Anya-Taylor Joy is talking openly about her career as well as her personal life.
The Queen’s Gambit actress, 25, is on the cover of the October 2021 issue of InStyle.
Here’s what he had to say…
On being the youngest of six: “I had so much energy, I would drive my siblings crazy. They would pick me up, turn me upside down, and just say, ‘Where is the off button? How do we power her down?’ I had to get very good at entertaining myself. I would create all of these different worlds and go off into the woods. I remember my sister once coming into my bedroom as I was putting up posters and playing six different characters at the same time, doing all the voices. I turned around and she said, ‘You are so strange,’ and I was like, ‘But you guys aren’t going to do it. I have to be all of the characters. Otherwise, no one’s going to play with me.’”
On her life being of interest to others: “I don’t think that I could be mentally stable and be walking around and thinking, yes, this all makes sense. I also have great friends who tease me mercilessly if I even hint at being overworked or stressed. They’re like, ‘Oh yeah, honey, it’s so sad that you have to go get on a plane and go do whatever.’ It’s all in good fun, but they’re right, I’m very lucky. I’m very privileged. It’s so much, but it’s still so bizarre.”
On Queen’s Gambit: “That show was made by some of my favorite people in the world, and it’s about chess. That gives me such deep joy. I’ve been approached by 87-year-old couples who tell me they’ve watched it three times, and they’ve watched it with their grandchildren. It’s so beautiful that it’s touched so many people. But I still don’t really think I get it. Every time I see my face on a billboard, I have a sharp intake of breath.”
For more from Anya, head to InStyle.com.