Margaret Qualley

Sarah Margaret Qualley was born in Kalispell, Montana. She is the daughter of actress and model Andie MacDowell and former model Paul Qualley. Margaret has an older brother, Justin, and an older sister, actress and singer Rainey Qualley. Through her mother, she has Scottish ancestry. The Qualley siblings lived on a ranch in Missoula, Montana and moved to Asheville, North Carolina, when Margaret was four. Margaret's parents separated when she was five years old and she 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 and they have extended family nearby. As a teenager growing up in Asheville, Margaret and her sister were both debutantes; they made their debuts at the Bal des débutantes in Paris. Qualley left home at 14 to board at the North Carolina School of the Arts, where she studied dance. She trained as a ballet dancer, earning an apprenticeship at the American Ballet Theatre and studying at New York's Professional Children's School. However, at the age of 16, after she received an offer to become an apprentice with the North Carolina Dance Theater company, she decided to quit dance. In order to stay in New York, she began working as a model. She says of that time, "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. She attended New York University but left after a semester for acting roles.