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How Margaret Qualley became one of Hollywood’s leading actresses
Margaret Qualley is not just the daughter of Andie MacDowell. Breathtaking in Claire Denis’s torrid film Stars at Noon and in the lesbian road movie Drive-Away Dolls, the actress has recently starred in Ethan Coen’s feature Honey Don’t!, which premiered in Cannes in 2025. As she is about to embark in a series of new projects, including How to Make a Killing, The Dog Stars, Numéro dives deeper into the life and career of a rising star, who has already caught the eye of Quentin Tarantino, Lana Del Rey and Chanel.
By Violaine Schütz.
Published on 4 November 2024. Updated on 25 November 2025.
A gifted actress discovered in a commercial
Advert campaigns for perfumes often feature a pretty girl running through fields or lying on the satin bed of a luxury hotel, waiting for a mysterious man. If the beauty of the images is captivating, we also appreciate when directors step out of their comfort zone and experiment.
This was the case for Spike Jonze, who imagined an original video for the fragrance Kenzo World in 2016. A young woman wearing an emerald green dress was performing a series of wild dance steps, in a kind of exhilarating trance… Far from the image of the floating muse.
A prestigious career
Mixing tribal choreography with breakdance and ballet, her magnetic performance left no one indifferent. Truth be told, the wild ballerina with piercing blue eyes has a lot to pull on. Margaret Qualley, 31, is the daughter of American actress Andie MacDowell and model and musician Paul Qualley. Proud of her heritage, the artist has never ceased to honor her illustrious pedigree since her debuts.
Margaret Qualley follows in the footsteps of her mother, Andie MacDowell
As a teenager, she already caught the attention thanks to her mesmerizing beauty – somewhere between Jennifer Connelly and Isabelle Adjani – during an appearance at the Debutante Ball in Paris. Trained in renowned American dance companies, she possesses a grace, presence and flexibility that allow her to move and stun any type of audience.
The performer, who studied acting in London before making a detour to a New York university, will finally be caught up by her heritage. First a model, like her father, walking for Fashion Week from the age of 16, it was eventually her mother that would influence her career path.
In order to avoid being accused of being here thanks to her parents only, Margaret Qualley chose to live alone even though she was still a minor, and handpicked all of her projects. She was spotted in the indie film Palo Alto (2014) by Gia Coppola starring James Franco, in the HBO metaphysical series The Leftovers (2014–2017),in the spicy action comedy The Nice Guys alongside Ryan Gosling or in Seberg (2019) with Kristen Stewart. From nun to manga protagonist or survivor of an apocalyptic world, the actress has always delivered authentic performances, exuding a strong, yet fragile aura, which is often gut-wrenching.
A dangerous hippie in Quentin Tarantino’s film
Her role as Pussycat in Quentin Tarantino‘s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019) is what made her shine above all. Alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt – with whom she flirts on screen – and Margot Robbie, the young actress embodies a sexy and dangerous hippie with a crochet top and mini shorts, who is part of Charles Manson’s cult.
In real life, Margaret Qualley seems to possess her share of that madness and a temperament that is independent, fierce and determined all at once. After dating American actor and comedian Pete Davidson, she dated actor Shia LaBeouf. But when she learnt that his former girlfriend FKA Twigs had filed a complaint against him for sexual assault in December 2020, she ended their relationship. The Chanel ambassador and muse, in a relationship with musician Jack Antonoff – a close collaborator of Lana Del Rey who dedicated a song to the actress on her latest album – has also chosen to convey messages on screen about inappropriate behavior towards women.
The sultry heroine of Stars at Noon by Claire Denis
In 2021, in the series Maid, produced by Margot Robbie and now airing on Netflix, Margaret Qualley portrayed Alex, a young woman abused by her daughter’s father. At first sight however, this executioner seems to be good in all respects, which shows how much we should not trust appearances when it comes to violence. Alex becomes a cleaning lady for rich families in order to provide for her child, while dreaming of having the life of the owners of the place or that of a successful author.
Faced with the disillusionment of the American Dream, she never lets herself feel defeated, finding poetry in the observation of her daughter’s pop and kitsch toys or in a cunning Tinder date. Full of humanity, this arthouse melodrama highlights his intense gaze, which in a single shot, the very first of the opening episode, must have given ideas to many directors on the small and big screen. And not only in his country of origin.
We saw the actress in French director Claire Denis‘s Stars at Noon, released in June 2023. A passionate and sweaty story between a mysterious English businessman and an American journalist without a passport, who is a prostitute, in present-day Nicaragua. For Claire Denis, Margaret Qualley has something wild, joyful and whimsical, in the tradition of the lively actress Paulette Goddard in Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times.
A bold actress seen in Kinds of Kindness and Drive-Away Dolls
After Claire Denis’s film, the actress followed up with a series of exciting projects. She made a brief appearance in Poor Things alongside Emma Stone. In April 2024, Margaret Qualley impressed us once more in a similarly offbeat role. Drive-Away Dolls, the first solo fiction film by Ethan Coen (one of the Coen brothers), follows a young lesbian woman, who shamelessly flirts with her best friend, while trying to outrun a group of gangsters. A sultry adventure shared with Pedro Pascal, Miley Cyrus and Matt Damon that shows off her fearless spirit.
In June 2024, once again demonstrated her acting skills in Kinds of Kindness, a dark and cynical comedy by Yórgos Lánthimos. She would later reunite with Ethan Coen for Honey Don’t, which premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
A memorable performance in The Substance
But if there’s one performance of hers to remember, it would be in The Substance, released in cinemas in November 2024. In this provocative feminist horror film by Coralie Fargeat, which won the Best Screenplay award at the latest Cannes Film Festival, she plays Sue, a creature born from a futuristic experiment initiated by falling Hollywood and fitness star Elisabeth Sparkle (played by Demi Moore).
In this blood-soaked feature filled with burlesque undertones, Margaret Qualley embodies a razor-sharp young woman willing to endanger her own matrix just to have fun, dazzle in society, and be loved by everyone.
A very sexy performance at the 2025 Academy Awards
At times sexy, funny, or menacing, she effortlessly shifts from the tender, innocent expressions of a wide-eyed ingénue look to the sly smile and piercing gaze of a schemer flirting with her monstrous side. A role off the beaten path that should help carve her a dazzling path through Hollywood Hills.
Another stunt? At the Academy Awards ceremony held on March 2nd, 2025, the actress lit up the stage in a sultry red dress, dancing for a flamboyant tribute to James Bond. Could she be the next Bond girl?
Margaret Qualley’s projects for 2026
While Honey Don’t! by Ethan Coen, presented in Cannes this year, haven’t come out yet, Margaret Qualley’s schedule shows no signs of slowing down. Recently seen in a Chanel campaign, alongside A$AP Rocky, the American actress continues to rack up high-profile roles.
She will first star in How to Make a Killing, a comedy led by Glen Powell, Hollywood’s new golden boy currently starring in Running Man (2025). The actress will then appear alongside Ethan Hawke and Bobby Cannavale in Blue Moon by Richard Linklater. Premiering at the La Rochelle International Film Festival, then released in the U.S., the film has yet to have a French release date.
And that’s not all. Margaret Qualley also joined the cast of The Dog Stars, Ridley Scott’s upcoming thriller, where she will share the screen with Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin. Finally, the actress may join Patrick Schwarzenegger and Aaron Pierre in The Love of Your Life, a drama in development that’s already generating a lot of talks…
The films Honey Don’t! by Ethan Coen, How to Make a Killing by John Patton Ford and The Dog Stars by Ridley Scott don’t have a release date yet.
