The scenes Anya Taylor-Joy will always refuse to shoot: “What planet are we living on?”
Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood today, breaking into the industry with her impressive performance in Robert Eggers’ debut feature, The Witch. Since then, she has only gone from strength to strength, starring in films like The Northman, Last Night in Soho, Dune: Part Two, and Emma, showcasing a versatile talent and deep creativity that hint at an eclectic and dynamic career ahead.
However, she has also faced troubling on-set experiences in recent years, highlighting the challenges of working in the film industry. Taylor-Joy has spoken about having to fight for three-dimensional female characters and authentic emotional responses, shedding light on the ongoing struggles actors face behind the scenes.
Taylor-Joy has been on quite the journey in recent years, with a leading role in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and the upcoming final Dune film. Directors like Robert Eggers, Denis Villeneuve and Edgar Wright have recognised her astounding talent, casting her in challenging and all-encompassing roles.
During the production of the latest Mad Max effort, it appeared that these creative demands had started to take a toll on the actor, expressing her mixed experiences on set and hinting towards something much darker that had occurred while filming. The saga seems to have plagued many performers over the years, with Taylor-Joy describing the negative effect it also had on her mental health.
However, while acting and creativity can be the perfect outlet to express your emotions, this is something that Taylor-Joy has struggled with over the years after being asked by male directors to respond to extreme situations with restraint and subtlety, with a single tear falling down her cheeks in response to something truly outrageous.
In her 2022 film The Menu, Taylor-Joy disputed the idea that her character would respond to nearly being eaten by crying in such a delicate way, advocating for an outburst of anger that would reflect the severity of the situation. The actor described her response to this moment, saying, “What planet are we living on? I was like, ‘Let me explain to you: I am going to leap across the table and try and literally kill him with my bare hands.’” This would naturally be a more authentic response to such a scene, with the character being lured away to a luxurious private dinner with the intention of being eaten by her date.
Taylor-Joy expanded on her demand for more portrayals of female rage on screen, saying, “For all my championing of female rage, I’ve never been an angry person. I am a really strong advocate of female rage. We’re animals and there’s a point where somebody just snaps. For a long time the only time I ever got angry was on other people’s behalves. I’ve always internalized this thing of ‘I’ve done something wrong. If you treat me badly, it’s because I am the problem.’”
There have been many female characters over the years who have been encouraged to be restrained and ‘feminine’ in their anger or sadness, but perhaps Taylor-Joy is paving the way for a new era of radical honesty.
