Margaret Qualley talked about her process of learning and coping up with her mental health since her teenage years.
The American actress, who won critical acclaim for her role in the 2024 horror film -The Substance, admitted that she began therapy to better understand herself and that she suffered from severe insomnia in her early 20s.
In conversation with the Cosmopolitan, the Kinds of Kindness star revealed, "I’ve been in therapy since I was 16. In my early 20s, I had severe insomnia that got in the way of a lot. I would be awake until 9 in the morning and just begging for sleep."
Recalling one of the painful moments of her career, she said, "One of the first movies I did was The Nice Guys. It premiered at Cannes, and I didn’t go to Cannes because I hadn’t slept in four days and I felt like I wasn’t going to survive."
The Maid actress, who now meditates twice a day, admitted she still feels deeply connected to the version of herself she was as a child, but said growing up as a woman has made her question how much of her identity is truly her own, and how much is shaped by societal pressure and expectation.
She went on to talk about her role as Sue in The Substance helped her in confronting generations of trauma in her family.
"The Substance was like entering the eye of the storm. It was like dealing with all of my shit, my mum’s shit, generations of trauma,” she said. “It was a nightmare, being this idyllic, youthful fembot."
She continued, "No one thinks of themselves like that. The movie is not a good touchstone for what femininity is—it is quite masculine in a lot of ways."
The Substance which was released on September 20, 2024, when several accolades including an Oscar, Golden Globe, and two BAFTAs.