Margaret Qualley says she uses two phones to avoid being online all day.
The actor uses one phone for essentials — Uber, texting, and Maps — and has another phone for social media.
“I have another phone at home that doesn’t have cellphone service — it just has WiFi, and I can look at Instagram,” she said.
Margaret Qualley, 30, has a simple trick for staying present.
In an interview with Cosmopolitan published on Monday, the actor spoke about keeping two phones and how it helps her stay unplugged.
“Cell phones are like cigarettes. I’m a big fan of airplane mode. Because opening your phone is also like going to work, you know? I don’t have any apps on my phone except Uber, texting, and Maps,” Qualley told Cosmopolitan.
That way, she feels less inclined to scroll while going about her day —like when in line at the grocery store — and more likely to stay present, she said.
“I’m just there, listening to people’s conversations. And I feel more immersed in my life,” Qualley added.
“The Substance” star keeps a second phone at home solely for checking social media.
“I have another phone at home that doesn’t have cellphone service — it just has WiFi, and I can look at Instagram. We are all definitely too plugged in,” she said.
In a May 2023 interview with The Standard, Qualley said she isn’t a big fan of social media. “I don’t have Instagram. I’m not really in that game. It’s kind of a lose-lose situation,” she said.
The actor has since created an Instagram profile.
A representative for Qualley did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.
Qualley is far from the only celebrity rethinking screen time and social media.
Actor Mia Threapleton, 24, said in May that her mother, Kate Winslet, made her write a pros and cons list for joining Instagram when she was 14.
“The cons completely outweighed the pros for me. That was quite a clarifying moment. Since then, the more time I spend in this world, the more I’m really happy that I don’t have it,” Threapleton said.
Some celebrities have chosen to forgo smartphones and other digital devices entirely.
In 2023, Christopher Nolan said that he finds modern technology distracting, so he doesn’t carry a smartphone.
“If I’m generating my material and writing my own scripts, being on a smartphone all day wouldn’t be very useful for me,” Nolan, 55, said.
Michael Cera, who acted in Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” said in 2023 that he wasn’t added to the group chat for the Barbie and Ken actors because he didn’t use a smartphone.
“I don’t have an iPhone myself. … I have a flip phone,” Cera said.
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