Even with a suitcase full of Chanel day-to-night outfits and a company of famous friends for “reinforcements,” the Cannes Festival experience for rising actress Margaret Qualley remains a mix of shock and awe.
“It’s very intense,” she admits during our meeting at the “Carlton” hotel in Croisette. “But it means a lot to me to be here. It’s my dream to have a film at the festival. I don’t underestimate how special this event is. However, my favorite moments are not the overstimulating ones.”
The film she refers to is, of course, Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Kinds of Kindness,” which had its world premiere at the Festival and won the Best Actor award for Jesse Plemons. The cast includes frequent collaborators of the director, such as Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Joe Alwyn, and Margaret Qualley herself.
“If the cast is a family, then it’s very dysfunctional, like all families,” she says, laughing. “I’m lucky to be among them.”
Luck has favored the young American on many levels, starting with the obvious genetic (her mother is 90s star Andy McDowell, and her father is former model Paul Qualley) and reaching the personal: at 30, she has found the love of her life in music producer and composer Jack Antonoff, whom she married last summer in a ceremony in New Jersey. The event caused a frenzy in the area, with roads closing and thousands of fans flocking to the wedding venue to catch a glimpse of the most famous guest, Taylor Swift, as well as other friends of the couple like Zoe Kravitz, Lana Del Rey, Cara Delevingne, and Channing Tatum.
As for the steps that brought her in front of the camera, they began at age 4 in the form of ballet lessons (which she ended up studying), moved through modeling (which she described as lonely and harsh, hence she quickly abandoned it), and ended up in small roles in friends’ films and series (notably HBO’s “The Leftovers”) until the opportunity that changed everything.
“I think Quentin Tarantino did me a huge favor with ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,’ and it opened many doors for me,” she says, referring to her appearance as a member of the Manson Family in the 2019 film. “Immediately after, I worked with Claire Denis (in Stars At Noon) who saw the film in Venice. I know it helped (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). I’ll take his help any time.”
“Kindness Stories” was shot in New Orleans and is essentially the comedown from “Poor Things,” in which Qualley had a brief but memorable role. With two films by the Oscar-nominated director under her belt, she can boast of being part of perhaps the most unique circle of actors in Hollywood.
“Apart from working with him, one of the great gifts of participating in Lanthimos’ films is the cast he manages to gather,” she declares enthusiastically. “These are my favorite actors. I admire them, and I’m happy to see how they work every day and do their best. I try to learn as much as I can from everyone, and Yorgos, of course.”
In the anthology film, consisting of three standalone chapters, Qualley plays four different characters, but she has already decided which one she feels closest to: Ruth, the enigmatic veterinarian who becomes a key figure in the third story. “She is optimistic and sweet,” she says, smiling. “From what I’ve seen, Yorgos gives more love to relationships with animals, as well as to the harsher aspects of humanity. The care and love for animals is a way through, and Ruth expresses that. Even though it is far from reality, it is the most beautiful part of humanity, a presence of love.”
Qualley describes the shooting process as a free fall for her, trying “various things and hoping they work.” She felt she fully understood the film only after its official screening at Cannes. “There is something raw in the shooting process, and I felt quite vulnerable and exposed as an actress in this film, something I had to come to terms with. The film talks about control again and again, but that’s what being an actor means: letting go of control and trying to fit into the world the director creates. In ‘Kindness Stories,’ I felt like the paint Yorgos was using. I didn’t show up every day on set with endless confidence and certainty that I nailed it. That feeling doesn’t exist; it’s something malleable and fluid. What I learned was that this uncertainty can pay off. Just because something is uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s bad.”
However, she is quick to clarify that, despite the peculiar enjoyment she derives from Lanthimos’ universe, she doesn’t embrace his cynicism and nihilism. “I’m much more optimistic than Yorgos,” she declares confidently. “The film doesn’t show my view of the world, but his. I’m just a character in it and I’m very happy to be part of his worldview. He is very talented. I learned a lot, but it is his, not my interpretation of the world.”
In addition to “Kindness Stories,” Qualley had a second film in the Cannes Competition (although it hadn’t been screened yet on the day of our interview): “The Substance” with Demi Moore, a satire on Hollywood’s relentless obsession with eternal youth, which quickly turns into a horrific body horror. One cannot help but wonder why our pleasant, optimistic interlocutor chooses darkness for her cinematic appearances.
“I don’t actively seek extremity. I would love to do something tender, give me a ‘Titanic’ or a romantic comedy, please (laughs). I don’t chase the difficult, but I look for people who have a vision and want to make a unique film, away from the usual.”
This continuous quest has brought Qualley to the top ranks of the list of the most sought-after young stars in Hollywood, even if she prefers homemade dinners with friends and spontaneous coyote feedings with her sister, Rainey, over clubs, outings, and red carpets. Perhaps this, ultimately, is her own kindness story.
