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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Star Anya Taylor-Joy On Championing Female Rage In Films: 'I'm Promoting Women Being Seen As People'
Anya Taylor-Joy sheds light on her commitment to embracing female rage in films, emphasizing the importance of challenging stereotypes and advocating for authentic female representation.
Anya Taylor-Joy, who will soon be seen in George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, opened up about female rage during a recent interview for GQ magazine, saying, “I've developed a bit of a reputation for fighting for feminine rage.” The actress, however, clarified, “I'm not promoting violence, but I'm promoting women being seen as people.” Taylor-Joy elaborated that women have “reactions that are not always dainty or unmessy.”
Here are all the times the actress, 28, waged a campaign for the portrayal of female rage on screen!
The Witch — When her character was meant to cry, Taylor-Joy asked the director to change it to fury
The first time Anya advocated for female rage was for her role in Robert Eggers’ The Witch. Her character, Thomasin, was apparently meant to cry when she was accused of being an evil presence in the house, but thanks to Taylor-Joy, the audience got to see a different side of the character on screen.
“I said, ‘She’s angry; she’s f***ing pissed. She’s been blamed time and time again, and she's not doing anything. We have to stop with the crying,’” Anya recalled telling Eggers, who thankfully was very receptive to the star’s suggestion.
While the director approved of her changes, Taylor-Joy says she learned to speak up for herself from that conversation. “I feel so happy for her. Girl, fly, do your thing. Live deliciously; you've earned it. This world is not for you,” Taylor-Joy told GQ of her character, adding, “I love the ending of that film.”
The Menu — Again, Rage Instead of Tears!
When her character was supposed to tear up after learning her date had intentionally brought her to the restaurant to die, Anya Taylor-Joy asked one quintessential question to herself, “What planet are we living on?”
“I was like, ‘Let me explain to you: I am going to leap across the table and try and literally kill him with my bare hands,’” she recalled telling director Mark Mylod and her co-star Nicholas Hoult, who were both open to the improv.
The Northman — When Anya Taylor-Joy and Eggers Reunited for the Second Time
When Eggers and Taylor-Joy joined forces again for The Northman, the director told the magazine that it was the actress’s idea for “Olga (her character) to douse her hand with her own menstrual blood before slapping Fjölnir in the face.”
The filmmaker noted that it ended up becoming a “very strong, defiant, and memorable choice.”
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga — Anya Taylor-Joy Put Up a Three-Month Long Fight
In her upcoming project, Taylor-Joy says, “There's one scream in that movie, and I am not joking when I tell you that I fought for that scream for three months.”
Turns out, her suggestions were worthy, as George Miller told GQ that there were “Several times in the cutting room I said, ‘God, I'm so glad she did that.’”
“For all my championing of female rage, I've never been an angry person,” Taylor-Joy added. “For a long time the only time I ever got angry was on other people’s behalfs.”
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga opens in theaters on Friday, May 24.
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