Margaret Qualley won rave reviews for her performance in The Substance, a film many believe will win big during awards season. But casual viewers of the film might not know that Qualley’s always had an “in” with the world of acting. Her mother is none other than Andie MacDowell.
Yep, Qualley is a “nepo baby,” and opinions are divided on nepo babies. Is it fair that the children of already established actors are conquering the A-list right now? Doesn’t that mean there’s less room for working-class actors? And so on. It’s not a debate that’s likely to conclude anytime soon. And now, just as her star is rising, Qualley has discussed her views about it.
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Josh Horowitz called Qualley “a second-generation actor.” This caused Qualley to laugh. “That’s a nice way of putting it!” she said. “You can call me a nepo baby.”
Horowitz suggested that plenty of nepo babies had “a good attitude about it” and were “very much aware” of their privilege. He asked if Qualley had reached a point where she was no longer judged “based on her parents” but her own merits. Qualley gave a thoughtful answer.
“I think I just so desperately want to be good and want to deserve to be in the room that I’m in,” she told Horowitz. “I want to work my ass off, I love the feeling of working really hard, I love the feeling of exhaustion from good, hard work.”
Her work ethic is certainly to be commended. She did three films in 2024 and another four are on the way. “There’s something so pure about being able to put your heart into something, your mind into something, your body into something, and really go for it,” Qualley continued. “And so I guess that I’ve always had such a big drive to be able to do that, and I am really hard on myself, that I always feel like I’m harder on myself than anyone else in the room.”
Qualley certainly pushed herself hard while filming The Substance. In fact, the prosthetics she had to wear ended up taking a major toll on her. She explained in the podcast that she developed acne as the production went on. Things got so bad, she said, that at one point, “they couldn’t shoot my face anymore.” Yet she persevered and took it in her stride.
Because of her willingness to throw herself into roles, Qualley is definitely one of the most liked nepo babies in Hollywood right now. But some others simply aren’t, to quote Horowitz, aware of their privilege. They get defensive when the subject comes up. Take Dakota Johnson, for example. She’s the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, and last year she called the nepo baby discussion “incredibly annoying and boring” as well as “lame.” That sparked a wave of disdain towards her.
Or going back further, take Emma Roberts, the niece of megastar Julia Roberts and daughter of Eric Roberts. “They talk about nepotism which I think is so ridiculous considering it’s obviously not true,” she said in an interview with the now-defunct PopEater back in 2011. “Because I’ve auditioned for so many things and never gotten the part. Also it’s like, you know, maybe someone can get you one part, but they can’t really get you ten parts.” Well, she’s had more than ten parts now, but she continues to insist being a nepo baby hasn’t been good for her, saying in 2024 that she’d “lost more jobs than I’ve gained” from being the niece of Julia Roberts.
So, it’s good to see that Qualley has a mature attitude about being the daughter of a famous person, with all the opportunity that brings. And if the prosthetics story is anything to go by, she’s also prepared to suffer for her art in a way plenty of nepo babies aren’t.
Published: Jan 15, 2025 12:50 pm