I’ve been a fan of Margaret Qualley since she starred in The Leftovers. When I found out she was Andie MacDowell’s daughter, it didn’t change my opinion of her, but I definitely thought, “Oh, she got this role because of her mom.” Since then, Margaret has been slowly making a name for herself and coming into her own as an actress. She fell onto the Swifties’ radar after she married Jack Antoff in 2023 and since then, has appeared in more artsy movies. Most recently, Margaret really proved herself by going up against Demi Moore in The Substance. Well, y’all, the tables have turned for Margaret and Andie. Things have come full circle and we are starting to see our first cases of “reverse nepotism.”
Andie MacDowell shared her own twist on the conversation around nepotism in Hollywood. The longtime actor told Jimmy Fallon on Thursday’s episode of “The Tonight Show” that she’s experiencing “reverse nepotism” due to the fame of her daughter, “The Substance” star Margaret Qualley.
MacDowell, who starred in the 1993 hit “Groundhog Day,” has become what “they always accuse the children of,” she told Fallon.
“I’m now cool, because I’m Margaret Qualley’s mom,” she said, noting it’s a “double whammy” because she’s also mother-in-law to Qualley’s husband, music producer and “Bleachers” singer Jack Antonoff.
She added that she’ll find “letters in the mailbox” from fans, “and you know, they’re 13!”
Qualley herself has no problem acknowledging the leg up she got from having a movie star mom. The actor reassured podcast host Josh Horowitz earlier this month, “You can call me a nepo baby.”
This is too funny! I’m trying to think of other instances in which I became familiar with a nepo baby before I knew who their famous parent was, and the only ones I can think of off the top of my mind are Gwyneth Paltrow (Meet the Parents was my intro to Blythe Danner), Ben Stiller (Jerry was before my time), and Michael Douglas (Kirk was also before my time). I consider Margaret to be in the same nepo baby lane as Jack Quaid, Colin Hanks, and Jason Ritter. They absolutely benefited from nepotism but also are talented and well-liked enough within the industry to have forged legitimate careers beyond that. I’m also glad that Margaret is one of those nepo babies who’s grown up to be not only talented but also not a mess. I admit, I was a little worried for her when she was dating Pete Davidson and then Shia LaBeouf, but if that was the most of her acting out phase, then Andie did good.
Jimmy also brings up that Andie is currently celebrating her 40th anniversary as a spokesperson for L’Oréal. As he’s joking with her about how many times she’s said their catch phrase, “Because I’m worth it” over the years, Andie brings something up that I thought was really poignant. She said that she used to think it was nice when they changed it up to say, “Because you’re worth it”, but as she’s aged, she finds the first-person version of it to be more powerful, explaining, “People tend to diminish you as you age, so it means something to me to be able to say, ‘Because I’m worth it.’” I love that so much.
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Photos credit: Marion Curtis/StarPix for Focus Features/INSTARimages, Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon