Alexandra Daddario can take a lot of criticism, but “bad actress” isn’t one of them.
Daddario has been a professional actor for decades, having starred in box-office hits like the “Percy Jackson” film series and acclaimed shows like “The White Lotus” and “True Detective.” So when she was recently asked to share the “most outrageous rumor” about herself — “That I’m a bad actress” — Daddario made the case for why she’s not.
“I’m not a bad actress,” she told Elle in a video interview released Friday. “I’ve just done some projects that don’t showcase me in the way that I should be showcased, OK? [The] director and the writing is everything, and sometimes I’m lit poorly, but I’m not a bad actress.”
“I got an Emmy nomination,” Daddario added. “How do you think I did that?”
Daddario earned the coveted nod in 2022 for her performance in the debut season of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” in which she played the fictional Rachel Patton, a newlywed journalist reassessing her relationship while vacationing in Hawaii at the titular resort.
After receiving the nomination, Daddario told The Hollywood Reporter that “there have definitely been times I felt misunderstood or not breaking through.”
“Getting an acknowledgement like this … it’s amazing,” she added.
The award ultimately went to her “White Lotus” co-star, Jennifer Coolidge, whose hilarious turn as a wealthy neurotic heiress won voters over.
Daddario started her career in 2002 as a series regular on “All My Children” and quickly earned small roles in acclaimed independent films like 2005’s “The Squid and the Whale,” as well as one of HBO’s first true flagships, the acclaimed gangster series “The Sopranos.”
She’s since starred in another beloved HBO classic, the neo-noir crime series “True Detective,” and is currently the face of AMC’s “The Mayfair Witches.”
Elsewhere during her Elle interview, Daddario revealed some regretful past comments she made early on in her career.
The 38-year-old recalled being a fresh face in Hollywood and sitting in a hair and makeup trailer while espousing how much “better” movie actors are than their television peers, only to be humbled by an acting veteran who didn’t take kindly to Daddario’s claim.
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“Christina Applegate was sitting next to me,” she told Elle. “And she was like, ‘That’s not true.’ But I was humiliated, because I was like 23 years old, being like, you know, ‘Being in a movie is better than being on TV,’ to someone who’s part of some of the best television in the world.”
“I still think about it,” Daddario added. “I’m still embarrassed by it.”