Who Is Anya Taylor-Joy? 5 Things About The Queens Gambit Star Hollywood Life

Publish date: 2024-08-01

Anya Taylor-Joy, 24, is one of Hollywood’s biggest rising stars. Anya became a household name after the release of The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix in 2020. The Queen’s Gambit is far from Anya’s breakout role. She’s been consistently wowing us for years.

Anya was nominated for not just one but two Golden Globes this year. For The Queen’s Gambit, she won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television. She scored a second nod for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her role in Emma. If you need to get caught up to speed on all things Anya, HollywoodLife has you covered.

1. Anya starred in the critically-acclaimed series ‘The Queen’s Gambit.’

Anya played Beth Harmon in the Netflix limited series. The show chronicles Beth’s rise to fame from an orphan to a chess prodigy. Within just a few weeks of its release, The Queen’s Gambit became Netflix’s most-watched scripted miniseries. In the same year, Anya also starred in the latest film adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic novel, Emma. Before The Queen’s Gambit and Emma, Anya was known for her roles in The Witch, Split, Glass, and Peaky Blinders.

2. She did learn chess for ‘The Queen’s Gambit.’

In order to play Beth Harmon, Anya knew she had to know the logistics of chess. “I had to learn, like, understand chess for myself because I felt that people care about it so much that I couldn’t just show up and not understand the theory of it. But the theory and then applying that theory are two very different things,” she told Seth Meyers on his late-night talk show in Nov. 2020. She admitted she learned the chess sequences just 5 minutes before filming scenes.

3. She moved around growing up.

Anya was born in Miami, Florida, and moved with her family to Buenos Aires when she was a baby. Spanish became her first language. Anya and her family then moved to London when she was 6 years old. The actress also revealed to Seth that she learned to read and speak English with the Harry Potter books.

4. Anya keeps her personal life private.

Anya may be one of Hollywood’s new rising stars, but she keeps her private life, well, private. She was spotted out with Irish actor Eoin Macken in 2017, and they were even rumored to be engaged at one point. She is now reportedly dating photographer Ben Seed.

5. She’s got a great singing voice.

Anya sings in the movie Emma while playing the title character Emma Woodhouse and plays the piano. A fan also made a video of all the times Anya has shown off her amazing vocal skills over the years. Someone get this girl a record deal!