In “Honey Don’t!,” in theaters this weekend, Margaret Qualley makes her second star turn in the Ethan Coen/Tricia Cooke lesbian B-movie trilogy, following last year’s “Drive-Away Dolls,” and proves she makes a pretty good private eye in the vein of Philip Marlowe, following the lineage that goes from Humphrey Bogart to Elliott Gould.

Qualley has had a banner couple of years, especially with last year’s body horror phenomenon, “The Substance,” for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as Sue, the younger, hotter version that crawls out of Elisabeth Sparkle’s back and makes her life hell. “The Substance,” directed by Coralie Fargeat and co-starring Demi Moore in a ferocious turn as an aging actress, is streaming on Mubi or available for rent.

The film cemented Qualley’s A-list status, though she’s been putting in the work for years. The daughter (and doppelgänger) of actress Andie MacDowell, Qualley has always sought out interesting directors and challenging roles, and the risk-taking has paid off. Here’s a few of her best performances and some underrated gems to get to know her career better.

There’s her first Cooke/Coen collab, “Drive-Away Dolls” (2024), sapphic crime comedy in which Qualley demonstrates her best Southern twang as a lesbian lothario who ends up with a rental car that has a high-value package in the trunk, becoming inadvertently involved in a senatorial sex scandal. Stream it on Peacock or rent.

In 2023, she joined the Yorgos Lanthimos/Emma Stone company of stars with his Oscar-winning fractured fairy-tale “Poor Things,” and though her role was small, it translated into a larger role in the follow-up “Kinds of Kindness,” a strange triptych about identity, sex, bodies and meat. Stream “Kinds of Kindness” on Hulu or rent “Poor Things” on all digital platforms.

In another daring choice, Qualley starred as a particular kind of dominatrix, in 2022’s “Sanctuary,” opposite Christopher Abbott as her client. Written by Micah Bloomberg and directed by Zachary Wigon, this stylish exploration of intimate power dynamics is available on Hulu or for rent.

Qualley earned two Emmy nominations, one for her turn in the Netflix series “Maid” (2021) with her mother MacDowell playing her mom, and for the Broadway biopic series “Fosse/Verdon” (2019) starring Sam Rockwell as Bob Fosse and Michelle Williams as dancer Gwen Verdon. Qualley co-starred as dancer Ann Reinking who was involved with Fosse and starred in his autobiographical film “All That Jazz.” Stream “Fosse/Verdon” on Hulu.

In 2019, she also delivered a memorable turn in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood,” as a comely young Manson girl who enchants Brad Pitt’s stuntman Cliff Booth and brings him to Spahn Ranch. Rent it on all digital platforms. And in 2018 and 2017, she delivered two performances in little-seen indies that made her an actor to watch. Tim Sutton’s gritty “Donnybrook” (2018) stars Jamie Bell as Earl, a fighter preparing for an underground bare-knuckle boxing match, with Qualley turning in a raw performance as Delia, the sister of Earl’s meth-dealing nemesis (Frank Grillo). In a far different film, Maggie Betts’ “Novitiate” (2017), she plays a novice nun learning to cope with the strict structure of life in the convent. Stream “Donnybrook” on Kanopy or rent it elsewhere, and rent “Novitiate” on all streaming platforms.

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