The performance Anya Taylor-Joy admits she was “devastated” by
Having established herself as one of the brightest stars in modern cinema, Anya Taylor-Joy‘s career continues to move forward with increasing quality. Following a debut performance in The Witch, the Miama-born actor has issued a series of remarkable performances that have left her in the position as one of American cinema’s most sought-after stars.
With a portrayal of Beth Harmon in the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, Taylor-Joy drew more acclaim, and her effort as the chess prodigy orphan remains one of her most mesmerising displays. From there, the actor has appeared in the likes of Peaky Blinders, Emma, The Northman and The Menu, always proving her widespread talents.
However, not every performance Taylor-Joy has given has been well-received from her perspective. The actor once admitted that her effort in Robert Eggers’ 2015 folk horror movie The Witch left her feeling “devastated” by the footage and imbued a feeling of letting the cast and crew down.
“Rob showed us the film maybe two hours before the audience screening, and I was devastated,” Taylor-Joy told The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought I’d never work again; I still get shivers thinking about it.” Evidently, there seems to be the sense in Taylor-Joy that her breakout performance did not match up to her expectations, though this might be put down to her youthful nerves.
The Witch is Eggers’ feature directorial debut. Taylor-Joy also made her film debut alongside Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Ellie Grainger, Harvey Scrimshaw and Lucas Dawson in a narrative set in New England in the 1630s, focusing on a Puritan family and their experiences with a mysterious force of evil that dwells in the woods near their house.
Taylor-Joy actor added of the performance that she felt was not up to scratch, “It was just the worst feeling of, ‘I have let down the people I love most in the world. I didn’t do it right.’ And I’m quite verbose, I like to talk, I like to communicate. I did not talk, I just cried. I couldn’t handle seeing my face that large.”
In the same interview, Taylor-Joy opened up on the audition process for Eggers’ film, noting, “Not long after [Malificent], I got asked to audition for The Witch, so I went in and taped, but just never thought I would get it, because the character Thomasin was described as plain. And I just thought, ‘Okay, there’s a lot of things that I can do, but I can’t really change my face that much.'”
Check out the trailer for The Witch below.
