Anya Taylor Joy talks how her parents helped overcome bullying. Image Source: THR
Anya Taylor-Joy talks about her parents helping her overcome bullying.
In her recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, actress Anya Taylor-Joy opened up about the time she was bullied for her looks.
The actress shared with Drew Barrymore that while she was growing up, she was not always hyped or embraced for the way she looks. Anya Taylor-Joy added that she was very lucky and grateful that her parents understood her, and whenever she was bullied for her looks, her mother told her that people look at the inside of someone; they do not look at their class, adding that she does not look at anything like that.
Anya Taylor-Joy mentioned that she appreciates her mother for telling her that people do not look at what other people do for a job or anything but at the person’s heart, and she added that her pep talks were very helpful. During the interview, she stated that she had never played chess before, but she read the book and felt like she could play that character. She immediately ran to the director, announcing that it was not about chess and the character needs to have red hair.
Anya Taylor has previously spoken about her bullying, revealing last year that she spent her first two years in England playing handclap games with plants and learning to read. The actress continued and said at the time that she jokes about this but she is kind of serious when she says that the characters in Harry Potter books were her friends, adding that it is her existence as she does not hang out with the other kids. Anya Taylor-Joy revealed that she was once trapped in lockers and made fun of for having wide-set eyes, but she does not want to give those stories any more airtime.
The Queen's Gambit actress explained that, just as her character needed chess, she, Anya Taylor-Joy, needed acting to believe that she has a place where she can be valued and appreciated, and that she has something to contribute, rather than feeling like there is something wrong with her and why she doesn't fit in.
Anya Taylor-Joy also shared with the outlet at the time that she had once decided to quit acting, but Mia Goth’s advice stopped her. She explained that Mia Goth told her that she was always going to have her back and assured her that they would progress in the industry knowing that they would be there to take care of each other. Mia told her that she couldn’t quit because it would be really bad if she couldn't have the thing that is her oxygen. Anya said that she is so glad Mia spoke to her and made her understand that she needed to stay.
In her interview with Drew Barrymore, Anya Taylor-Joy spoke about her new movie, The Menu, in which she plays the role of Margot, stating that she had no idea where it was going and adding that she was so excited by the prospect of their final scene being so original and collaborating with simply incredible performers. In a recent interview, talking about the movie, Anya said that the director Mark Mylod wanted the actors to be in their characters all the time because the cameras were just following them and all of them were improvising, adding that everyone just stayed and enjoyed having front-row seats to brilliant performances.
She described The Menu as a dark comedy satire, but if someone is a horror fan, they will enjoy it because they will laugh at certain instants and it will fingers crossed have that thriller element. Anya goes on to say that the film is a "smorgasbord" of everything including everyone, having to explain that if they want to laugh, they can. They have the ability to scream. If they want to be angry or possibly see themselves in a mirror, it's there. The actress stated that she enjoys the fact that it is a mash-up of all of those elements.
Anya Taylor-Joy adds that she just loves the way that Margot lives her life, and she thinks Margot is so at ease in her own skin, and she hasn't played many characters like that, so and be the one to call B.S. Literally the entire thing was a lot of fun.
"The Menu" is now in theaters.
