These days, Anya Taylor-Joy is seemingly EVERYWHERE – and that’s a good thing, to be clear! – but there was a time not all that long ago when none of us knew her name. That was, of course, until her breakout role in the Robert Eggers horror movie The Witch back in 2015, which launched Taylor-Joy’s career and led to subsequent roles in Split, Glass, The New Mutants, The Northman and the upcoming The Menu, as well as George Miller’s Furiosa.
But let’s jump back to 2015 for a minute. In a new chat with Harper’s Bazaar this week, Anya Taylor-Joy recalls that she was facing down a very tough career dilemma at the time. When she was offered The Witch, Taylor-Joy was forced to turn down another big opportunity.
“I remember it was the same day I got asked to be in a Disney Channel pilot, and it was so exciting to be offered anything at all that I ran around the house like a loon,” Taylor-Joy tells the outlet. “But I just had this really good feeling about The Witch that made me willing to forego the Disney experience for the thing that felt unknown to me, the thing that felt sacred.”
She says of her experience on The Witch, “It gave me the cornerstones of the way I work now, which is essentially the idea that there is no hierarchy on set: you work hard, you stay on top of the shots and you don’t assume anyone else is going to do that for you. Your title doesn’t stop at actor – you’re a creative on this film, and that’s how you need to approach it.”
“I thought I’d done a really bad job, and I saw myself failing miserably with this dream I’d had for such a long time,” she admits. “I guess I’m not always the best judge of my own work.”
Anya Taylor-Joy next stars in The Menu, releasing November 18.
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