Margaret Qualley Recalls Shock of Mom Andie MacDowell Dating Dennis Quaid After 'Parent Trap'

The actress recalled encouraging her mom to watch 'The Parent Trap' in hopes of her parents "getting back together"

Andie Macdowell & Dennis Quaid, Margaret Qualley
Andie MacDowell and Dennis Quaid in 2001; Margaret Qualley. Photo:

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As a Parent Trap superfan, Margaret Qualley had a surreal experience when her mom Andie MacDowell began dating one of the film's stars, Dennis Quaid.

The actress, in an interview with Harper's Bazaar, recalls liking the 1998 Lindsay Lohan movie so much as a kid she would encourage MacDowell to watch it in the hopes of her mom getting back together with dad Paul Qualley.

MacDowell, 65, shares daughters Margaret and Rainey plus son Justin with ex-husband Paul, whom she divorced in 1999.

"I would tell my mom how much I loved The Parent Trap and be like, ‘We should watch it. It’s a really smart movie. They make a lot of good decisions in that movie,' " said Margaret, now 28.

However, Margaret got quite the surprise when MacDowell began dating her costar from 2001's Dinner with Friends, Quaid, who also played the father in The Parent Trap.

“She comes home and she’s like, ‘Margaret, I know how much you love The Parent Trap …’ And I was like, ‘Yeah?’ and waiting with bated breath, hoping my parents were getting back together," Margaret told Harper's Bazaar.

"And then in walks Dennis Quaid — her new boyfriend," she continued. "I wasn’t living in Hollywood; I was living in a normal suburban town. But then I would have these ‘What in the world?’ moments."

Andie Macdowell & Dennis Quaid during HBO Dinner With Friends. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Andie MacDowell and Dennis Quaid in 2001.

Evan Agostini/Getty 

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Margaret previously spoke about her real-life Parent Trap connection while on The Late Late Show back in 2019.

"Being a child of divorce, I just really glued onto The Parent Trap. I like both versions, but I was particularly drawn to the Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid version," she said at the time.

Andie MacDowell and Margaret Qualley attend the AFI Awards Luncheon
Andie MacDowell and Margaret Qualley in March 2022.

Michael Kovac/Getty

"I would kind of continuously be like, 'Hey, guys, I don't know if you've seen The Parent Trap, but things turned out pretty great for them, right?" Margaret recalled of the film's plot, about twins orchestrating their separated parents to rekindle their romance and get back together. "'I know you guys got divorced, but have you seen The Parent Trap? They all are really happy at the end! What do you guys think?' "

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Margaret said she would "hammer" that sentiment in with her mom, hoping for the movie to mirror her own family. She said she was "shocked" when she found out MacDowell was dating Quaid.

She joked that her mom "really misunderstood" what she intended to happen by advocating for Parent Trap — and blamed herself for the outcome.

"I was sure that it was all my fault and I had wished this into fruition. I took complete responsibility," she said.

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