Anya Taylor-Joy has been racking up a portfolio of impressive live-action roles. Making her acting breakthrough in Robert Eggers’ The Witch, Taylor-Joy is often praised for her acting style, which usually balances innocence and cunning. It’s incredible that the beloved actress didn’t study acting or the performing arts before her debut (although she did take drama at school). But with a past career training in ballet and having formerly been scouted by a modeling agency, it’s no secret that Taylor-Joy has a certain star quality to her.
Famous for her hypnotizing doe eyes, the actress recently starred alongside Alexander Skarsgård and Nicole Kidman in The Northman. The film, released in the United States on April 22, 2022, is a tale of a young Viking prince looking to avenge his father’s death. Before you check out Taylor-Joy in The Northman, be sure to look at some of her most memorable live-action roles.
Sandie in Last Night in Soho (2021)
In Last Night in Soho, Taylor-Joy plays the highly ambitious Sandie, an aspiring singer and dancer who moves to London in the 1960s. Sandie lives in a room at 8 Goodge Place, the same room Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) rents during present times. Throughout the film, Ellie has vivid dreams about Sandie, which begin with her first visit to Cafe de Paris. Sandie meets Jack (Matt Smith), a charismatic man who promises her a successful singing career. But, in truth, he is a shady pimp who preys on young women captivated by the bright lights and glamour of the industry. As Jack shows his true colors, Sandie is forced to sleep with powerful, affluent men to jack up her career. But everything comes crashing down after a violent attack that ends in murder.
Even before the screenplay for Last Night in Soho was created, director Edgar Wright felt Taylor-Joy was the perfect fit for the horror film. Taylor-Joy exudes a special kind of beauty and wit that transcends time. In addition, she also has a certain charm that allows her to be an icon in both present times and historical periods like the swinging sixties. As she undergoes the abuse of powerful, wealthy men who come to sleep with her, Taylor-Joy transforms the character into someone empty and disillusioned by her dreams. We no longer see Taylor-Joy playing the glitzy glam girl with big blonde hair and a flowy pink dress - she now becomes an extremely distraught and murderous victim of the privileged. Oh, let’s not forget her stunning performance of the song "Downtown".
Last Night in Soho is currently available for rent via Amazon, Apple TV, YouTube, and most major online video outlets.
Casey Cooke in Split (2016)
Split follows Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a man struggling with dissociative identity disorder (DID) caused by childhood abuse and abandonment. As a result, he is left with 23 distinct personalities, ranging from the caring and motherly Patricia to the volatile and perverted Dennis. When Crumb kidnaps three girls, including Taylor-Joy’s character Casey Cooke, things turn for the worst. Crumb confines them in a secret underground lair underneath the Philadelphia Zoo. The girls will need to escape as soon as possible before Crumb reveals his 24th personality, a sadistic sociopath and insatiable cannibal with superhuman abilities known as "The Beast."
Taylor-Joy's abilities as a young actor are highlighted in the M. Night Shyamalan film. McAvoy may be one of Hollywood's greatest stars, but Taylor-Joy delivers an impressively strong performance. Casey is an adolescent who has a traumatic childhood as a result of her uncle's molestation, resulting in her angry and antisocial behavior. Despite her young age, Taylor-Joy has the challenge of playing no ordinary innocent teen - she needs to become someone that is mature beyond her peers and has a stronger awareness of the intentions of people surrounding her.
The real twist comes after she is abducted by Crumb, along with her two classmates, Claire Benoit (Haley Lu Richardson) and Marcia (Jessica Sula). While her two peers are in a panicked state, Cooke remains calm and collected, carefully analyzing the situation. As she confronts Crumb, she adapts to his different personalities while still having a sense of empathy. This is another challenge as an actress that Taylor-Joy manages to overcome. It’s hard enough to work out the chemistry with one character, but having to adjust to a character who has 23 different personalities is a lot of homework. And yet, the budding actress can do so, and it relies on her understanding the conflict of each of Crumb’s personalities and figuring out how they relate to her character. What you get is not a mere story of prey escaping its predator but a survivor trying to show compassion for a victim.
Split is also currently available for rent via Amazon, VUDU, and Apple TV.
Gina Gray in Peaky Blinders (2013-2022)
While Taylor-Joy appears as Gina Gray for only Season 5 and Season 6, she gives a noteworthy performance as Michael Gray’s (Finn Cole) wife and confidante. In Peaky Blinders, Taylor-Joy plays the typical 1920s American doll with her short blonde hair, red lipstick, and penchant for cigarettes. While she is gorgeous from the outside, deep down she is a manipulative and condescending woman who continuously persuades her husband to steal Shelby Company Limited from his cousin, Thomas Shelby (Cillian Murphy).
Season 5 and 6 of Peaky Blinders show the Shelby family at the peak of their fortunes, with big homes, stylish cars, and fabulous clothes. Taylor-Joy’s timeless beauty and flair fit right in. What also makes her role memorable is mixing her Americanness with a bunch of British gangsters. Of course, there’s always the “Americans vs. Brits” show trope, and it’s very prominent here as Polly Gray (Helen McCrory) rejects her. But most important of all is how Taylor-Joy can show that the character is much more intelligent than she looks, even if it’s all for the wrong purposes.
You can watch all seasons of Peaky Blinders on Netflix.
Emma Woodhouse in Emma (2020)
Taylor-Joy plays the main character Miss Emma Woodhouse in the movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma. Miss Woodhouse is a young woman of considerable wealth and prestige who lives comfortably with her father in Regency-era England. Miss Woodhouse fills her time by meddling in the romantic lives of her friends and believes herself to be a knowledgeable young matchmaker. However, she quickly finds that love is not as simple as it appears and grows to learn about the people around her and herself.
Compared to her previous roles, which typically lean more towards darker themes, the Oscar-nominated Emma allows Taylor-Joy to prove that she can play in romantic-comedy films. The bubbly and animated tone of the movie is a breath of fresh air from the actress, requiring Taylor-Joy to bring out the joyful innocence and naivete of young privileged girls of the Regency era. Also, she looks absolutely stunning in her gorgeous period dresses, which come in pastel pink and bright yellow shades. It’s refreshing to see Taylor-Joy in this style, and we’re looking forward to seeing more movies like this from the actress.
Emma is now available for streaming on Amazon Freevee.
Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit (2020)
Let’s not forget Taylor-Joy’s titular role as orphan chess prodigy Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit. The Netflix Original miniseries shows how the main character grows up to become an elite chess player while dealing with a series of emotional problems, which revolve around drugs and alcohol. The show takes on an interesting perspective of what it means to be a genius and how a person of great talent can ultimately fall victim to their vices. However, no matter how much of an expert Harmon is as a chess player, her fiercely competitive spirit becomes a redeemable trait, allowing her to bounce back onto the chess competition scene and battle against the world’s best players in Moscow.
Taylor-Joy’s role in The Queen’s Gambit is possibly her most memorable yet (and definitely one of the most popular). Her acting has a magnetic quality that hooks audiences into the show. Beth Harmon is a tricky character to nail, as she has a certain obedient meekness due to her childhood upbringing and, at the same time, bold and brash confidence that comes out during chess competitions. To achieve this, Taylor-Joy relies on subtlety, which can be seen in her body language: her shy, awkward walk as a child player vs. her confident strut as a seasoned adult player, the way her eyes are locked onto the chess pieces, and the intriguing expressions she makes as her mind is working out chess movies. It’s the little details in Taylor-Joy's performance that really bring Beth Harmon to life.
The Queen’s Gambit is available only on Netflix.