Alexandra Daddario might just have one of the fastest rising stars in Hollywood, but the "White Lotus" actor also has a few tragedies that she's dealt with over the years.
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00:00Alexandra Daddario might just have one of the fastest-rising stars in Hollywood,
00:05but the White Lotus actor also has a few tragedies that she's dealt with over the years.
00:10As the daughter of two lawyers who encouraged her to be serious about her studies, Alexandra
00:14Daddario was set to follow a path that looked a lot different than the one she ended up taking.
00:19She first fell in love with acting after taking a class with a friend when she was 11 years old.
00:24It had a lasting effect on her. Daddario told Flaunt Magazine in 2024,
00:28I was not an emotional kid, but I really sort of felt things. They wanted you to cry,
00:33they wanted you to get angry, and they wanted you to express yourself. You were taught to
00:37flex those muscles, and I felt like it was this very true way of being, whereas in life,
00:41and in the environment I was in, I was really taught to be very diligent and non-emotional."
00:46There was one exercise in particular that involved digging into real moments from their
00:50own lives to try to bring themselves to tears that Daddario considered especially difficult.
00:55She continued,
00:56I didn't want to cry in front of all these people. How embarrassing.
00:59And I didn't want to divulge one of my saddest moments. That's so personal."
01:03Eventually, Daddario learned how to utilize her emotions for her roles,
01:06but it took some time for her to master.
01:09Sadly, as the world has come to learn over the years, Hollywood is rife with
01:13inappropriate behavior no matter how old you are. Although Daddario didn't book a
01:17television gig until she was 16, she was auditioning from a young age,
01:21and unfortunately, not all of her auditions were age-appropriate.
01:24In a 2014 chat with Interview magazine, Daddario looked back on an audition for
01:29a Got Milk? ad spot that had stuck with her for all the wrong reasons. She recalled,
01:34I must have been 13 or 14, and the audition was me and one other guy.
01:38I would have chocolate syrup in my mouth, and the boy would put
01:41milk in his mouth, and we'd make out. And then we'd come up from the big makeout,
01:45and we'd have chocolate milk mustaches.
01:47Daddario didn't fully recognize how questionable the request was until she was older.
01:52She elaborated,
01:53I'm absolutely positive my parents didn't know that was what the audition was.
01:57It was a little weird. Acting is a really strange thing. You have to know when you're
02:00put in a bad situation, but you also have to be willing to do something very strange.
02:05Alexandra Daddario is one of many celebrities who got their start in a soap opera.
02:10She landed her first role on All My Children when she was just 16 years old,
02:14playing Laurie Lewis from 2002 to 2003. Daddario's experience and training were
02:19limited at this time, but the role helped her learn the ropes rather quickly. She told Shoon
02:23in 2021,
02:24The soap opera life was great. It taught me how to memorize lines, how to find my light,
02:28how cameras worked, and how to kiss a boy on camera. Like all these bizarre things that you
02:33must do, it got me used to it, and I was grateful for that job.
02:36Then something unfortunate happened.
02:39I got fired.
02:40What?
02:41Daddario was let go from the show after only a year. While speaking with Women's Health in
02:462022, Daddario shared her disheartening theory about why she didn't last very long on All My
02:51Children. She stated,
02:52I wasn't a very good actress. I could memorize my lines, but finding my camera,
02:56finding my light, even learning how to walk naturally, it took a lot of practice.
03:00Thankfully, this only encouraged Daddario to work harder. She reminisced,
03:04I knew something was wrong, but I knew I could fix it. I knew that I loved what I did and that
03:08I could be better.
03:10After All My Children, Daddario expanded her horizons by diving into other genres,
03:15including horror. She nabbed a part in 2007's The Attic and followed that up with a lead
03:20role in 2010's Bereavement. After that, she was invited to star in 2013's Texas Chainsaw 3D.
03:26While one might assume that a new movie in the famously freaky Texas Chainsaw Massacre
03:31franchise would garner some love, the seventh installment was universally panned. More
03:35importantly, making the movie was anything but easy on its leading lady.
03:39Talking to Interview magazine, Daddario spoke about the taxing experience that was shooting
03:43this particular film, saying,
03:45It was the most intense level of emotion to get into, being chased by a guy with a chainsaw.
03:50You get home at the end of the day and you feel really depressed and strange and anxious,
03:54because you've tricked your body, essentially, into feeling that way,
03:57sobbing hysterically and screaming and thinking about all these horrible things,
04:01in order to get yourself to that place.
04:03Apparently, getting into the headspace of her character wasn't the only thing that took a toll.
04:07In a 2021 chat with Collider, Daddario hinted at unnamed behind-the-scenes
04:12problems that loomed over the whole production, admitting,
04:15There were a lot of challenges on that project. There's issues on everything,
04:18but these were more severe.
04:20While Daddario didn't go into detail about the challenges she faced,
04:23she emphasized that she at least learned a lot from her time on set.
04:27Do your thing, cuz!
04:33Daddario spent the better part of a dozen years booking roles by 2014,
04:38but she still hadn't made it big. Everything changed, however, when she landed a small part
04:42in Season 1 of True Detective as the mistress of Woody Harrelson's character, Marty Hart.
04:47The performance generated a lot of buzz, but not necessarily for the reasons she'd hoped.
04:52After she signed on, Daddario learned her character was supposed to do a nude scene.
04:56She explained her apprehension towards the assignment to interview, saying,
05:00It was the first time I was nude for anything, so I was definitely unnerved by that,
05:04but I think any implied misogyny is a result of defining the characters.
05:08When asked about viewers' reactions to the scene, Daddario replied,
05:11It's very flattering, but it's not something I try to think about too much.
05:15Nude scenes can often make or break a career,
05:17but luckily for the star, her decision to bear it all for the camera worked out.
05:21As Daddario told Collider,
05:23I didn't know what to expect. And then, of course, that episode aired,
05:26and my manager called, and I'll never forget it. All of a sudden,
05:28everyone in town wanted to meet with me, and then I booked San Andreas, so,
05:32no, I would have never expected that from that role. It was tactical, but not that tactical.
05:38While she's now happily married to Andrew Form, having tied the knot with the film
05:42producer in June 2022, Alexandra Daddario's love life used to be a bit of a mystery.
05:48She's often kept a low profile when it comes to dating, including when she was
05:52linked to her Percy Jackson co-star Logan Lerman. The two first worked together on
05:56the first installment of the franchise, and by 2014, they were reportedly engaged.
06:00Neither Daddario nor Lerman spoke publicly about their relationship,
06:04and it remained this way when they called things off in 2016.
06:08A little while after splitting quietly from Lerman, Daddario joked with People magazine
06:12about her lack of dating experience when she was younger, saying,
06:15It feels really surreal. As a teenager, I could never really get guys, and I was pretty nerdy.
06:20Now I feel like I'm getting my revenge by being a Baywatch babe. I'm like,
06:24you could have had this, and now look at me.
06:27I definitely have strong feelings for you. I just haven't decided if they're
06:31positive or negative yet. Daddario explained that she was dating someone new without revealing who,
06:36adding,
06:37I just want to date someone nice. Like everyone else, I want to be happy,
06:40so that's what I'm looking for.
06:42In 2017, Daddario was in not one but two feature films that were absolutely panned by critics,
06:48The Layover and Baywatch. While The Layover flew under the radar thanks to its direct TV release,
06:54Baywatch managed to hold its own at the box office alongside heavy hitters
06:57Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
07:02Baywatch might have raked in the cash, but it also raked in abysmal reviews.
07:07In a 2024 interview with Man of Many, Daddario reflected on how tough it was to see the movie
07:11get torn apart, admitting,
07:13Baywatch was very sad for me because there was so much hinging on it.
07:16It was so big, and you have your face on every billboard,
07:19and then it just didn't work, and that was painful. But life goes on.
07:23Daddario also touched on the ebbs and flows that come with an acting career, continuing,
07:27There's been times in my career that I think my career is over. You do a string of bad movies,
07:31Hollywood is finicky. I've been in so many movies that have been so poorly reviewed, and it hurts.
07:36Though Daddario's career cooled a bit around that time,
07:39she had to deal with being typecast as the hot girl more than ever. She told The New York Times,
07:44Baywatch raised my profile and changed the kinds of jobs I was being offered,
07:48maybe not in a positive way.
07:51In 2021, Daddario joined the ensemble cast of The White Lotus Season 1 as Rachel Patton,
07:56a newlywed staying at the resort with her self-absorbed groom.
07:59Fans of The White Lotus know that over the course of the season, Rachel comes to terms
08:03with the often unfortunate reality of who she married and what her future looks like.
08:08Were you an asshole?
08:10No. No, I was actually trying to not be an asshole.
08:14Bet you failed.
08:16Daddario played the part exceptionally well,
08:18and it may have been because she related to her character for a sad reason. As she told Time in
08:232021,
08:24I had experienced in my life, on more than one occasion, a huge pressure to be happy.
08:28And her reasons to be unhappy are completely legitimate. But on paper,
08:32she doesn't feel like she has a reason. I've definitely felt that before,
08:36where you bounce around, trying to be happy for somebody else,
08:39who really isn't listening to why you're really unhappy.
08:42In a 2022 chat with Forbes, Daddario once again touched on her connection to the role, saying,
08:47Those feelings of confusion that Rachel has, the constant overthinking of,
08:50oh, everything is okay, this is somehow my fault, and I have to get out,
08:54and I have to make the other person understand how I feel,
08:57only to realize you're up against a wall — those are very familiar to me, and very painful.
09:03Stars of all stripes have long dealt with dangerously obsessed fans,
09:06and Alexandra Daddario is among them. According to a statement obtained by Radar,
09:10a February 2022 incident involving a stalker named David Keiko left her in a state of, quote,
09:16emotional distress. Keiko had been suffering from delusions about Daddario and drove from
09:21Colorado to her home with the intent to confront her. As Daddario recalled in her statement,
09:26When I opened the front door, I observed the respondent standing immediately outside my
09:30doorway as if he was intending to enter my home. I did not recognize him. He did not say anything.
09:36He just stood there as I observed that he was physically shaking and trembling in a highly
09:41intense and nervous manner. Daddario shut the door, but Keiko stayed in her front yard.
09:46She soon called the police, who arrested the stalker after cops found a gun in his car.
09:50Still, he posted bond shortly after. When she learned of his release, Daddario left her house.
09:56She further wrote,
09:56This incident has caused me significant fear and concern for the safety of myself,
10:01my partner, and others living in my home.
10:04Considering Alexandra Daddario's stunning good looks and immense success in Hollywood,
10:08it's hard to imagine that she'd ever think negatively about herself.
10:12During her 2014 conversation for Interview magazine, however, she revealed the truth
10:16about how she really feels, saying,
10:18I'm a combination between extreme insecurity and extreme confidence.
10:22After further years in the industry, though,
10:24Daddario has also come to see that there is still beauty in being imperfect,
10:28as evidenced by her Instagram.
10:30I don't take myself too seriously, so sometimes I sort of put photos of myself
10:35looking a little, yeah.
10:37As Daddario told British Vogue in 2023,
10:40I am drawn to things that feel beautiful, sophisticated, and powerful,
10:44but also to those moments of being a little bit of a mess because you can't always be perfect.
10:48There's a lot of pressure, especially for women, to be perfect all the time,
10:51and to look perfect, and have sort of this perfect life.
10:54But it's about embracing all the different parts of yourself.