So, what else do we know about the model-turned-actress?

Her dream was to become a dancer

Though she grew up around films, Qualley wanted to become a professional dancer. She started studying ballet very early, at the age of four. She continued dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and moved to New York City to study at the American Ballet theatre at age 16 where she danced Monday to Saturday, eight hours a day, according to Vogue.

But Qualley decided not to pursue a career in dance. The former model says she had an epiphany after seeing a woman in a wheelchair in one of her classes.

“We were in the middle of barre, and I just started watching her. She was so happy, really listening to the music and taking it all in. Obviously she’s not going to be a dancer. She can’t even stand up, and she’s not getting anything out of this class other than the joy it brings her to watch ballet, to listen to the music, to learn these combinations. I was like, ‘OK, why am I here? I’m not having fun, I’m not enjoying myself,” Qualley told C Magazine.

Then she quit.

She made her showbiz debut as a model

Her dancing skills have also come in handy for her modelling gigs. She appeared in a Kenzo perfume ad in which she danced with exaggerated movements at a hypothetical awards event. The actress also showed her acting talent, displaying intense emotions through her varied facial expressions.

However, the high-pressure modelling industry didn’t make Qualley happy either. She says she felt “miserable” and “was not thinking very clearly” after working hard and staying so skinny, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

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“I was 20 pounds less than I am now and starving myself,” she told The Cut. “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 realised 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.”

She began acting thanks to actor Nat Wolff

When her ex-boyfriend Nat Wolff brought her to an improv class, she realised acting was all that she wanted to do, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

After enrolling in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London’s premier drama school, she got her first film role while visiting Wolff on the set of Palo Alto. She played a football player who cries in a scene with James Franco.

Just like that, her acting career took off. “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,” she told Vogue. “Nothing ever goes to plan. As soon as you are OK with that, everything is much easier.”

She has an interesting audition memory for Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood

Qualley’s breakout role came in the 2019 Quentin Tarantino movie Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood. In the film, she plays a Charles Manson disciple called Pussycat, and most of her scenes are with Brad Pitt.

At first, Qualley failed to land the role in the Tarantino flick. But her agent called her one day to tell her that the Oscar-winning director had changed his mind, according to W magazine.

“I was in Panama visiting my dad. It was all beach huts and no mobile phone service, and my agent was frantically trying to reach me. I flew to LA, met Quentin and Brad, and got the part!” she recalled to W magazine.

She stars alongside her mum in Maid

With the star of iconic films like Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral as her mum, Qualley definitely has good mentorship. In Maid, Qualley and her mother also play a mother-daughter duo.

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“I’ve always wanted to work with my mum, I just didn’t think it would be this early on in my career,” she told Net-a-Porter. “My mum’s so incredibly talented and to have the opportunity to work with her is an honour.”

She has A-list friends and dates

Off screen, Qualley is regularly seen alongside her famous friends, including supermodels Kaia Gerber and Cara Delevingne, and actors Tommy Dorfman and Ashley Benson, according Yahoo! News.

She has also been swept up in some highly publicised romances, with some controversies as well. After teenage heartthrob Wolff, she was rumoured to be dating No Time to Die’s director Cary Fukunaga despite a 17-year age gap, according to US Magazine.

Qualley’s most controversial romance to date was with actor Shia LaBeouf, her co-star in music video for Love Me Like You Hate Me, last year. While they were together, LaBeouf’s ex-girlfriend musician FKA Twigs accused the actor of emotional and physical abuse – allegations that he denied.

Qualley and LaBeouf announced that they had ended their relationship in January, soon after the abuse allegations surfaced, according to Elle. In September, Qualley showed her support for Twigs by sharing an Elle cover of the singer on her Instagram, captioned “thank you”.

Most recently, Qualley has been linked to Grammy award winner Jack Antonoff, the lead singer of the Bleachers and the one of the song writers behind artists like Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Sara Bareilles and many more. Back in August, the two fuelled romance rumours after they were spotted kissing in New York City, according to PopSugar. Neither of them has commented on the status of their relationship.

She is a bookworm

For Qualley, reading and journaling are key to a healthy mind, as she told Interview magazine. She usually starts her day with some journals and books, which she describes as her “friends”. Her dog, named Books, is “one of them”.

She reads a wide range of books, from self-help guides to classics and contemporary fiction. One of her favourite authors is Donna Tartt.

She is passionate about environmental protection

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She is a supporter of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations, an organisation dedicated to protecting the rainforest.

“The younger generation is where the real change is coming from, because they are the ones who are having to deal with the impact,” Qualley told Hunger. “God, wouldn’t it be great if we had a Bernie Sanders [in the White House] to educate us on all this, or an [Alexandria] Ocasio-Cortez or an [Elizabeth] Warren?”