With modelling, there's nothing to work on other than losing weight. I definitely had an eating disorder.
Margaret Qualley
'The Leftovers' takes place three years after 2% of the population has gone missing. And it's about how that changes society. Cults form as a result, and it drastically changes home life for a lot of people, including the Garvey family, which is the family I belong to.
It's a normal part of the culture of ballet to go to a nutritionist in your first few weeks. They write down everything you eat and use a little roller that pinches you to measure the fat all over your body. Then, every semester, you get a letter saying either you're too thin, or you're OK, or you're overweight.
I explored the arts in general; I took painting classes and sketching classes and acting classes and all sorts of different things.
Nothing ever goes to plan. As soon as you are OK with that, everything is much easier.
I grew up never thinking about acting as a profession because that was what my mum did, and often, you don't want to be like your parents.
Growing up in North Carolina, my mom was always just sort of my mom to me. I never really recognized her as a famous actress. I'm always thrilled when she's cleaning out her closet. Last time, I got a pair of boots that she bought in Paris 20 years ago. I have completely worn them out.
Ballet, there's a right way to do things, and it's black and white, and it's all striving for perfection. Acting is not that way. It's very gray, and the messier you can be, the better. The mistakes that you make are the gold and the beautiful stuff.
I think gender parity is a crucial part of any healthy society. It's applicable to the entire world.
I don't really know what I'm doing, to be honest. I come up with things, and maybe it works, and maybe it doesn't, and I try to learn from my castmates and director and from everyone.
I think, a lot of times, people don't want to do what their parents do because they want to be their own person.
I was so invested in ballet, and it was my entire life. And then it was realizing that I didn't want it to be my entire life forever. And then it was this very specific life, and I wanted to learn about other things. So I modeled to fill the time because dancing was very much a job, even when I was 14 years old.
I was one of those dancers who they say wants to feel the floor through their pointe shoes. I would end up not wearing toe pads and that stuff. I would just wrap minimal amounts of paper towels around my toes.
Ballet can be grueling, for sure, but it gives you a certain discipline.
I left home at 15 to go to the North Carolina School of the Arts.
I went to the Professional Children's School in New York, and I started modeling because I could do that until I actually figured out what I wanted to do, and it gave me the opportunity to travel.
With 'The Leftovers,' I was actually super, super lucky. It was my first major audition. When I came out, the casting director was kissing me on the face, and I was like, 'Oh, that's probably a good sign.'
I actually quit ballet when I was offered a job, an apprenticeship at North Carolina Dance Theater Company, run by John Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride, who are my idols. Everything sort of went perfectly. I was 16, and I was about to drop out of high school and become a professional ballet dancer.
My mother has been an advocate for me as far as modeling goes.
I like a bohemian floral dress, but then I'll throw on a leather jacket or a pair of lace-up boots to give it an edge. My mom is always trying to get me to wear really sweet clothes. Something pink. But that's not really my look.
I'm pretty casual. I love Free People and small vintage boutiques.
I was having a really-early-onset midlife crisis, and then something clicked in an improv class, and I knew.
I think being in the city is the perfect way to figure out what I want to do.
My sister and I are pretty dorky, so we drive around at night in her car listening to old Disney songs and feed the coyotes cans of wet cat food, which I'm sure is a terrible idea. Meanwhile, 'Cinderella' and 'Sleeping Beauty' showtunes are playing in the background.
I think I would find being in Hollywood intense if I had more of a social life, but all I do is stay indoors with my sister and play with our puppy, watch movies.
It was funny being at high school and also grocery shopping and having a job. Other kids were going home to their parents, who were doing their laundry, and I was like, 'Wait, what?' I was super isolated. I was 16, alone in New York, and modelling.
I've been really fortunate to work with a lot of women.
The goal is to not be patted on the back for hiring a woman, because it shouldn't be an exceptional thing. It should just be commonplace that women should have equal opportunities as men.
I lived alone, I didn't know anybody in New York, and I was definitely a recluse. It had been, like, two weeks, and I realized I hadn't said anything. I was laying in bed, and I was like, 'Hello?' I just talked to hear my own voice. And it was such a strange feeling.
I just realized I wanted to do more than ballet. I was offered an apprenticeship, so I was about to join a company and drop out of high school, and then it hit me: I didn't want that anymore.
I was used to having a job - ballet was my job, and I felt like I needed something artistic to focus on after I quit.
I guess I gravitate towards stories that I like and directors that I want to work with, and I hope that it works out.
I was a dancer, growing up, and I definitely thought that was going to be my profession.
Like every child of divorce, I had parent-trap fantasies. In fact, 'The Parent Trap' was my favourite movie. I was a Nineties baby, so I particularly loved the Lindsay Lohan version.
I still feel guilty buying something without asking my mother first. It's ridiculous. I'll call her and be like, 'I saw this dress, can I get it?' And she'll say, 'Margaret, whatever. Get the dress.'
When you're really serious about ballet, it's a job - even if you're 15 years old. You're doing it six to eight hours a day.
