Margaret Qualley

“It's a normal part of the culture of ballet to go to a nutritionist in your first few weeks. They write down everything you eat and use a little roller that pinches you to measure the fat all over your body. Then, every semester, you get a letter saying either you're too thin, or you're OK, or you're overweight.”

“I was having a really-early-onset midlife crisis, and then something clicked in an improv class, and I knew.”

“I guess I gravitate towards stories that I like and directors that I want to work with, and I hope that it works out.”

“Ballet can be grueling, for sure, but it gives you a certain discipline.”

“I don't really know what I'm doing, to be honest. I come up with things, and maybe it works, and maybe it doesn't, and I try to learn from my castmates and director and from everyone.”

“I've been really fortunate to work with a lot of women.”

“I explored the arts in general; I took painting classes and sketching classes and acting classes and all sorts of different things.”

“My sister and I are pretty dorky, so we drive around at night in her car listening to old Disney songs and feed the coyotes cans of wet cat food, which I'm sure is a terrible idea. Meanwhile, 'Cinderella' and 'Sleeping Beauty' showtunes are playing in the background.”

“Ballet, there's a right way to do things, and it's black and white, and it's all striving for perfection. Acting is not that way. It's very gray, and the messier you can be, the better. The mistakes that you make are the gold and the beautiful stuff.”

“I think, a lot of times, people don't want to do what their parents do because they want to be their own person.”

“I was one of those dancers who they say wants to feel the floor through their pointe shoes. I would end up not wearing toe pads and that stuff. I would just wrap minimal amounts of paper towels around my toes.”

“With 'The Leftovers,' I was actually super, super lucky. It was my first major audition. When I came out, the casting director was kissing me on the face, and I was like, 'Oh, that's probably a good sign.'”

“I was a dancer, growing up, and I definitely thought that was going to be my profession.”

“I left home at 15 to go to the North Carolina School of the Arts.”

“I lived alone, I didn't know anybody in New York, and I was definitely a recluse. It had been, like, two weeks, and I realized I hadn't said anything. I was laying in bed, and I was like, 'Hello?' I just talked to hear my own voice. And it was such a strange feeling.”

“I think gender parity is a crucial part of any healthy society. It's applicable to the entire world.”