A star was born: Anya Taylor-Joy scores in the hit called The Queen's Gambit
So far, this name may sound unfamiliar, but her face is not. Since 2015, when she first appeared on screen in the fantasy series Atlantis and the period horror film The Witch, we've been able to spot her in twenty other projects. This American-Argentinean-British actress has something to show!
How it all started
Anya Taylor-Joy was born in April 1996 in Miami, Florida. Her childhood was quite wild, as she is the youngest of six children. Her mother, an Englishwoman of South African and Spanish descent, worked as a photographer and interior designer. Her father was a banker of Scottish-Argentine origin. Anyi's life began in Buenos Aires, but at the age of six she moved to London with her family.
Her acting career didn't start on stage, as we might've imagined, but on the catwalk at the shopping mall Harrods. It was here that she signed a contract with an acting agency.
The breakthrough year 2016
She escalated to the imaginary peak of acting in 2016, when she appeared in three projects. She starred in the sci-fi horror Morgan, directed by Luke Scott, and as Charlotte Baughman, one of Barack Obama's close friends, in the drama Barry.
She also gave a top performance in the psychological horror film Split, where she was one of three students who appeared locked in the basement of a man with a bipolar disorder. After its release, she received several awards and nominations for the BloodGuts UK Horror Award for this role.
One award after another
In 2017, she was nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star Award. In the same year, she also won the prestigious Trophée Chopard award at the Cannes Film Festival, given by a jury of professionals to young actors. That was a lot of success for the 21-year-old actress, which she was able to keep up with even further.
The Queen’s Gambit
When the director Frank Scott was looking for a cast for the miniseries The Queen’s Gambit, he couldn't have made a better choice. You guessed it right... He cast Anya Taylor-Joy as the lead.
The 50's, an orphanage, a young girl and a hidden extraordinary chess talent. A girl who grows up surrounded by men, because what kind of woman would play chess? Fortunately, there is the main heroine Beth Harmon, for whom the world of 64 squares means absolutely everything! But it has one catch, geniuses are often crazy.
A series appetizer of this autumn
Beautiful cast, beautiful production, even better music and a lot of "feel good" moments that will make more than one evening pleasant. Chess lovers may be a little disappointed with fewer shots of the chessboard in games, but the director made up for it elsewhere. All the attention is paid to Beth, which makes the series more personal and in this case even more interesting. All in all, it's this autumn's series appetizer!
Chess can be sexy?
Yes please! Until now, almost no one has been able to capture the chess world cinematographically. It seems like a boring, uninteresting topic. But then Anya Taylor-Joy came on the scene with her bewitching gaze, which often makes you forget about chess completely. Atypical childhood, misery in her adolescence, alcohol and drugs. Do you have a free afternoon? Not anymore!
This year's new release also enchanted the film critics.
"A story of an extraordinary life and a window into the world of addictions and the seizing of pawns and queens,"
writes Matthew Gilbert of the Boston Globe.
Upcoming projects
The young actress is definitely not slowing down after her successes and we will continue seeing her on the screen. In October of this year, she was cast as the main character in the series Mad Max. In April next year, she will appear in the upcoming drama Last Night in Soho, directed by Edgar Wright. She will also work with the director Robert Eggers on a lead role in The Northman alongside Nicole Kidman.
