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Anya Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy was born on 16 April 1996 in Miami, Florida. She was the youngest of six children. He mother was a psychologist of British and Spanish descent while her father was a Scottish-Argentine international banker, until he changed careers to become a professional motorboat racer. She spent most of her infant years in Buenos Aires before moving to London at the age of eight. While here she began training in ballet, but her heart was always set on a career in acting. At the age of 14 she moved to New York and later split her time between the United States and England.
But it wasn’t until the age of 16 that Anya finally got the break she needed. While walking outside the Harrods Department Store, she was scouted by Sarah Doukas of Storm Management as a Model. It was through the connections she built up while modelling that she managed to sign up with an acting agent. Unfortunately for her, her first acting gig didn’t go all too well. She had a small part role in the 2014 horror comedy film Vampire Academy, which was cut from the final cut of the film. She subsequently appeared in a 2014 episode of the detective drama series ‘Endeavour’ and in multiple episodes of the 2015 fantasy-adventure drama series Atlantis.
Anya’s true time to shine came in Robert Eggers’ period horror film The VVitch, in which she starred as the lead role of Thomasin. The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and had a wide theatrical release in 2016. Taylor-Joy’s performance received critical acclaim and she even won the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor, the Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer, and the Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Actress. She also earned a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Performance by a Younger Actor, among numerous others. She subsequently scored a leading role in the science fiction horror film ‘Morgan’, directed by Luke Scott, and released in September 2016. Also, that same year, she played Charlotte Baughman, in Vikram Gandhi’s drama film ‘Barry’.
Anya’s popularity took another leap forward in 2017 for her starring role in M. Night Shyamalan’s horror thriller ‘Split’; for which she received a BloodGuts UK Horror Award nomination. This performance was followed by leading roles in the horror mystery film ‘Marrowbone’ and dark comedy thriller film ‘Thoroughbreds’ and the BBC One period drama miniseries ‘The Miniaturist’ in 2017.
Her career picked up once again in 2019 when she reprised the role as Casey Cooke in the sequel to ‘Split’ and the final instalment in the Unbreakable film series, named ‘Glass’. That same year she also appeared in the documentary film ‘Love, Antosha’, the animated musical adventure film ‘Playmobil: The Movie’, and the biographical drama film ‘Radioactive’. Anya also had starring roles in the acclaimed BBC One period crime drama series ‘Peaky Blinders’ and the Netflix fantasy drama series ‘The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance’.
This momentum carried over into 2020, where she starred in the comedy-drama film ‘Emma’, the drama film ‘Here Are the Young Men’, and superhero horror film ‘The New Mutants’. This year also saw her star in what could possibly be her most acclaimed role to date – as Beth Harmon in the highly acclaimed Netflix miniseries ‘The Queen’s Gambit’.
Moving into 2021, Anya’s career shows no sign of slowing, having already scored starring roles in in Edgar Wright’s psychological horror film ‘Last Night in Soho’, Robert Eggers’ historical revenge film ‘The Northman’ and horror film ‘Nosferatu’, and the drama film ‘The Sea Change’. In October 2020, Taylor-Joy was also cast as the title character in the Mad Max: Fury Road spin-off Furiosa.