The one director who speaks the same cinematic language as Anya Taylor-Joy
It is undeniably impressive to land your first proper film role in a horror movie that goes on to become one of the most highly regarded in recent years. For Anya Taylor-Joy, her performance in The Witch proved to be her breakthrough, impressing critics with her portrayal of a teenage girl accused by her family of being a witch.
Despite the success of Robert Eggers’ film, Taylor-Joy was plagued by self-doubt, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “Rob showed us the film maybe two hours before the audience screening, and I was devastated. I thought I’d never work again; I still get shivers thinking about it.”
Luckily, the role allowed her to earn more parts, and she subsequently appeared in popular movies and television shows like Split, Thoroughbreds, Emma, Last Night in Soho, The Super Mario Bros Movie, Peaky Blinders, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. She is now one of the most recognisable actors in Hollywood, known for appearing in both mainstream productions and more experimental slices of cinema.
Taylor-Joy has had the joy of working with both new filmmakers and more experienced veterans of the game, but there is one director who she believes is on the same wavelength as her. Talking to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor explained her love of working with Edgar Wright, who directed her in 2021’s Last Night in Soho.
The film is a stylish feast of ‘60s outfits and music, which is shown in tandem with the present day. We follow the shy Eloise, played by Thomasin McKenzie, as she starts university in London, only to get sucked into a world of terror as she begins having visions of a woman from the ‘60s.
Having already seen visions of her dead mother, it seems as though Eloise has a supernatural power for gaining access to a ghostly realm beyond the present. The woman she sees, played by Taylor-Joy, haunts her, leading Eloise down a crazed path of madness and revenge.
The film received mixed reviews, with some criticising its feminist elements, which don’t feel all that fleshed out. There are also some cheesy, clunky lines and silly moments that are hard to take seriously, but overall, it is hard not to love the stylishness of the film. For all its flaws, Wright demonstrated an ability to create a gorgeous world that you can’t help but want to step through the screen and immerse yourself in.
Taylor-Joy completely understood Wright’s filmmaking style, finding him a great person to work with. “Wow, the amount of references he has both in music and in film. But also, he directs in beats, and as an actor who started off as a dancer, I see my scenes in beats,” she explained. Certainly, Wright is known for his fast-paced editing and use of music as a central driving force, and in Last Night in Soho, the filmmaker crammed the soundtrack full of unforgettable ‘60s tunes.
Taylor-Joy added, “And being able to collaborate with somebody who spoke the same language as I did in that way was wonderful. Truly.”
