Margaret Qualley Tries to Play Cupid for Andie MacDowell and Bill Murray in Charleston Twist

Quinn Parker here — and honey, pour another espresso because I have hot celebrity tea to spill fast and loud. Picture this: backstage at a late-night show, Bill Murray strolls into Margaret Qualley’s dressing room wearing a Piggly Wiggly shirt, and suddenly Margaret’s matchmaking brain goes into overdrive. Yes, that actually happened, and yes, it involves her mother, Andie MacDowell, Charleston real estate, and a decades-old movie memory that might need some serious smoothing over.

Margaret Qualley, 30, recounted the full encounter during her recent appearance on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.” She told Fallon that Murray, 74, popped into her backstage area and was decked out in a Piggly Wiggly tee — a detail that made Qualley perk up because she grew up in North Carolina where that grocery chain is a Southern staple. That immediate regional connection got juiced even more when she learned Murray lives in Charleston, South Carolina, which is where Andie MacDowell, 66, also now resides.

Cue the idea: two famous, single actors living in the same city — could romance be on the menu? Qualley did her best to serve it. She revealed she gently put in a bid to set them up, telling Murray to “circle back and get my number” if he wanted to connect with her mother. Qualley even quipped that whoever lands a date with Andie would be “the luckiest guy in the world,” and she closed her pitch with a breezy shout-out: “Hi, Bill!”

But wait — hold your horses. Murray did offer a little historical friction about his working relationship with MacDowell. According to Qualley’s recounting, he told her that during the filming of the 1993 classic Groundhog Day, he and Andie didn’t exactly bond. Murray said MacDowell spent a lot of time on her hair and once didn’t know her lines. Qualley fired back, playfully noting she’d heard a different spin on those behind-the-scenes moments, implying memories of movie sets are notoriously messy and subjective.

That little history of “not getting along” doesn’t deter Margaret. If anything it fuels her optimism that perhaps time and proximity could lead to amends — or at least to a seriously entertaining Charleston reunion. Qualley framed it like this: both are single, both could be a bit eccentric (her word: crazy), and both live locally. So why not nudge fate a bit?

The family context adds texture. Andie MacDowell divorced Paul Qualley in 1999 after 13 years of marriage; she and Paul share Margaret, son Justin, and daughter Rainey Qualley. Andie has been candid about using acting projects to fill the void of empty nesting and recently told The Drew Barrymore Show she’s happier than she’s been in a long time after leaving Los Angeles for Charleston life. Margaret also celebrated her mom’s legacy in a recent Cosmopolitan cover story, pointing out that MacDowell famously graced Cosmopolitan’s September 1982 cover, calling that shoot “iconic.”

This episode is a delightful mix of nostalgia, humor, and a daughter’s earnest scheming. It’s not just celebrity gossip — it’s a reminder that Hollywood history sticks around in the oddest ways and that people who sparred decades ago can still end up in the same small city years later. Will Murray take Quint’s number? Will Andie answer a call from an old co-star who once complained about her hair appointments? That’s the kind of mess I live for.

Stay tuned, because if Margaret has anything to say about it, Charleston might be about to get a headline-making coffee date. Okay, I need to calm down after that!

Sources: Celebrity Storm and The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, New York Post, The Drew Barrymore Show, Cosmopolitan
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed