Sarah Margaret Qualley (born October 23, 1994) is an American actress. The daughter of actress Andie MacDowell and sister of actress and singer Rainey Qualley, she trained as a ballerina in her youth. She made her acting debut with a minor role in the 2013 drama film Palo Alto, and gained recognition for playing a troubled teenager in the HBO television series The Leftovers (2014–2017).
In 2019, she received critical acclaim for her portrayal of actress and dancer Ann Reinking in the FX biographical miniseries Fosse/Verdon, for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. She appeared in the films The Nice Guys (2016), Death Note (2017), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), and had a voice role in the video game Death Stranding (2019). In 2021, she starred in the acclaimed Netflix drama miniseries Maid, which earned her nominations for another Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Early life and education
Sarah Margaret Qualley was born on October 23, 1994, in Kalispell, Montana. She is the daughter of actress and model Andie MacDowell, and former model Paul Qualley. She has an older brother, Justin, and an older sister, actress and singer Rainey Qualley.
The Qualley siblings spent their early years on a ranch in Missoula, Montana, moving to Asheville, North Carolina when Margaret was four. Qualley's parents separated when she was five years old, and she subsequently split her time equally between them. For many years, her parents lived just 3 miles (5 km) apart. Her family home with MacDowell is in North Carolina, where they have extended family nearby.
As a teenager growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, she and her sister were both debutantes, and Qualley made her debut at the Bal des débutantes in Paris. She left home at 14 to board at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied dance. She trained as a ballerina, earning an apprenticeship at the American Ballet Theatre and studying at New York's Professional Children's School. However, at the age of 16, following an offer to become an apprentice with the North Carolina Dance Theater company, Qualley decided to quit dance. In order to stay in New York, she began working as a model. Of this period, Qualley says: "I wrote to my mom saying: 'Look, I don't think I want to be a dancer any more so I'm going to quit ballet and stay here. I will have this and this income next week.' I laid it out in a way that she couldn't say no because I was so organized." Qualley later changed her focus to acting and attended London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art summer program. Qualley attended New York University but left after a semester for acting roles.
