Alexandra Daddario Confronts Critics: ‘I’m Not a Bad Actress… I Got an Emmy Nom. How Do You Think I Did That?’

Courtesy of Alfonso Bresciani/AMC

Alexandra Daddario was recently asked by Elle magazine to name the “most outrageous rumor” about herself “that won’t go away.” She didn’t hesitate to give an answer: “That I’m a bad actress.”

“I’m not a bad actress,” Daddario said. “I’ve just done some projects that don’t showcase me in the way that I should be showcased. Okay? Directing and the writing is everything. Sometime’s I’m lit poorly, but I’m not a bad actress. I got an Emmy nomination. How do you think I did that?”

Daddario starred in the first season of Mike White’s popular HBO series “The White Lotus” and was nominated at the Emmys for outstanding supporting actress in a limited series. She starred as Rachel Patton, a journalist whose resort vacation is upended by the behavior of her spoiled husband (Jake Lacy) and his mother (Molly Shannon). Daddario followed “The White Lotus” with a lead role on AMC’s horror series “Mayfair Witches,” which wraps up its second season on March 2.

Prior to earning her Emmy nomination for “The White Lotus,” Daddario got her start in Hollywood when she was cast as Annabeth Chase in the “Percy Jackson” film series. She went on to star in studio tentpoles like “Skyscraper” and “Baywatch,” both of which co-starred Dwayne Johnson. Her supporting role in the first season of HBO’s “True Detective” also served as a breakthrough forher acting career.

“I didn’t expect to have what I had happen happen, which was — it’s a long time ago now — getting naked on a show where I didn’t have a huge role, I didn’t know what to expect,” Daddario previously told Collider about her “True Detective” buzz. “And then of course that episode aired and my manager called, and I’ll never forget it, I was sitting on my boyfriend’s couch and she calls me in the morning after the episode aired and she was like, ‘The phone’s been ringing off the hook all morning. The phone won’t stop ringing!’”

“All of a sudden, everyone in town wanted to meet with me and then I booked ‘San Andreas,’” she added. “So no, I would have never expected that from that role. It was tactical, but not that tactical.”

Next up for Daddario is a role in the movie “A Tree Fell in the Woods.” A third season of AMC’s “Mayfair Witches” has not yet been announced.