Taylor-joy on roles roll but it’s only just the start
Breakthrough entertainer’s busy schedule reflects her popularity
Ina span of seven months this year alone, Anyataylor-joy played ameddling British brat inemma, a Russian mutant with teleportation powers in the latest
X-men film, and an American orphan whoturns out to be a chessphenom whocan checkmate grownmenby the time she’s 8 inthe Queen’s Gambit.
She’s just getting started.
The 24-year-old just wrapped shooting The Northman alongside Nicole Kidman, Alexander Skarsgard, Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke. In October, Warner Bros announced Taylor-joy would play Furiosa in the highly anticipated prequel tomad
Max: Fury Road. Oh, and she’ll have another movie coming out in April: Edgar Wright’s psychological thriller,
Last Night in Soho.
“Wheniwas a kid, all Iwanted to dowas go to Narnia and, you know, fly to Neverland and go to all of these incredible places,” Taylor-joy recently told The Associated Press, whichnamedher one of its Breakthrough Entertainers of 2020. “Andnowas an adult, I’m like, ‘I live in Narnia. Like, this is amazing’.”
Taylor-joy is “the busiest person I’ve ever met,” said Marielle Heller, whoplays Taylor Joy’s foster mother in The Queen’s Gambit and directedabeautiful Day in the Neighborhood and Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
“I don’tknowhowshe’s doing so manyprojects at thesametime. It’s really kind of mind-blowing,” Heller said.
Netflix says The Queen’s Gambit
wasits biggest scripted limited series ever and Emmareceived critical and box office acclaim, as did her big-screen debut as a lead in Robert Eggers’
2015 horror hit The
Witch, whichwon
Taylor-joy a
Gotham
Independent Film
Awardfor breakthrough actor. She’s also wonpraise for her roles in
M. Night Shyamalan’s Split,
dark comedy/thriller Thoroughbreds andbbc
One’s Peaky Blinders.
All the success could have gone to
Taylor-joy’s head, but Heller said
she had managedto stay humble.
“The danger of young people having a career take offwhenthey’re really young— you can turn into a jerk. But she hasn’t,” Heller said. “She’s a real joy to work with. Youdon’t get thatmany roles back-to-back if you aren’tsomebodywho’s good to work with.”
Taylor-joywas so well-liked by those who’d directed her, they formed what was almost a club of adoration, calling each other and talking abouthowshewasdoing, saidautumnde Wilde, whodirected Taylor-joy inemma.
“Weshare a commonbond in that wejust 100 per cent believe in her and we’re so excited to seehowour ideas will flower with her,” de Wilde said. “She’s anever-ending box of drawers and secret passageways.”
Part of whatmade Taylor-joy so magnetic washer lack of narcissism, she said: “A great photograph makes you wish you were there. I think she makes you wish you were there watching her work. That’s because she’s not looking at herself in the mirror, she’s looking at the person she’s acting with, she’s feeling methrough the lens as a director,” de Wilde said.
Taylor-joywas born in Miami and largely grewup in Argentina. She only spoke Spanishwhenher parents movedher and her five siblings to England, where Taylor-joy struggled to fit in and learn English.
Although she’s escaped the bullying she faced then, she’s still learninghowto be kind to herself.
“A friend of mine once told me, ‘You would never speak to your friends thewaythat you speak about yourself,’ whichwas huge,” she said. “It’s such a difficult journey for every individual to becomefriends with themselves. Somepeople are born and they just have it . . . Iwas not one of them.”
Though she says her skyrocketing fame “can be a bit intense,” the journey has been “a beautiful process”.
“I have a ton of energy, and I think this career and the hours this career requires, theymakemetired enough to be sane, which I appreciate.
“Making films is hard. Anyfilm that ismade. . . the fact that it evenmade it there, is a baby miracle, and working with somanytalented people and somanydifferent people tomakethatcometrue andcometo life, it’s weirdly life-affirming. It just makesmereally happy.” — AP