If you’ve tuned into almost any buzzworthy project lately, chances are you’ve spotted Margaret Qualley. She’s built a career that defies predictability, jumping from intimate indie dramas to bold auteur experiments, and somehow making it all look effortless. Qualley has a knack for slipping into wildly different roles, whether she’s playing vulnerable, unhinged, hilarious, or all of the above in a single performance. So, what are the pieces that have made up her career to date? Let’s count them down because reading through her filmography is nearly as fun as watching the performances themselves.
12. Drive-Away Dolls
Ethan Coen’s weirdo road trip romp teams up Qualley with Geraldine Viswanathan as two BFFs whose impromptu vacation goes haywire when a mysterious briefcase appears in their rental vehicle. It’s crazy, queer, and pulpy in the absolute best sense, and Qualley’s keen comedic sense makes her the ideal partner-in-crime for this offbeat buddy pic.
11. The Substance
In Coralie Fargeat’s feminist horror breakthrough, Qualley is the younger incarnation of Demi Moore’s tarnished star. It is a part that requires physicality, discomfort, and a hint of danger, things Qualley brings with unapologetic accuracy. Both gruesome and captivating, her work solidifies her as one of the most daring performers of her age.
10. Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos’s dreamlike masterpiece allows only a fleeting moment to Qualley, but she does it proud. As Felic, it’s one of Dr. Baxter’s odd experiments; she uses her dance training for delightful physical comedy. It’s a small role, but one that’s not easily forgotten in a film already packed with offbeat genius.
9. Novitiate
Here, Qualley stars as Cathleen, a young woman who is attracted to the convent in the action-packed 1960s. The movie has themes of faith, repression, and self-realization, and Qualley’s understated, contained performance brings the narrative its emotional core. It’s evidence at an early stage that she was capable of sustaining heavy material with maturity and subtlety.
8. Stars at Noon
Claire Denis’s hot-weather political romance stars Qualley as Trish, an American reporter marooned in Nicaragua who becomes embroiled in a perilous affair with Joe Alwyn’s mysterious businessman. It’s sloppy, and laced with desperation, and Qualley plays vulnerability against raw appeal.
7. Kinds of Kindness
Back with Lanthimos, Qualley has her work cut out for her playing various odd jobs in anthropology, from cult follower to housewife to twins. Each is more peculiar than the previous, but she approaches the out-there material with aplomb and winking humor. Even in a packed cast of stars, she’s irresistible.
6. Palo Alto
In Gia Coppola’s soggy teen drama, Qualley is a soccer teammate involved in a creepy relationship with an older coach. Even though it’s one of her first roles, you can already detect her skill at projecting multiple layers of vulnerability below a placid surface.
5. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
As Pussycat, a disciple of Charles Manson, Qualley makes a hike to turn a hitchhiking encounter with Brad Pitt’s character into something both fun and unsettling. She gets just that right uncomfortable combination of innocence and danger, and she is one of the most memorable supporting characters in Tarantino’s grandly sprawling epic.
4. The Nice Guys
Shane Black’s ‘70s-set detective comedy casts Qualley as Amelia, the missing girl at the center of the story. Amid the chaos of Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe’s antics, she brings intelligence and edge to a role that could have been overshadowed, proving early on that she could hold her own against A-list co-stars.
3. Sanctuary
In this claustrophobic two-hander, Qualley is a dominatrix embroiled in a twisted psychological duel with Christopher Abbott’s entitled heir. The film is tight, volatile, and occasionally gross-making, but Qualley’s nuanced performance, shifting between control and vulnerability, is impossible to turn away from.
2. Fosse/Verdon
As the iconic dancer Ann Reinking in FX’s hit miniseries, Qualley gave an Emmy-nominated performance. She aced the choreography, but also infused the tension-filled personal and professional relationship that is central to the series with depth and vulnerability.
1. Maid
The breakout role: Alex, a young single mother fighting to leave a history of abuse behind and start over. Adapted from actual events, the Netflix miniseries tapped into the hearts of viewers around the globe, thanks in large part to Qualley’s powerful, empathetic, and unflinching performance. Working alongside her real mom, Andie MacDowell, only served to enhance the grittiness.
And she’s not holding back. With releases like Honey Don’t!, a Coen-directed crime thriller opposite Chris Evans, and gothic horror Victorian Psycho in the pipeline, Qualley is ensuring that she’s here to stay. If past performances are anything to go by, her next move will be as unexpected, edgy, and memorable.