It’s easy to forget now, as Margaret Qualley is busy collecting Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for her acting work, but the 29-year-old actually started her career as a dancer, earning an apprenticeship at the American Ballet Theatre. Perhaps that’s why Qualley was so drawn to the role of Rebecca in the erotic thriller Sanctuary, for which she is also an executive producer. “Everything was choreographed, all the movement,” the actor tells W’s editor-at-large, Lynn Hirschberg. “It was like a dance.” Less rhythmic, however, was Drive-Away Dolls, a solo directorial effort from Ethan Coen, of Coen brothers fame. In Dolls, Qualley plays Jamie, a free spirit with a heavy Southern accent who brings along her more buttoned-up friend on a madcap road trip to Tallahassee. Here, Qualley discusses both roles, taking notes from Tommy Lee Jones and Ann Richards for her Dolls accent, and her summer wedding to Jack Antonoff.
How did Sanctuary come into your life?
I read the script in one sitting, and I loved it. I had a clear idea of how I would want to do it. I got to be a dominatrix. I got to have blonde hair, and I got to work with Christopher Abbott. We made the film in 17 days—it was really choreographed. Having spontaneity within those very specific parameters sounded fun to me, and it was.
You’ve had blonde hair, brown hair—have you ever been a redhead?
When I was 14 or 15, my sister, Rainey, dyed my hair bright red out of a box. That was when I was doing dance competitions. There are all these photos of me doing big leaps with bright red hair, a rhinestone bra, and a big smile. One time, my photo was on the side of an 18-wheeler for Showstopper’s National Dance Competition. I’m really proud of that moment. Rainey made some of my solo costumes. She would sew them by hand. But I was wearing almost nothing. Dance teaches you real discipline: to be on time and work really hard. And dance prepares you for rejection. When I moved to New York, I pretended that none of the dance competitions had happened because I had segued to ballet.
You have a thick accent in Drive-Away Dolls. How did you develop that?
The accent kind of evolved. I started off with something easy and comfortable, what my accent really should be, having been from North Carolina. And then after I got the part, [Coen] asked me to listen to Tommy Lee Jones and Ann Richards. So I listened to a lot of their interviews and tried to make it a little more Texas.
Do you ever get starstruck?
My first film, The Nice Guys, was with Ryan Gosling. I was very starstruck. He sang “Happy Birthday” to me at Benihana for my 20th birthday, and I’ll never forget it.
What was your favorite birthday?
Any birthday with Jack [Antonoff, her husband].
Margaret Qualley wears a Celine by Hedi Slimane dress and sandals; Graff earrings, necklace, and ring.
You just got married, and you were the happiest bride I’ve ever seen.
It was the best day of my life. I’ve never been happier. I had a blast. I had the best night ever. It couldn’t be more perfect. I love looking back at the photos now. I wanted everyone to get a little loose and dance and have a good time, and I think that most people did.
Where was your first kiss?
In seventh grade, on Halloween. I was dressed as a Fanta girl. I wore a yellow shirt and jeans. I was a really uninspired Fanta girl! It was lazy; I was too cool for Halloween. My then boyfriend was a guy named Zach Mag. I dated a series of Zachs after that: three Zachs in a row. Zach Mag kissed me behind a car. He said, “Sorry, I’m a little rusty.” I was like, “What do you mean?!” We dated for a minute. I had a lot of crushes growing up that were unreciprocated.
Senior Style Editor: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Senior Fashion Market Editor and Menswear Director: Jenna Wojciechowski. Hair for portfolio by Mustafa Yanaz for Dyson at Art+Commerce; makeup for portfolio by Emi Kaneko for Tom Ford at Bryant Artists; manicures for portfolio by Michelle Saunders for Chanel. Set design by Peter Klein at Frank Reps. Special thanks to Ms. Bebe at Outfitters Wig Shop in Hollywood.
Produced by Connect the Dots; Executive Producer: Wes Olson; Producer: Zack Higginbottom; Production manager: Nicole Morra; Production coordinator: David Cahill; First photography assistant: Trevor Pikhart; Second photography assistant: Jeremy Eric Sinclair; Digital Technician: Brendan Pattengale; Postproduction by Lucas Rios Palazesi at Quickfix; Fashion assistants: Tori López, Tyler VanVranken, Molly Cody, India Reed, John Celaya, Kaamilah Thomas, Emily Cancelosi, Allie Kessler, Juliana Bassi, Karla Garcia, Jacqueline Chen, Cosima Croquet; Production assistants: Mateo Calvo, Aspen Miller, Nico Robledo, Griffin Koerner, Danielle Rouleau, Nicolo Battaglini, Juanes Montoya, Juan Calvo, Lily Cordingley, Nathan Gallie, Cameron Hoge, Jack Fahey, Cole Ewing, Karlie Ofstedahl; Hair assistants: Takao Hayashi, Andres Copeland; Makeup assistants: Amelia Berger, Willie Huang; Manicure assistants: Rachel Messick, Marissa Asprer; Set assistants: Christopher Crash Richard, Winston Willingham; Tailors: Irina Tshartaryan, Elma Click, Gayane Mnatsakanyan at Susie’s Custom Designs, Inc.