Anya Taylor-Joy has truly emerged as one of Hollywood's brightest stars, captivating audiences with her performances in The Queen's Gambit, Furiosa, and Dune: Part Two, among others. Interestingly, she revealed she was ‘devastated’ after watching her performance in her breakthrough role in The Witch, and thought she’d ‘never work again’.
The Witch was only Anya’s second audition, the first being for a young Angelina Jolie in Maleficent.
In a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, the star described her unforgettable experience of seeing herself on-screen for the first time in The Witch and how it challenged her resolve to pursue acting.
She explains, "[Director Robert Eggers] 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. 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 The Witch 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.'
Anya Taylor-Joy almost quit acting before starring in Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit.
Anya Taylor-Joy received critical acclaim for her role as chess prodigy Beth Harmon in the Netflix series. However, she revealed that she considered leaving the industry in 2019, due to some personal struggles in her emotional relationships. It was her 'Emma' co-star, Mia Goth, who encouraged her to continue pursuing her career.
She told Elle: "I had been working back to back – just before 'Emma', I'd done two projects at the same time, and I was going through some emotional relationship stuff.
"So at the beginning of 2019, I was just really broken and frightened of everything, and Mia and I were driving back from rehearsal.
"I turned to her and said, 'I think I'm going to quit acting. I don't think I can do this.' And I've never seen Mia look so worried in my life. She was like, 'But... that's what you do. You can't not... what are you talking about?'
“I was like, 'I think I need to back out now and just let it be and try to take care of my heart,'” Taylor-Joy said. “And she was like, 'No, that would be really bad. You can't not have the thing that is your oxygen.' I'm really glad she said that."