Actress Anya Taylor-Joy shares what it’s like to speak for animated films and how she began her career in Hollywood. She also explains why storytelling, in any form, is a sanctuary for her.
Anya Taylor-Joy shot to fame overnight as an orphaned chess prodigy in the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit. Since then, the Argentine-British actress has been one of Hollywood’s brightest stars, starring in the Mad Max spin-off Furiosa, costume drama Emma and horror film Last Night in Soho. Now the 26-year-old is playing in a modern fairy tale, the film adaptation of the computer game “Super Mario Bros.” (Theatrical release: April 7).
Do you know that your first name is a very common name in Germany?
Anya Taylor-Joy: Oh really? No, I had no idea. I usually have to correct that it’s called “Anya” and not “Anna”. Therefore: Great! I thought the name came from Hungarian.
During the pandemic everyone felt like everyone was watching your TV series The Queen’s Gambit, it was said that you entertained millions of people with it and also started a new wave of chess.
Gosh, was it that intense? I feel differently: I feel more like I’ve been lucky enough to have been able to work intensively throughout my career. So it felt like it was going up quite steadily, but very slowly and at a leisurely pace – even if the success of The Queen’s Gambit was, once once more, of an entirely different caliber.
Has the chessboard industry ever thanked you personally?
Not yet. But it’s wonderful that the show seems to appeal to so many age groups, and it’s really fun to hear people in their early 20s say, “I’m regarding to play a game of chess once morest this guy.” This is going to be really hot!” That’s a phrase I never thought I’d hear.
How did it come regarding that you came up with this TV chess novella?
