MARGARET QUALLEY

'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.

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

Like every child of divorce, I had parent-trap fantasies. In fact, 'The Parent Trap' was my favourite movie. I was a Nineties baby, so I particularly loved the Lindsay Lohan version.

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

I think being in the city is the perfect way to figure out what I want to do.

Growing up in North Carolina, my mom was always just sort of my mom to me. I never really recognized her as a famous actress. I'm always thrilled when she's cleaning out her closet. Last time, I got a pair of boots that she bought in Paris 20 years ago. I have completely worn them out.

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

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.

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 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.

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 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.

My mother has been an advocate for me as far as modeling goes.

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

I'm pretty casual. I love Free People and small vintage boutiques.

When you're really serious about ballet, it's a job - even if you're 15 years old. You're doing it six to eight hours a day.

I still feel guilty buying something without asking my mother first. It's ridiculous. I'll call her and be like, 'I saw this dress, can I get it?' And she'll say, 'Margaret, whatever. Get the dress.'

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

Nothing ever goes to plan. As soon as you are OK with that, everything is much easier.

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 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.

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 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.