Anya Taylor-Joy is advocating for the portrayal of “female rage” in her film roles, emphasizing the need for women’s emotions to be fully represented on screen. In a GQ interview, the Emmy-nominated actress revealed her persistent efforts to shift her characters’ emotional reactions from tears to anger in several key scenes across her career.
Taylor-Joy’s advocacy began with her debut in Robert Eggers’ The Witch. Initially scripted to cry when her character, Thomasin, is accused of witchcraft, Taylor-Joy struggled to produce tears, prompting her to propose an alternative. “She’s angry; she’s f***ing pissed,” she recalled saying, convinced that Thomasin’s repeated scapegoating justified rage over sorrow. Eggers agreed, marking the start of Taylor-Joy’s journey in asserting her characters’ emotional depth.
This commitment continued in 2022’s The Menu. When her character learned of her date’s lethal intentions, the script called for a tearful response. Taylor-Joy challenged this, arguing that the appropriate reaction would be a physical confrontation. Director Mark Mylod and co-star Nicholas Hoult embraced her suggestion, leading to a more intense and believable scene.
Reuniting with Eggers for The Northman, Taylor-Joy again influenced a moment in the film. She proposed her character Olga smear menstrual blood on her hand before slapping a man who tries to touch her, which Eggers later described as a “very strong, defiant and memorable choice”.
In her latest project, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Taylor-Joy fought for a scream that encapsulated her character’s anguish and rage, telling the New York Times, “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”. Her persistence paid off, with director George Miller acknowledging the profound effect of her input in the editing room.
While Taylor-Joy admits she’s not inherently angry, she feels her roles allow her to express anger she’s often internalized. “I’ve always internalized this thing of ‘I’ve done something wrong.’ I’m so grateful for Furiosa, because there was a real moment where I started getting angry for myself.”
