Facing each other down as a tormented mother and daughter duo in the Netflix drama Maid, actresses Margaret Qualley and Andie MacDowell look every bit like they’re related.
With their perfect bone structure, long dark tresses and onscreen chemistry, in fact, fans could easily be forgiven for believing the pair truly are mother and daughter.
As it turns out, they are. Margaret, 26, is the youngest daughter of Four Weddings and a Funeral star Andie, 63, and the pair say they couldn’t believe their luck when they were both cast in the critically acclaimed drama, in which Margaret plays Alex, a down-on-her luck single mum who struggles after leaving an abusive relationship, and Andie plays Paula, Alex’s free-spirited artist mother who suffers from undiagnosed bipolar disorder.
For Andie, stepping into the shoes of “mean, difficult and broken” Paula wasn’t just a chance to enjoy the limelight with her beloved daughter – it also felt like the cogs of her life were strangely aligning because the veteran actress had, herself, been raised by a mentally ill mother.
“It wasn’t like I had to go out and do research for the role,” tells Andie. “My life is my research. My mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had shock treatments. There wasn’t a moment that I knew my mother as a healthy woman. She was always suffering.”
This story is from the November 1 2021 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
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This story is from the November 1 2021 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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