Top 10 Best Anya Taylor-Joy Moments

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Anya Taylor-Joy Moments.

For this list, we’ll be looking at this actress’ most memorable moments across film, television, and pop culture. In case you’re not up to date on Taylor-Joy’s filmography, a spoiler alert is in order.

What’s your favorite Anya Taylor-Joy moment? Let us know in the comments.

Every celebrity has a story about how they were discovered, but Taylor-Joy’s sounds like something right out of cinema. Before she was an actress, Taylor-Joy started off as a model. She headed down this career path at the age of sixteen while walking her dog. The innocent stroll took a heart-racing turn when Taylor-Joy realized that a vehicle was following her. Taylor-Joy’s first instinct was to pick up her dog and run, but she came to a halt when the woman inside the vehicle made an enticing offer. She was the head of a modeling agency, leading to Taylor-Joy’s big break. Taylor-Joy didn’t regret stopping, although she acknowledged in an interview with James Corden that under any other circumstances, running would’ve been the smartest move.

This epic prequel series to Jim Henson’s cult classic assembled an all-star voice cast, including Taron Egerton and Nathalie Emmanuel. Taylor-Joy, in particular, shines as Brea, a Gelfling princess who suspects the Skeksis are up to no good. Curiosity is a sign of intelligence and Brea proves her wits upon solving a riddle in a secret chamber. Although Brea has been brought up to believe in hierarchy, she realizes that all seven Gelfling clans are equal. By piercing this puzzle together, Brea summons Lore, a stone giant with a gentle touch. Taylor-Joy’s voiceover performance strikes just the right balance of brave, inquisitive, and hungry for adventure. The Brea puppet even possesses some of her facial features, which only makes the character feel more real.

“Harry Potter” has become much more than a fantasy franchise. For many fans, it’s changed their lives in ways that nobody would’ve imagined. Taylor-Joy has one of the most inspirational “Harry Potter” stories. Although she was born in Miami, Florida, Taylor-Joy spent her early years in Buenos Aires, where Spanish developed into her first language. She lived there until age six and moved to London with her family upon turning eight. The move was deeply upsetting for Taylor-Joy, who went two years without speaking English under protest. Despite her initial objections, Taylor-Joy adapted to life in the U.K. and picked up English from an unlikely source. With some help from her uncle, she learned to speak and read English through the “Harry Potter” books.

This drama explores Barack Obama’s college years, allowing us to see a different side of the future president. Taylor-Joy plays Charlotte, who, despite not actually existing, is a composite character of Obama’s girlfriends during this period. Their romance leads to some interesting conversations about race, privilege, and identity. Yet, Barack - or Barry as he once went by - can’t bring himself to confide in Charlotte about certain things. The relationship builds to its natural conclusion at Charlotte’s sister’s wedding where the couple shares a final dance. Although no words are spoken, it occurs to Charlotte that this is the end. Taylor-Joy’s facial expressions alone get a lot of emotions across in a short amount of time, leaving the character on a bittersweet note.

This underrated dark comedy is largely carried by the performances from Taylor-Joy and Olivia Cooke. The two play former besties who rekindle their friendship, leading to some disturbingly humorous hijinks. Cooke’s Amanda claims that she feels nothing, but she can replicate emotions. This makes her a wonderful foil for Taylor-Joy’s Lily, who is overflowing with bottled up animosity towards her stepfather. At one point, Amanda tells Lily about the crying technique, which she can turn on and off like a faucet. Lily is fascinated, prompting Amanda to give her a lesson in manipulation. From here, it’s a slippery slope as Lily’s dark side slowly begins to eclipse Amanda’s. At the center of everything are two young actresses at the top of their game.

While “The New Mutants” wasn’t especially well-received by critics or “X-Men” fans, Taylor-Joy was an inspired choice to play Illyana Rasputin. It’s actually too bad that we’ll probably never see Taylor-Joy’s Magik cross paths with James Mcavoy’s Charles Xavier. The two did share the screen, however, in the “Unbreakable” trilogy. To promote the final installment, “Glass,” the cast sat down to an interview with Conan O’Brien. Although Mcavoy wasn’t present, Taylor-Joy had a funny anecdote about their onscreen kiss in “Split,” in which McAvoy played a character with multiple personalities. While he acted professionally, McAvoy didn’t have the easiest time given the scene’s uncomfortable nature. Taylor-Joy, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind. We mean, it’s not every day that you get to have a kissing scene with James.

Before giving Hedwig his first kiss, Casey Cooke was confronted by the domineering Dennis. Casey, played by Taylor-Joy, takes shotgun on a ride home from a birthday party. Instead of her classmate’s father, though, a complete stranger gets behind the wheel. Dennis knocks out the two girls in the back, although it takes a minute for him to realize that wallflower Casey is even present. Too terror-stricken to dart out the door, Casey tearfully locks eyes with Dennis before accepting her fate. Rewatching the film with the knowledge that Casey has been tormented by her uncle since childhood, her reaction in this scene is given a deeper context. Throughout “Split,” however, we see Casey evolve from a victim to a heroine ready to fight back.

Jane Austen’s “Emma” is a familiar story, but with an actress like Taylor-Joy in the title role, it couldn’t feel fresher. While this adaptation is mostly faithful to its source material, director Autumn de Wilde made an addition that resulted in arguably the film’s biggest laugh. In an increasingly complicated web of matchmaking and miscommunication, Mr. Knightley declares his love for Emma. Although Emma is at first delighted by his proposal of marriage, it suddenly dawns on her that this might crush Harriet. All of the mixed emotions Emma is experiencing are hilariously summed up with a drop of blood running down her nose. It’s an unexpected yet relatable moment made all the more priceless by Taylor-Joy’s reaction.

While not her first acting gig, “The Witch” is widely considered Taylor-Joy’s breakthrough role. For much of this surreal horror film, we’re not entirely sure what to make of Taylor-Joy’s Thomasin. Is she a wide-eyed innocent or is something more menacing slowly being awakened inside her? Taylor-Joy’s performance is so layered that we’re left guessing until the haunting final act. With nobody left, Thomasin gives into temptation and accepts Black Phillip’s invitation to live deliciously. Following the goat into the woods, Thomasin is accepted into the coven and ascends above with her fellow brides of Satan. The bone-chilling ending leaves us to wonder if Thomasin is a tragic figure who was seduced by the devil or an empowering figure who’s finally where she belongs.

“The Queen’s Gambit” has been a runaway success for Netflix and Taylor-Joy’s performance is one of the main reasons why. As Beth Harmon, we watch Taylor-Joy grow from a reserved chess prodigy to a confident force of nature. Every step of the way, though, Beth is confronted by addiction and isolation. Beth perseveres in a triumphant finale, however. Chess isn’t the most inherently thrilling game, but it makes for edge-of-your-seat drama in this miniseries. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Beth’s climactic match against world champion Vasily Borgov. Our heart races along with the ticking clock, but with one final move, the game is Beth’s. It’s a genuinely uplifting moment that sees an orphan who came from nothing rise up as the White Queen.