Margaret Qualley has proven to be one of the most successful young actresses working today, and her career is continuing to grow. Following her roles in new cinematic classics like Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and The Nice Guys, Qualley earned rave reviews for her heartbreaking performance as a victim of abuse in the Netflix miniseries Maid. Considering that later this year Qualley will be appearing in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things and Ethan Coen’s Drive Away Dolls, it doesn’t seem like she’s being offered a shortage of roles. However, Qualley’s strongest work to date was actually in a prestige HBO television show that never got the attention that it deserved. Damon Lindelof’s moving science fiction drama The Leftovers is a stunning achievement in storytelling, but it's sadly been overlooked by many of his fans that tuned in for Lost and Watchmen. Qualley is only one of the great actors within the series, but her heartbreaking performance is a large reason that The Leftovers landed its emotional wallop.
Based on the novel of the same name, The Leftovers takes place three years after a global event known as “The Departure.” Mysteriously, 2% of the world’s population disappeared into thin air, and the survivors have been left to study the event and grieve in the aftermath. Qualley’s character Jill is the daughter of the police chief Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux), who is already dealing with her temperamental grandfather (Scott Glenn), managing protests within their community, and trying to convince his wife Laurie (Amy Brenneman) to leave the wordless cult she’s joined and reunite with the family. As a result, Jill is left and isolated and alone, with no real mentor in her life. Qualley builds an incredible story arc over the course of three seasons, and captures the healing process with her devastating, realistic performance.
Margaret Qualley Shows Emotional Maturity
If there was ever any reason that The Leftovers failed to get as much mainstream circulation, it's that the first season is almost too bleak in its approach. The aftermath of The Departure has left the residents of Mapelton, New York starkly divided as the religious movement known as “The Guilty Remnant,” to which Laurie belongs, begins to disturb and infuriate those who lost someone in the disappearance. Jill lost many friends, but it’s been just as challenging for her to adapt to the changes that have occurred among her living relatives. Her father was never meant to take on any larger responsibilities, yet he’s inherited the chief of police position from her grandfather, and it’s one he’s ill-equipped for. She’s also lacking a maternal figure in these pivotal years of adolescence, and has turned to her troublesome best friend Aimee (Emily Meade) as a source of guidance. When Jill lashes out or appears to be uncaring, it’s because Qualley understands the trauma that is driving her actions.
Qualley was still fairly young when she appeared on The Leftovers, and was playing the reckless young daughter of essentially the lead character; this is generally the recipe for disaster, as it can often create a horribly obnoxious character. However, Qualley is able to justify Jill’s nihilistic outlook and constant misbehavior as more than simple teenage angst. She may not have lost her family in the departure, but she lost her livelihood. All elements of her routine were erased, and in the three years since the event, she’s only watched the world spiral deeper into chaos. While conceptually she may understand that the world takes time to heal, it doesn’t affect her reality in any way, and Qualley beautifully showcases her disconnect from social moments. It’s a memorable and respectful depiction of depression; Jill isn’t actively suicidal, but she doesn’t seem to value her life either. Although she’s defiant, often rude to her father, it’s because she’s still a grieving child who ends up going back to her mother.
Qualley Develops Healing Over Time
In the emotional final moments of the first season, Jill and Laurie are rescued when their home is set aflame by Kevin. It’s an important shift in tone that allows Qualley to unlock a more self-confident and active performance in the next season. By her father’s desperate attempt to save her, Jill realizes that perhaps her life is worth living, and she should do something with the precious time that they have together. The parental bond that emerges between Jill and Kevin is expertly handled by both Qualley and Theroux; they’re not exactly close, nor are they emotionally outspoken. However, the subtle acts of kindness and changes and demeanor indicate significant progress on their part. It’s remarkable how standalone their performances are together, considering both of them are so versatile with their later work; Jill couldn’t be more different than Qualley’s outrageous hippie in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, and Theroux is far-removed from the manipulative criminal he portrayed on the short-lived reboot of The Mosquito Coast.
The further storylines allow Qualley to become one of the most inspirational characters on a very bleak series. Following her father’s decision to leave Mapleton with his new romantic partner Nora Durst (Carrie Coon), Jill becomes an important mentor to Nora’s two adopted children. It’s evident that helping out two children who are younger, and thus only know what life has been like in the era of the Departure, has improved Jill’s outlook on life; it allows her to actively invest in something that makes her feel valued, and in many ways gives her the chance to accept the fact that this is what reality looks like now. It’s fascinating to see how she and Nora reach an understanding. While watching her father fall in love with someone else when her mother is still alive isn’t necessarily easy, Jill finds many commonalities with Nora, and Qualley shows that simply having another woman in her life eases Jill up.
That doesn’t mean that her story is always easy; she struggles when her new boyfriend, Michael Murphy (Jovan Adepo), refuses to drop his religious fanaticism as they begin dating. She also must contend with another potentially world shaking event by the time that The Leftovers reaches its perfect series finale. However, Qualley’s consistency indicated that she was an actress worth watching, and any investment made in her has certainly paid off in the years since.
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May 14, 2023 at 09:00AM
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Margaret Qualley's Most Underrated Performance Is in This TV Drama - Collider
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