Margaret Qualley

I just realized I wanted to do more than ballet. I was offered an apprenticeship, so I was about to join a company and drop out of high school, and then it hit me: I didn't want that anymore.

It was funny being at high school and also grocery shopping and having a job. Other kids were going home to their parents, who were doing their laundry, and I was like, 'Wait, what?' I was super isolated. I was 16, alone in New York, and modelling.

I grew up never thinking about acting as a profession because that was what my mum did, and often, you don't want to be like your parents.

I was so invested in ballet, and it was my entire life. And then it was realizing that I didn't want it to be my entire life forever. And then it was this very specific life, and I wanted to learn about other things. So I modeled to fill the time because dancing was very much a job, even when I was 14 years old.

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 think I would find being in Hollywood intense if I had more of a social life, but all I do is stay indoors with my sister and play with our puppy, watch movies.

I went to the Professional Children's School in New York, and I started modeling because I could do that until I actually figured out what I wanted to do, and it gave me the opportunity to travel.

The Leftovers' takes place three years after 2% of the population has gone missing. And it's about how that changes society. Cults form as a result, and it drastically changes home life for a lot of people, including the Garvey family, which is the family I belong to.

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.

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

With modelling, there's nothing to work on other than losing weight. I definitely had an eating disorder.

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