MARIE CLAIRE – Anya Taylor-Joy doesn’t consider herself to be a particularly competitive person…at least, not with other people. “I can be very, very hard on myself,” she says from a sun-drenched hotel room in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she’s been camped out since August filming Robert Eggers’ The Northman. She pauses to note the “miraculous” amount of light pouring in through the window, laughs, apologizes for interrupting herself, and then returns to her point: that she is perhaps her own greatest adversary.
DUJOUR – The American-born, English Argentine actress, Anya Taylor-Joy, who starred in M. Night Shyamalan’s Split and this year’s adaptation of Emma (she also had a recurring role on Peaky Blinders), is back in the spotlight with a new project: Netflix’s new original series The Queen’s Gambit.
Based on the 1983 book of the same name by Walter Tevis, the miniseries follows Beth Harmon, a young orphan in 1950s Kentucky, who is taught chess by the custodian at the orphanage. After the young girl’s gift is discovered and nurtured, a series of setbacks occurs until she’s adopted by a family which enables her to develop this gift and reach her full potential in the game. The series takes us from Kentucky to Paris, New York and Moscow following the talented young woman in her journey to become the best chess player in the world.
The 24-year-old actress talked to DuJour about why this role excited her and how 2020 has changed her.
Anya’s latest project, The Queen’s Gambit is out now everywhere on Netflix! Find new promotional pictures in the gallery:
DEADLINE – George Miller told Deadline about Furiosa having a deep backstory in the Mad Max universe, and now we’ll finally get to see it: Warner Bros. is in advanced development with Furiosa, a spinoff feature of Miller’s multi-Oscar winning blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road about the renegade character (played in that film by Oscar winner Charlize Theron) who was a notable force in Max’s survival in the desert.
The standalone movie will reveal the origins of Furiosa and be played by Glass actress Anya Taylor-Joy in the title role. The movie will track the genesis of Furiosa before she teamed up with Max Rockatansky in Fury Road. Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II will also star in a movie that Miller will also direct, co-write and produce with his longtime Oscar-nominated producing partner Doug Mitchell. Miller’s own Australian-based Kennedy Miller Mitchell banner will produce.