Anya Taylor-Joy has built an international acting career through performances that combine emotional depth, striking screen presence, and a willingness to explore unconventional characters. From her breakthrough in the supernatural horror film The Witch to her acclaimed portrayal of a chess prodigy in The Queen’s Gambit, she has demonstrated an impressive range across film and television. Her work in major productions such as Split, The Menu, Dune: Part Two, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga has established her as one of the most recognizable performers of her generation. Behind her growing success is a distinctive personal story shaped by an international upbringing, early challenges, and a determination to pursue acting.
Early Life and Multicultural Background
Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy was born on April 16, 1996, in Miami, Florida, while her parents were visiting the United States. She is the youngest of six children in a family with a diverse cultural background. Her father, Dennis Alan Taylor, previously worked as a banker and has Scottish-Argentinian heritage. Her mother, Jennifer Marina Joy, is a psychologist of Spanish-English background who was born and raised in Zambia.
Although Taylor-Joy was born in the United States, her childhood unfolded primarily between Argentina and the United Kingdom. She holds American, British, and Argentinian citizenship, reflecting her family’s international connections.
Spanish was her first language. When she was still a young child, her family lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, before moving to London when she was six. The relocation introduced her to a different environment and presented an early challenge as she adjusted to life in a new country.
Taylor-Joy initially resisted the move and refused to speak English for approximately two years, hoping that her parents would eventually return the family to Argentina. When that did not happen, she began learning English through reading. The Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling played a particularly important role in helping her develop the language. She later explained that the characters became an important source of companionship during that period.
Growing up between different countries exposed Taylor-Joy to varied cultures and experiences. This international background would later become a distinctive part of her public identity, although her early years also included difficulties with belonging and self-confidence.
Education, Ballet, and the Decision to Pursue Acting
Taylor-Joy attended Hill House International Junior School in Knightsbridge and later Queen’s Gate School in South Kensington, London. During her school years, she trained as a ballet dancer, developing the discipline and physical awareness associated with dance.
Her childhood and adolescence were not always easy. She has spoken publicly about feeling insecure and struggling with her appearance while growing up. In a 2016 interview with W magazine, she discussed how she became self-conscious about her widely spaced eyes and how comments about her looks affected her relationship with her reflection.
Despite these personal challenges, Taylor-Joy began considering a future in the performing arts. At 16, she left school to pursue acting, choosing a career path that offered no guarantee of success.
She was subsequently discovered by a talent scout and briefly worked as a model with Storm Management. Modeling provided an introduction to the professional entertainment industry, but acting remained her primary ambition. Rather than continuing to focus on modeling, she pursued opportunities that would allow her to develop as a screen performer.
Early Auditions and Her First Screen Appearances
Like many aspiring actors, Taylor-Joy encountered rejection before securing a role that could establish her career. One of her earliest major auditions was for Disney’s Maleficent, released in 2014. She hoped to play a younger version of the title character portrayed by Angelina Jolie, but she did not receive the part.
The rejection was particularly painful because it represented one of her first experiences of professional disappointment. She later recalled that she cried after learning the outcome, despite recognizing that she did not closely resemble Jolie.
Her early career nevertheless began to take shape through smaller opportunities. In 2014, she appeared in the teen fantasy film Vampire Academy in an uncredited role and made a guest appearance in the British detective series Endeavour.
These initial credits gave her experience in front of the camera, but her major breakthrough was still ahead.
The Witch: The Role That Changed Her Career
Taylor-Joy’s career took a decisive turn in 2015 when she was cast as Thomasin in The Witch, a period horror film directed by Robert Eggers. Set in seventeenth-century New England, the story follows a Puritan family whose isolation and growing fears are intensified by disturbing supernatural events.
Taylor-Joy’s performance as a teenage girl caught in the family’s unraveling circumstances brought her international attention. The film relied on atmosphere, psychological tension, and carefully controlled performances rather than conventional horror spectacle, giving the young actor an opportunity to demonstrate her ability to communicate complex emotions.
On the same day she received the offer for The Witch, she was also offered a role in a Disney Channel pilot. She chose the horror film instead, a decision that proved significant for her developing career.
Taylor-Joy initially found it difficult to watch herself on screen. She later described feeling distressed after seeing the finished film and worrying that she had failed to deliver the performance she wanted. However, critics and audiences responded far more positively than she had anticipated.
Made on a reported budget of approximately $4 million, The Witch earned around $40 million worldwide. Its commercial performance and critical reception helped establish Taylor-Joy as a promising young actor, opening the door to increasingly prominent projects.
Building a Film Career: Morgan, Split, and Glass
Following The Witch, Taylor-Joy continued exploring different genres. In 2016, she appeared in the science-fiction thriller Morgan and the Netflix film Barry, a drama inspired by the early life of Barack Obama.
Another major opportunity arrived that year when she starred as Casey Cooke in M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller Split. The film featured James McAvoy as a man whose dissociative identities are central to a disturbing kidnapping story. Taylor-Joy’s character became an important emotional anchor in the narrative, and her performance helped demonstrate that she could hold her own in a tense production alongside established performers.
Split was connected to Shyamalan’s earlier superhero thriller Unbreakable. The shared storyline continued in Glass, released in 2019, which brought Taylor-Joy back alongside McAvoy, Bruce Willis, and Samuel L. Jackson.
During this period, she also appeared in a variety of independent and mainstream productions. Her credits included Thoroughbreds (2017), Marrowbone (2017), and The New Mutants (2020). These projects expanded her experience across psychological drama, horror, and comic-book storytelling.
In 2019, she also appeared in Radioactive, a biographical drama about scientist Marie Curie, and lent her voice to animated and fantasy projects, including Playmobil: The Movie and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
Rather than becoming associated with a single genre, Taylor-Joy steadily built a filmography that demonstrated her versatility.
Emma. and Growing Industry Recognition
A significant milestone arrived in 2020 when Taylor-Joy played Emma Woodhouse in Emma., a period comedy-drama adapted from Jane Austen’s novel.
The role required her to portray a privileged young woman whose confidence and matchmaking ambitions often lead to misunderstandings. The performance called for a balance of wit, charm, and self-awareness, allowing Taylor-Joy to move beyond the darker characters that had initially brought her recognition.
Her work earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The nomination marked an important step in her development as an actor recognized by major industry award organizations.
That same year, she appeared in the television miniseries The Queen’s Gambit, the project that would become one of the defining achievements of her career.
The Queen’s Gambit: International Fame and a Golden Globe
Released on Netflix in October 2020, The Queen’s Gambit follows Beth Harmon, a fictional chess prodigy who rises through the competitive chess world while navigating personal difficulties and the pressures of her growing reputation. Taylor-Joy played Beth throughout the series, portraying the character’s transformation from a gifted child into an internationally recognized competitor.
Her performance required her to communicate much of Beth’s inner life through expressions, posture, and moments of silence, particularly during chess matches. The character’s intelligence, isolation, ambition, and vulnerability gave Taylor-Joy an opportunity to deliver one of her most detailed performances.
The series became a major international success. Netflix reported that approximately 62 million households watched it during its first 28 days, making it one of the platform’s most successful scripted limited series at the time.
Taylor-Joy’s portrayal received widespread critical praise. In 2021, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television. She also received an Emmy nomination for her work in the series.
She explained that playing Beth required a different approach from her usual method of constructing a character as a distinctly separate person. Instead, she drew more directly on aspects of herself to make the role feel authentic.
The series also helped revive public interest in chess, introducing the game to viewers who might not otherwise have explored it. For Taylor-Joy, the success of The Queen’s Gambit represented a major turning point, transforming her from a respected rising actor into a globally recognized star.
Although speculation about a second season emerged after a social media post in January 2023, the post was reportedly the result of a hacked account rather than a confirmed announcement. Taylor-Joy has nevertheless expressed openness to the possibility of returning to Beth Harmon in the future.
Expanding Her Range: Last Night in Soho, The Northman, and The Menu
Following the success of The Queen’s Gambit, Taylor-Joy continued to seek out projects that differed in tone and setting.
In 2021, she starred in Edgar Wright’s psychological horror film Last Night in Soho, playing a mysterious young woman whose story becomes intertwined with that of an aspiring fashion student. The film combined elements of horror, thriller, and period drama.
In 2022, she reunited with Robert Eggers for The Northman, a historical action drama inspired by Viking legends. The project offered another opportunity to work with the director who had helped launch her career in The Witch.
She also appeared in David O. Russell’s ensemble film Amsterdam, which featured an extensive cast of well-known actors.
Another important project that year was The Menu, a dark comedy thriller directed by Mark Mylod. Taylor-Joy played Margot, a guest at an exclusive restaurant where a celebrated chef’s elaborate evening takes a disturbing turn. The film explored privilege, artistic pretension, and the relationship between creators and their audiences.
Her performance earned another Golden Globe nomination, further strengthening her reputation as an actor capable of moving between psychological suspense, comedy, and character-driven drama. Co-star Ralph Fiennes praised her ability to respond naturally to other performers, describing the quality of her work as something that could elevate a scene.
Princess Peach and the World of Animation
Taylor-Joy expanded her work into voice acting in 2023, when she voiced Princess Peach in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Based on Nintendo’s internationally popular video game franchise, the animated film became one of the year’s biggest box-office successes, earning more than $1 billion worldwide.
Her version of Peach was presented as a capable and determined leader rather than simply a character waiting to be rescued. The role introduced Taylor-Joy’s voice to a broad audience that included families and longtime fans of the games.
She returned to the character in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie in 2026, continuing her involvement with the animated franchise.
The success of the first film illustrated the growing breadth of her career. By this stage, she was working not only in independent cinema and prestige television but also in major studio productions aimed at global audiences.
Dune: Part Two and the Challenge of Furiosa
In 2024, Taylor-Joy appeared in Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction epic Dune: Part Two, starring Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya. Her appearance introduced an important character from Frank Herbert’s science-fiction universe and generated interest in how the story would continue in subsequent films.
She was also cast in the title role of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a prequel within George Miller’s Mad Max franchise. Released in 2024, the film follows the character’s early experiences in a brutal post-apocalyptic world.
Playing Furiosa presented a different kind of challenge from her earlier dramatic roles. The production involved demanding physical work and action sequences, including driving specialized vehicles. Taylor-Joy has said that she did not have a driver’s license during filming and that performing behind the wheel for the movie was an unfamiliar experience.
Despite that challenge, she took on the physical demands of the production, adding another large-scale action film to her portfolio. The role further demonstrated her willingness to explore characters whose stories depend on endurance, determination, and physical performance.
Taylor-Joy is also associated with Dune: Part Three, which was listed among her forthcoming projects in the supplied 2026 coverage.
Recent Projects: The Gorge, Sacrifice, and Lucky
Taylor-Joy continued working across genres in 2025. She starred opposite Miles Teller in The Gorge, a science-fiction action thriller centered on two operatives assigned to guard opposite sides of a classified, dangerous gorge.
She also appeared in Sacrifice, an adventure comedy involving a celebrity fundraising event disrupted by armed activists. The project added another ensemble production to her expanding list of film credits.
In July 2026, she took on a leading role in the Apple TV miniseries Lucky. She plays a con artist whose life changes dramatically after a heist goes wrong, forcing her to flee. Taylor-Joy also serves as an executive producer on the series, marking her first professional producing credit through her production company, LadyKiller Productions.
In discussing the project, she has described her interest in morally complicated female characters. Her comments reflect a broader interest in stories that allow women to be unpredictable, flawed, and difficult to categorize rather than confining them to conventional heroic roles.
Her work as an executive producer represents a further stage in her professional development, giving her a role in shaping a project beyond her responsibilities as its lead performer.
Her Approach to Acting and Professional Philosophy
Taylor-Joy’s performances often involve characters dealing with isolation, pressure, ambition, or circumstances that challenge their understanding of themselves. Although the roles vary widely, she has repeatedly chosen projects that give her room to explore complicated emotional experiences.
In an August 2026 interview with Variety, she discussed the demands of immersive acting and explained why she does not intend to become a full-time Method actor. She described acting as an intense process that can blur the boundary between a performer’s ordinary life and a character’s thoughts, behavior, and identity.
She also emphasized the importance of remaining considerate toward colleagues on a production. In her view, an actor’s commitment to a role should not become an excuse for treating other people poorly. Her comments highlighted both the intensity of her approach to character work and her belief that a film set depends on collaboration.
Taylor-Joy has also spoken about the unusual nature of celebrity life, particularly the contrast between public attention and ordinary personal experience. Despite attending major premieres and international events, she has acknowledged that the red-carpet environment is far removed from everyday life.
Her growing body of work suggests a preference for variety rather than a narrow career identity. She has moved from atmospheric horror to period comedy, psychological thrillers, television dramas, animation, and large-scale science-fiction productions.
Marriage and Personal Life
Taylor-Joy married musician Malcolm McRae in October 2023 in Venice, Italy. The wedding was attended by several people from the entertainment industry, including actors Miles Teller, Nicholas Hoult, Cara Delevingne, and Julia Garner.
The couple’s relationship became publicly visible in 2021. In an April interview that year, Taylor-Joy referred to McRae as her partner, and they were photographed together in New York City the following month. McRae later shared a photograph of them holding hands on social media.
McRae is a musician who sings, plays guitar and piano, and performs in the rock duo More*, formed with former Portugal. The Man member Kane Ritchotte. Music has also played a part in their relationship: McRae wrote the song “Really Want to See You Again” shortly after meeting Taylor-Joy in 2021.
The two share the same birthday, April 16. In May 2022, they adopted a cat named Kitsune.
Taylor-Joy generally keeps her private life out of the spotlight. She has previously been linked to Irish actor Eoin Macken, although she has offered few details about her earlier relationships. In a 2022 interview with British Vogue, she spoke warmly about finding a partner with whom she could comfortably share quiet moments, including reading together.
Her approach to public life remains relatively selective, with greater emphasis on her professional work than on the details of her relationships.
Awards, Brand Partnerships, and Financial Standing
Recognition for Taylor-Joy’s acting has grown alongside her career. Her Golden Globe nominations include those for Emma., The Queen’s Gambit, and The Menu. Her win for The Queen’s Gambit remains a major highlight, while her Emmy nomination for the same series added to her standing in television.
Her filmography also includes projects recognized for their critical or commercial impact, from The Witch and Split to The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Dune: Part Two.
Outside acting, Taylor-Joy has worked as a global brand ambassador for luxury companies including Dior and Tiffany & Co. These partnerships have strengthened her presence in fashion and at major international events.
As of July 2026, Celebrity Net Worth estimated her fortune at approximately $12 million. This figure is a third-party estimate rather than an independently verified statement of her finances, and her actual assets and earnings have not been publicly established in full.
Her commercial partnerships, expanding film roles, and move into producing reflect the different areas of the entertainment industry in which she has developed a professional presence.
Conclusion: An International Star with an Expanding Creative Vision
Anya Taylor-Joy’s rise has been shaped by a combination of international experiences, early professional risks, and carefully varied acting choices. Born in Miami, raised between Argentina and London, and fluent in the cultural influences of more than one country, she entered the entertainment industry with a background that set her apart from many of her contemporaries.
Her breakthrough in The Witch established her as a compelling screen presence, while Split and Emma. demonstrated her ability to move between genres. The international success of The Queen’s Gambit brought her widespread recognition, and subsequent projects such as The Menu, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Dune: Part Two, and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga expanded her reach across television, animation, and blockbuster cinema.
With Lucky, she has also begun taking on greater responsibility behind the scenes through executive producing. That development suggests a career continuing to evolve beyond acting alone.
Rather than being defined by a single performance or genre, Taylor-Joy has built a varied body of work through characters who face uncertainty, ambition, and difficult choices. Her achievements to date place her among the prominent actors of her generation, while her continuing work in film, television, and production leaves room for further creative growth.