Alexandra Daddario spent her 20s growing her career in projects as varied as True Detective and San Andreas. You would think with her acting chops and her ability to shift seamlessly between movie and TV roles, she’d have no trouble getting work. Now in her mid-thirties, she’s admitted that hasn’t been true for her Hollywood career at all.
In truth, landing roles has not been effortless. In a Zoom call, the actress admitted she hasn’t ever followed the traditional paths many of her contemporaries have followed on social media and in other parts of the biz. She’s famous for a big bikini scene in the The White Lotus and a red swimsuit in Baywatch – one of those projects critically acclaimed, one not. She has a thriving YouTube channel, yet she’s kept her private life fairly private (outside of the occasional story about her wedding to Andrew Form), all this despite being active on social media.
Daddario told InStyle she’s not “super strategic” and has instead chosen to take jobs she personally felt were “cool." She also noted that while she grew her career, nothing really came easy:
I'm not super-strategic. For the majority of my twenties, no one was throwing offers at me.
Not all of the jobs she did actually land have panned out critically, either. The Baywatch versus White Lotus juxtaposition is a good example. Both had great casts, but only the latter has a positive Rotten Tomatoes score. The actress said in the interview that this up-and-down trajectory has made it harder for her to land solid role after solid role, but she's found ways to remain happy with the gigs she's been offered -- even if other people don't take them "super seriously."
There's stuff I've done that people don't take super seriously, which is fine, but I've always taken my characters seriously, and so I've always found something in each project.
This isn't the first time Alexandra Daddario has talked about some struggles within her career. She's spoken prior about how her role in Baywatch raised her profile, but "maybe not in a positive way." Another time, Daddario noted her career stalled before Mike White offered her the role of Rachel in The White Lotus. It was seemingly fortuitous, as now she's continued in the TV realm.
Since the White Lotus gig, she's seen steady work. She's currently starring in the high profile The Mayfair Witches series for AMC. The show is a sister series to the other Anne Rice-related project on the network Interview with a Vampire. Interview already referenced the new Daddario-led series when it aired. Hopefully, it's the start of even more high-profile roles to come.
