{"id":306690,"date":"2026-02-19T19:45:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T19:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/306690\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T19:45:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T19:45:15","slug":"from-small-town-southern-dancer-to-hollywood-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/306690\/","title":{"rendered":"From small-town Southern dancer to Hollywood star"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Margaret Qualley has leaned into her Southern upbringing to transform her work as an actress.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">During a cover story for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanityfair.com\/hollywood\/story\/margaret-qualley-cover-story\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Vanity Fair,;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Vanity Fair,<\/a> Qualley shared that, in some ways, she had a normal childhood despite being the daughter of Andie MacDowell and former model Paul Qualley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Margaret, her sister Rainey and her brother Justin grew up loving grits, sweet tea and spending time at Waffle House, she told Vanity Fair.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Margaret Qualley\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/9ee2e71d9cc7c2e6076011fe0ef064f9.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Margaret Qualley on the cover of Vanity Fair&#8217;s March issue.<\/p>\n<p>(Fox News)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/lifestyle\/margaret-qualley-interview-sanctuary-maid-andie-macdowell-instagram-b1079901.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:The Evening Standard;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">The Evening Standard<\/a> in 2023, Qualley recalled her experience of being raised by &#8220;probably the only Hollywood actress in Asheville.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/entertainment\/andie-macdowells-daughter-margaret-qualley-used-southern-girl-etiquette-win-over-famous-husband\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Andie Macdowell&#039;s Daughter, Margaret Qualley, Used &#039;Southern Girl Etiquette&#039; To Win Over Famous Husband;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Andie Macdowell&#8217;s Daughter, Margaret Qualley, Used &#8216;Southern Girl Etiquette&#8217; To Win Over Famous Husband<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I grew up always being like, &#8216;Well, it\u2019s just normal to me. She\u2019s my mom. So, it\u2019s my normal life.\u2019 But also I knew it was weird,&#8221; she began.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS\/mvaj7wvj\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Read On The Fox News App;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;It\u2019s weird. I\u2019m really lucky. It was a strange thing, but then I did go to a normal school, [had] normal friends and have a somewhat normal life. Then my mom would go off and do movies, and sometimes I\u2019d go with her. And sometimes I\u2019d meet, like, G\u00e9rard Depardieu.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;The Substance&#8221; star shared that spending her <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/us-regions\/west\/montana\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:early years in Montana;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">early years in Montana<\/a>, before moving to North Carolina, greatly shaped how she performs as an actress.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Margaret Qualley Vanity Fair\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1200\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4ce6cd47a5dcce4f756e3c935669330b.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Margaret Qualley on the cover of Vanity Fair.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Much of Margaret&#8217;s childhood was spent in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/entertainment\/genres\/dance\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:competitive dance;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">competitive dance<\/a>. For high school, she went to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, a boarding school. She told the outlet that her experience as a competitive dancer in the South still sticks with her today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/entertainment\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Like What You\u2019re Reading? Click Here For More Entertainment News;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Like What You\u2019re Reading? Click Here For More Entertainment News<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I remember a teacher saying to me in front of everyone, &#8216;You\u2019re dancing like a peacock when you should be dancing like a pigeon.&#8217; I think I interpreted that as I\u2019m physically asking for too much attention,&#8221; Qualley told Vanity Fair.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At 16, Margaret decided to leave the world of competitive dance behind and moved to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/new-york-city\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:New York City;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">New York City<\/a>. She signed to IMG, and by the time she entered her 20s, she was already feeling the effects of the industry.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Andie MacDowell, Margaret Qualley, Rainey Qualley\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/ecce4ffd20a366c1ce342df9633cc943.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Andie MacDowell has two daughters: Rainey Qualley (L) and Margaret Qualley.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I was controlling my body and my body had control over me: I must go to sleep now, must wake up now, must work out now,&#8221; Margaret said. At this point in her life, the &#8220;Maid&#8221; star decided to follow in her famous mother&#8217;s footsteps and began auditioning for acting roles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Although she is rising to superstar fame, Margaret has decided to keep her personal life private, which includes her marriage to Taylor Swift&#8217;s producer, Jack Antonoff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Qualley and Antonoff met in 2021 at a party and tied the knot two years later. She has kept most details about her marriage private, but told Vanity Fair, &#8220;I\u2019ve always been very love-oriented. I\u2019ve always been looking for my person, and I met Jack.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Margaret Qualley and Jack Antonoff pose for a photo\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/5444c5b9b901cc6e7fa813c089ca219b.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Margaret Qualley and Jack Antonoff married in 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">During an interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cosmopolitan.com\/entertainment\/celebs\/a65531408\/margaret-qualley-interview-2025\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Cosmopolitan;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Cosmopolitan<\/a> in 2025, Qualley told the outlet that she had won Antonoff over with her &#8220;Southern girl etiquette.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I\u2019m very old-school about stuff like this,&#8221; she said, referring to him saying, &#8220;I love you&#8221; first.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I would never put myself out there first. I never text twice. I mean, now we\u2019re married, and I can text him anything at any time. We\u2019re always having a conversation; he\u2019s like my human diary. But, before we were together, at the beginning, I would always follow Southern girl etiquette.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Margaret Qualley with her mom and husband\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/35d39c7acfbf02f8fad4abb63fdfa2cb.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Andie MacDowell, Margaret Qualley and Jack Antonoff at the AFI Awards Luncheon in 2022.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In her relationship with Jack, Qualley felt &#8220;safe and comfortable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters?cmpid=fnfirstnl\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Click Here To Sign Up For The Entertainment Newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Click Here To Sign Up For The Entertainment Newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;In every other relationship I\u2019ve ever been in, I still felt really lonely because I wasn\u2019t with my person, and it\u2019s like I was seeking something,&#8221; she said. &#8220;I don\u2019t feel like that anymore. Jack makes me feel safe and comfortable.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Margaret Qualley smiling\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/f4c3e6a1260c3682527f5910fa1d1bb1.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Margaret Qualley won her husband over with her &#8220;Southern girl etiquette.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I spent so many years trying to be someone\u2019s perfect girl, and that girl changed over and over again,&#8221; Qualley admitted. &#8220;But I can\u2019t lie to Jack. I can\u2019t be that for him. He\u2019d see through it. So, I just have to be myself. He\u2019s been the person I\u2019ve pictured my whole life. And I\u2019m not even saying that metaphorically. My first crush was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/adam-sandler\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Adam Sandler;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Adam Sandler<\/a> in \u2018Happy Gilmore\u2019 and \u2018Big Daddy,\u2019 and I\u2019ve been looking for that essence my whole life. I\u2019m like, \u2018That\u2019s Jack.\u2019&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Click Here To Download The Fox News App;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Original article source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/entertainment\/andie-macdowells-daughter-margaret-qualleys-rise-from-small-town-southern-dancer-hollywood-star\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Andie MacDowell\u2019s daughter Margaret Qualley\u2019s rise: From small-town Southern dancer to Hollywood star;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Andie MacDowell\u2019s daughter Margaret Qualley\u2019s rise: From small-town Southern dancer to Hollywood star<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Margaret Qualley has leaned into her Southern upbringing to transform her work as an actress. During a cover&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[144343,321,93,133482,61,60,49792,86697,144344,144347,144345,144346,75301],"class_list":["post-306690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-andie-macdowell","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-hollywood-actress","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jack-antonoff","tag-margaret-qualley","tag-paul-qualley","tag-qualley-and-antonoff","tag-rainey-qualley","tag-southern-upbringing","tag-vanity-fair"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}