woman: her huge blue eyes, beautiful and super-expressive face, body type that some have called as that of an elastic girl, the power to move, a mixture of grace and awkwardness,...

Here are 5 things you absolutely need to know about Margaret.

Her mother is an icon of 80s-90s cinema

If you've read any reviews of MAID, you probably know that the actress who plays Alex's mother in the miniseries is Margaret Qualley's real-life mom. In fact, the talented 26-year-old is the daughter of former model Paul Qualley and '80s-'90s movie icon, Andie McDowell. Although McDowell is mostly known in recent times for starring in the Netflix hit and being one of L'Oréal Paris' many brand ambassadors, she was very popular a few decades ago. After a period as a model, she debuted in the role of Jane in Greystoke: The legend of Tarzan, collecting then a long list of romantic comedies such as Sex, Lies and Videotape, Groundhog Day alongside Bill Murray, Multiplicity with Michael Keaton, Michael with John Travolta as a scruffy angel and the cult with Hugh Grant Four Weddings and a Funeral. 

She has a background as a dancer 

Fosse/Verdon

Fosse/Verdon

Fosse/Verdon

The Leftovers

The Leftovers

The nice guys

Once upon a time in Hollywood

Once upon a time in Hollywood

My Salinger year

When she was just 16 years old, Margaret left the North Carolina home she shared with her parents to study at the American Ballet Theatre in New York City. Despite her great love of dance, it only took her a few months in the Big Apple to realize that the pretense of perfection and the pressure to maintain restrictive physical standards was not for her. So, Qualley opted for plan b: join the Professional Children's School, the same one also attended by Scarlett Johansson and Sarah Jessica Parker, and work for the IMG modeling agency to be independent. The new project failed after four months. The reason? An improvisation class she accidentally ran into made her realize that acting was her destiny and convinced her to enter the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. After a summer spent studying Shakespeare, Margaret gets her first role in Gia Coppola's Palo Alto. Shortly thereafter she played Justin Theroux's daughter in The Leftovers, the missing girl in The Nice Guys, the main character in My Salinger Year, Pussycat who tries to seduce Brad Pitt in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Ann Reinking in the miniseries Fosse/Verdon, a character for which she used all her experience as a dancer and was nominated for her first Emmy. The background in dance left a sort of imprinting that is evident in the way she moves and gestures. Instead of highlighting her years of training or the hard work she did on her way to the Netflix hit, Qualley prefers to be ironic about a kind of pattern that is apparently emerging regarding her short acting career that so far has seen her acting alongside Brad Pitt, Justin Theroux, Sam Rockwell and Ryan Gosling:

It’s always me with a cool, famous dude to make me real nervous.

I mean, talented, versatile and also modest.

She is a brand ambassador for Chanel

Although her modeling career was short, fashion remains an important part of Margaret's life. Notably, the 26-year-old is linked to Chanel of which she is a brand ambassador and for which she has walked the runway several times, most recently as a bride for the Haute Couture Fall/Winter 2021-2022 collection. Although she has appeared in the advertising campaigns of other fashion houses, such as Celine, Rodarte and Kenzo, for her red carpets, the actress almost always opts for the super chic creations of the French Maison. During the Met Gala 2021, for example, she wore a Chanel total white look consisting of a tulle and organza dress encrusted with beads and crystals that seems to have taken over 1,300 hours of work, combined with a small tiara and a pair of chandelier earrings with a vintage allure. Totally opposite are, however, the outfits she wears away from the spotlight. In everyday life, Qualley prefers easy clothes, reminiscent of those of her character in MAID: jeans, oversized jumpsuits and t-shirts, tricot sweaters, denim shorts, leggings, baseball caps and sneakers.

She starred in three great videos 

If after watching MAID you have a little crush on Margaret and want to explore her entire filmography, our advice is to start with three videos that you can easily find online and according to many are her best performances. The first is My mutant Brain, the commercial for the launch of Kenzo Worlds perfume directed by Spike Jonze. The video opens with the actress walking away from a dinner party and beginning a liberating dance, including pirouettes and grimaces, created by Ryan Heffington, the same choreographer of Sia's Chandelier video clip. The second video to watch carefully appeared on Instagram a while ago and features Qualley pretending to be Miranda July's sweetheart. Within minutes, the talented 26-year-old is toddling, crying, wiggling desperately and asking Miranda to marry her. All via FaceTime. The last video, however, is a visual transposition of Love Me Like You Hate Me by Rainsford, stage name of Rainey Qualley, Margaret's sister. While the notes flow, the screen alternates between poetic images of the actress and Shia LaBeouf (Qualley's partner until she broke with him in early 2021 following allegations of being abused by his former girlfriend, FKA Twigs) telling their sentimental journey from falling in love to crisis.

Her BFFs include Cara Delevingne, Lily-Rose Depp and Kaia Gerber

Margaret Qualley, Cara Delevingne, Lily-Rose Depp and Kaia Gerber are friends. Seeing all three of them together, it's like being backstage at a Chanel fashion show, and it is perhaps in this way, between one social event and another, that the four girls have cemented their friendship. Their background is similar: all the daughters of artists, it-girls who grew up among privileges, luxury, celebrities, art and coolness. They are all extremely talented, beautiful and have a sense of style, and are capable of alternating effortlessly elegant red carpet dresses with oversized jumpsuits, expensive jewelry and pieces so normcore that if we wore them, even our dog would refuse to be spotted with us, but instead, on Margaret & co, they work.