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.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

I explored the arts in general; I took painting classes and sketching classes and acting classes and all sorts of different things.

Margaret Qualley

Nothing ever goes to plan. As soon as you are OK with that, everything is much easier.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

I think gender parity is a crucial part of any healthy society. It's applicable to the entire world.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

I think, a lot of times, people don't want to do what their parents do because they want to be their own person.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

Ballet can be grueling, for sure, but it gives you a certain discipline.

Margaret Qualley

I left home at 15 to go to the North Carolina School of the Arts.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

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.'

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley

My mother has been an advocate for me as far as modeling goes.

Margaret Qualley

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.

Margaret Qualley