Actor Showcase: Anya Taylor-Joy Has the Potential to Be a Multiple-Time Award Winning Actress for Decades to Come

 

by Darian Scalamoni

    Anya Taylor-Joy led a show on Netflix that was so revelatory that it made a whole country become invested in chess. That's right, the strategy game of chess that takes more time to learn and master than many others became the accelerator behind the limited series, The Queen's Gambit that was led by the actress who will be our spotlight for this week's Actor Showcase. Though I had seen Taylor-Joy a few years earlier in the M. Night Shyamalan film, Split, it was her role in the streaming drama that took her star to new heights and has led to a ton of upcoming film roles.

    Anya Taylor-Joy was born in Miami in 1996 while her parents were on holiday. Though she was born in the States, she grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina until she was six years old before moving to London, England. Initially, the actress refused to learn English amongst moving to England in hopes of moving back to Argentina but alas, she remained there until she had begun her career in entertainment. Taylor-Joy first was sought out for modeling at the age of 17 but had a very early breakthrough role in the horror film, The Witch that served as not only her coming out party, but also that of prominent horror director, Robert Eggers. Once the A24 film was released in 2015, the actress burst onto the scene and was sought after for many other projects. The Witch not only earned acclaim for Eggers and Taylor-Joy, but also grossed $40 million against a measly $4 million budget. She impressed so much that she earned the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and the Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer. 

    The wide-eyed bilingual actress then went from The Witch to some smaller scale projects in which she had prominent roles. First up was the sci-fi thriller, Morgan in which she played the titular character, followed by Barry following a young Barack Obama in his formative years at Harvard University, but it wasn't until the aforementioned Split until Taylor-Joy was able to have two bankable performances to utilize when being considered for larger roles and prominence moving forward. Within the M. Night Shyamalan film, Taylor-Joy plays Casey Cooke, a young girl who is abducted by a man with multiple personality disorder played by James McAvoy. Split gave a platform and terrific scene partner for Taylor-Joy to play off and was her first massive hit at the box-office. Split grossed $278.5 million worldwide against a budget of only $9 million. After that, she starred in another indie, Thoroughbreds alongside House of the Dragon star, Olivia Cooke and also featured the final performance for the late, great Anton Yelchin. 

    Though this was a great start for the now 26-year-old actress, the turn of the decade in 2020 would seem to be the true rise of stardom for the actress. First was the previously mentioned Netflix series, The Queen's Gambit. Taylor-Joy portrayed the lead role of Beth Harmon, a young orphan chess prodigy within the 1950s and 1960s. Among her trials of trying to become an elite chess player, she becomes codependent with drugs and alcohol amidst mental health problems. The Queen's Gambit is brilliant with truly intelligent writing, magnificent costumes and production design as well as a masterful and magnetic performance from Taylor-Joy. The series was nominated for 6 Primetime Emmy Awards and won for Best Limited or Anthology Series. Taylor-Joy was nominated for her role as Harmon but ultimately lost to Kate Winslet, who won for HBO's Mare of Easttown, however, the former won the Golden Globe and SAG Award for the limited series that was helmed by Scott Frank. Taylor-Joy would also score her first Marvel role in 2020, starring in the final X-Men film for Fox, The New Mutants where she played Illyana Rasputin, also known as Magik. Additionally, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her titular role in the period romcom, Emma.

    Following the success that came at the top of the 2020's, Taylor-Joy began to seek out prestigious talent behind the camera to collaborate with. She jumpstarted this crusade with a role in Last Night in Soho helmed by Edgar Wright in 2021 and led off this current year re-teaming with Robert Eggers for The Northman and having a small, supporting role in David O. Russell's, Amsterdam. Additionally, next week, the actress stars in The Menu where she will play Margot, a young woman who joins her partner Tyler, played by Nicholas Hoult on a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant for a celebrity chef by the name of, Julian Slowik. The film, however, is described and showcased in the trailers as a dark comedy/horror film as the wealthy guests uncover many surprises from Slowik, played by the riveting and villainous, Ralph Fiennes.

    She is set to star in Furiosa, which will hit theaters in 2024, as she plays a younger version of the same character portrayed by Charlize Theron in the remarkable action film, Mad Max: Fury Road. She will star alongside Chris Hemsworth and Tom Burke marking her first foray into a character that is described as grimy and fiery in "a saga spanning several years" from director, George Miller. Anya Taylor-Joy has been described as indelible, magnetic, fearless and unique by many within the industry. She is truly a breakout star within Hollywood and has so much more on the horizon. She has the ability to be the next major female star across film and television working with many prominent filmmakers whilst earning accolades and awards for decades to come.