Happy Sad Confused - Anya Taylor-Joy

Episode Date: February 4, 2020

We've just celebrated the five year anniversary of the launch of Anya Taylor-Joy's career. It was January of 2015 when "The Witch" premiered at Sundance and blew audiences away. Since then her life has been a rollercoaster filled with exciting opportunities. She chats with Josh about it all, from "Split" to her uncharacteristically sweet new film, "Emma". Plus Anya looks ahead to the release of "The New Mutants" (finally!), her upcoming Edgar Wright film, and re-teaming with Robert Eggers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Eligibility restrictions apply. See Golden Nuggett Casino.com for details. Please play responsibly. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. Today on Happy, Sad, Confused, Ania Taylor Joy, from The Witch to New Mutants to Emma. Hey, guys, I'm Josh Harrowitz. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused.

We're back, guys, with another new episode. I know, yes, another break happened. It wasn't intended, but I have a valid excuse. Hopefully, you've been hearing my voice, if you're a fan of what I do here on Happy Sack Confused, on my podcast during the Sundance Film Festival. I got to collaborate with a good friend, Ben Lyons. We did a podcast called The Festival Rules,

10 episodes of which are available to you right now. If you haven't checked it out, I highly encourage you to do so. We did basically a daily podcast from the Sundance Film Festival. So that's kind of why Happy Second Fuse took a brief break. But if you want to hear conversations with everybody from Andy Samburg, Julia Weed Dreyfus, Sianna Miller, Diego Luna, Alec Baldwin,

we talked to you a ton of great people over there. I saw so many movies. It was my 14th Sundance Film Festival. I think all in all, I saw 24 movies. Yes, I know it's an insane number. I don't know how it happened. And I actually saw a bunch of good ones. It's my top three, for what it's worth, and I'm pleased to say I got a chance to actually see the ones that I think most people were talking about for a change.

I've gone years where I've been to the festival and somehow missed all the big ones. But Minari is a film that if you follow kind of film Twitter, you've probably been hearing about. You're definitely going to hear about it later on in the year when it's released. It stars Stephen Ewan. It's a real kind of small slice of life story about a Korean family that moves to Arkansas in the 80s, beautifully told. exceptional performances, probably my favorite, and it won the big dramatic prize at Sundance. I was really happy to see that. The aforementioned Andy Sandberg stars in Palm Springs. That was the big sale of Sundance. It sold for a fortune to neon and Hulu.

It is probably the most mass market, like broad movie that's going to, presumably, I would think, you never know, but it works as just like kind of an accessible comedy. Andy Sandberg's maybe his best film he's done. Well, pop star is a classic. What am I saying? But this one's up there, too. Very funny. Him, Kristen Miliotti, J.K. Simmons.

I adored that movie. I love the movie, Boys State, which is a documentary, kind of about young men who gather to kind of form their own unique government. Promising Young Woman, which is out in April. I talked to Carrie Mulligan and Bo Burnham. That conversation is over at the festival rules. So yeah, a lot of good movies. That was actually four movies.

I gave you a doc in there, too. But those are my top four probably at Sundance this year. If you want to check out all those conversations, go subscribe to the festival rules wherever you get your podcasts. As for Happy Sad Confused, we continue on with a in-depth conversation with a young actress that I'm a big fan of. She's been doing such great work since hitting it big with The Witch five years ago, which incidentally debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

and you tell her joy. She's starred in glass and split for M. Night Shyamalan. She's in the upcoming New Mutants film. This is the much delayed but still much anticipated film from Josh Boone, kind of more of a horror version of a X-Men story. I'm excited to see that one. I'm also very excited to see her in Edgar Wright's next film last night in Soho.

It's Edgar Wright, so that's enough for me. But it also stars Matt Smith and Thomas and McKenzie, so it's going to be a special one, I'm pretty sure. And she's starring currently in Emma, which is, as you might expect, based on Jane Austen's classic novel. It is, you know, there have been some great Emma interpretations over the years. I think of the Gwyneth Paltrow one. I think of Clueless. And this one really stands alongside those. It's great. It's great fun. It's exceptionally well cast, beautifully directed, and a different kind of a change of pace for Anya. You know, she's done a lot of kind of genre stuff, and it's cool to see her in this

environment. She's, you know, I said this to her, like, it's unusual for a young actor to be as kind of chameleon-like as she's been early in her career. She's really gotten a chance to look different in each role and show different sides of herself. So I'm very intrigued by what she's delivered so far and what's to come for Anya. It was fun getting to know her a little bit on today's podcast. Other things to mention, well, we're at the end of award season. That means the Oscars are just days away. I'm excited for both the end of the award season and the Academy Awards. I'm pleased to say I will be back on the red carpet for MTV. I'll be popping up in some other cool places. So stay tuned. Follow me on social media

and you'll be able to follow all of my shenanigans at the Oscars at Joshua Harowitz on Instagram and Twitter. Here in New York this week, hopefully I'm going to see some of you guys at our second live, happy, sad, confused event. We had such a fun time doing the David Harbor event a couple months back with Justin Long and Patrick Wilson that we decided to do another one. And this one is a bigger space. It's that symphony space on the Upper West Side.

And it's going to be a huge event with Sam Hewin, former guest, of course, on Happy, Sad, Confused. It's a sold-out audience. It's going to be electric. I can't wait. to share the audio with you guys. Yes, we're recording it, so if you are not privileged enough

to get into the symphony space yourself, if you're not lucky enough to get a ticket and be in New York, don't worry, we've got you covered. Very soon, you'll be able to hear that Sam Hewin live event. I can't wait to catch up with Sam, and I think it's going to be a fun, special night.

Lots more to come, guys. Again, apologies for the lack of happy, say, I confused podcasts in recent weeks, but hey, I gave you 10 episodes of the festival rules, and I'm glad to say that there are a bunch of very cool guests coming up on the podcast in the weeks to come. So, as a further reminder, remember, you know the drill. Review, rate, subscribe to happy, say, and confused. Spread the good word. Enjoy this conversation with Anya Taylor Joy.

Ania Taylor Joy. What people don't know listening to this podcast is that she's just given me a tutorial that was not recorded on how to pronounce her name. Anya, it's good to have you here. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. How's your 2020 going so far? 2020's going good. I'm not going to lie. I shot three films literally back to back in 2019

and I finished December 23rd, so I'm a bit dazed. But just really excited for all of them to come out and really psyched to be talking about Emma. So Emma's great, by the way. Oh, thank you. It is wonderful. It's also unlike anything you've done before,

which I assume is part of the appeal. Yes, big time. Thank you for saying. that um it yeah it's um well talk to me a little bit about was that part of the excitement about taking this on was seeing that you were in an environment in a world that we'd never seen you in well a the whole process of how this movie came about for me i'm not going to lie about because it was ridiculous it was just i got off a plane in new york and one of our lovely producers called me and said i know that you're going to do all of these different movies can you just not accept them yet

because i have a film for you but i'm not going to tell you what it is and i was like okay vague but then he called me back like an hour later and said it was Emma and that he was flying over the director who wanted to meet me like in seven hours or something like that and so it sort of felt like I got kidnapped by Emma like I never really said yes it was just happening but I'm very grateful for that because I think I would have been a bit a bit more scared of doing it if I had time to think about it

that being said I really hate how people just want to give people a thing and they want to get like put people in a box we're actors. Our job is to be versatile. Our job is to be, you know, whatever character it is that we're playing. And so the opportunity to get to do a straight up romantic comedy was just too good. Well, that's a thing that occurs to me early in your career, because you're still pretty early in your career.

The first five years or so, we've been seeing you on screen. But, like, even in these early roles, you're very much a chameleon. Like, I didn't know which Ania was going to walk into my office today, what your look was going to be. I don't know what the regular Anya is. I thought you were worried that I was going to murder you or something. There was that, too. We're just getting started.

We don't know where this is going. We don't know where this is going to go. You never know. But do you take pride in that? I mean, obviously that's the goal of any actor to play the pantheon of roles. But for a young actor especially, I feel like that's not necessarily the norm. Normally you do kind of a thankless girlfriend, friend, kind of vanilla roles. And somehow you've been able to pretty much avoid that in the early going.

I think I've been very lucky. And then, you know, luck takes you as a certain amount of the way. the sense of the scripts that you know cross your desk and then when you do get one of those scripts that is you know one of those roles that's not really showing women as like 3D individuals you kind of learn pretty quickly to be like I've now played messy complicated real people I can't do that like my artistic soul can't handle it so I think I think it's been a combination of luck and then just learning to say no I'm sorry yeah the power of no people actors often talk about that that's not and if you have the luxury of saying no that's a nice thing

Absolutely. Yes. I know that's a very, very privileged position to be in. So where did, so you were a very busy person when Emma came around. Yeah. So what made it such a no-brainer? I mean, obviously this is pretty good source material. It's tried and true. We know, we know it works by now. But you're following in like a line of like, you know, from Gwyneth Paltrow to clueless. Yeah. I mean, this has been interpreted in many different ways over the years. Every generation kind of has their Emma. why was this was that an intimidating proposition I guess it was but it's strange I can't I

honestly can't describe what goes on in my brain but I wouldn't necessarily describe myself as ania as a brave person but the choices that I make when it comes to work almost unbeknownst to me are brave because I when I said yes to Emma I said yes under the umbrella of but I want to play her the way that Jane Austen wrote her which is and there's an actual quote which is I've written a character, I'm not sure anybody but myself will like. I want to play this character in a way that isn't immediately likable because I'm sick and tired of women having to be not just likable, but easily likable. And I want to create a flesh and blood human being that you can celebrate when she does something good, but also shake your head and be like, no, that was a

bad thing to do. That was a bad action. And what's fun about her, I think also is, I mean, from my vantage point, is she's not so self-aware. She's very not. She's very wise about others. She's a very clever person. But in projecting onto others and not onto herself. And that's sort of why, like, what's right in front of her, you know, invariably gets past her. Yeah, but also, I mean, you have to think about the context in which she grew up. She grew up without a mother in an absurd amount of privilege with a father that's basically just said yes to everything she's ever wanted.

And she's never been told no. And she's incredibly bored. And so when she starts playing around with people as if they were dolls, even if she has good, intentions, selfish intentions, it doesn't matter. She just doesn't actually know that she has the power to hurt people and that her actions have consequences. It's a beautiful film just in terms of like aesthetics. Thank you so much. Like does it feel like you're kind of like in this kind of dreamy landscape when you're shooting this? I mean, this is a different environment than the witch. It's awesome to wild world. Like you definitely come in and your whole perspective on

color palettes and ringlets like change pretty quickly. She's one of those people that if one ringlet is out of place. You're stopping the scene and you're going back and doing it correctly. And so you definitely, your attention to detail comes out a lot. Autumn has directed a bunch of music videos, right? Her first feature? This is her first feature. Okay. So what did she communicate to you in the initial conversations that got you excited about what she was going to bring to this take? Autumn DeWild is the best first date I've ever had. We like met and had lunch. Is that what meeting a director is basically? Well, kind of. You're going out for a meal and seeing if, you know, you're not changing hearts, but you're changing

brains and going, is my artistic sensibility going to mesh with you for four and a half months? And yeah, we went for lunch and then that turned into like seven hours of exploring antique shops in New York and telling each other our entire life stories. So I think what I really loved about working with her is that

I think one of the greatest gifts a director can have is being able to say, I don't know when they don't know something and not having the ego to be like, I know everything and I'm correct about everything. led our ship and she was brilliant at that. But she was also a first-time director.

So every once in a while she had a question and she was honest about that and that helped us move forward really quickly and easily. It's funny to say that. That's often come up in my conversations with filmmakers because it is a demarcation point between a certain kind of human being. The kind of person that will go on a set, especially as a filmmaker, and just kind of fake it

and pretend they've got all the answers and those that copped to it and will, and I think it's the wiser way, surround yourself with brilliant people and know you have a vision but also know that the nature of directing a film is hugely collaborative and you need to lean on others exactly but also i think that's a big part of you know you don't just cast a film in terms of actors you cast a film in terms of your heads of department right and you know i hope to direct one day and my thought process is why not give somebody the job that you trust to do the job correctly and that you trust to do the

job to the best of their ability, which is something that you admire about them. Like, give jobs to the people that you don't have to worry about and then build something up from that and build it together. You mentioned that, you know, one day you hope to direct. So when you're on a set, are you paying attention? Are you only paying attention to your job? Or do you kind of like to be by the video village or with the director or talking to the crew?

Like, are you picking people's brains? I'm so annoying. I'm just like, it's like anytime I'm not directly in front of the camera, I've been very lucky with the directors that I've worked with that they're very, um, they're very sweet with me and they'll let me, you know, sit, their process. Yeah, if it's, if it's, if it's not my scene, I'll sit behind the monitor and I'll watch and, you know, we'll discuss it and all of that. And I feel very privileged to have that. But I'm also, like, I'm just really curious about everything. So I'll go and, like, sit with the sound guides for ages and be like, how do you do that? Like, it didn't

sound like that in there. It's so windy. And I just, I get really excited about it. I love making films. So you also probably have, like, the ideal, uh, actor dad in this. Bill Nye is... I love him so much. He's been here, too, and it was like, I mean, oh, my God. He's the most fabulous man. I mean, I loved him as an actor, but then, like, as a huge, oh, my, like, can I, can you just... Can we live a life together? I know.

It's unreal. It's unreal. Like, the award for coolest, most suave, like, man, groovy cat, I think is, I think is the term that goes to Bill Nye, yeah. So where are you at with watching yourself on screen now? Have you seen the finished product of this one? I haven't actually seen the full movie of Emma, and I'm really looking forward to doing that because I have um I figured out my process now and it's a bit of a weird one

first time I want to die like I genuinely I can't right I'm so and it's not it's trauma it's uh yeah it's like getting hit by a bus but not for the reasons that you would assume it's just anytime I first watch a film that I've been in because I don't I personally don't agree with not watching your films because I think it's too much like it's not all about you it's a whole bunch of other people who have done a lot of work and different departments that you have to go and support because they deserve it and you love them. So that, I have to watch it. But the first time I always feel like I've let people down and I'm always like, oh, I messed it up and then I process it. And then the second time I watch it, it's slightly more paliscible and I'm able to lose

myself a bit more. And by the third time, I'm just like, okay, whatever, that girl's done, whatever she's done on that screen and you just have to get over yourself and just applaud for the people that you care about that worked with you. So one of the reasons I was excited to talk to you today. I was already excited because I like what you've been doing the last few years. But then I started to like, you know, look through the social media and stuff. And my sense is, and even from our initial conversation here, is, you've got good taste. You've got good taste in film. You're like, you like, you love film. Yeah, I do. So where does that come from? Talk to me a little bit about, like, did you have an influence in your life that introduced you to film or did you find it on your

own? What were your early sensibilities? Give me a taste. I mean, I think I had quite a magical and very weirdly retro introduction to film, which is I grew up in Argentina, and my parents had laser discs. So, like, those epically... Yeah, those, like, big ass... But I'm like 30,000 years older than you, so you shouldn't have those.

But, no, my parents would go to America, and they would buy laser discs, and we only had a few. And as the youngest, because I've got five brothers and sisters, it was my job to turn it over, you know, halfway through the film. And so I definitely felt like it was, like we were communing to do something sacred. It wasn't just like, you know, turn on the TV and something's on.

It was like, oh my God, like this massive image is going to come on. And if I don't turn it around halfway through, it's going to stop and we'll never know what happened. Like so much drama. But it just became really magical to me. And I realized that if anything, if I was sad or like, I mean, like, let's talk about like small children problems. Like if my hamster died, my parents could put me in front of a movie and I would feel better at the end of it. And I could get lost in something like that. And then just started creating my own stories.

And then obviously you turn 14 and you start to feel like you're getting a bit cooler. And you're like, wait, who's Fellini? Like, this is exciting. Like, I want to go and steep and all of that. And I just, I've never been a person that, this is why I didn't get along well with people in school. I've never been good at being cool. If I like something, I love it. And it just pours out of me.

And so whenever I watch a film that I get really excited about, I'm just buzzing for hours afterwards. Yeah. Yeah, I've heard you say that you had a lot of energy as a kid. I have so much energy. It's unreal. I'm so grateful to have a job that makes me tired. And I think the people in my life are grateful for that. So now it's a great outlet.

What was the outlet when you were like eight? I mean, were you acting in school plays? Were you doing athletics? Like, where did all this crazy Ania energy go? I was just performing in my own shows like 24 hours a day. My parents and my brothers and sisters, it was always like either shut up, Anya, like, where is the off button? Like, we need to find it because I just,

And even now, like, I'm trying to learn how to sleep, but as I'm falling asleep, I'll get an idea for a poem or a song, and I'll be like, oh, my God, oh, my God, I have to get up. And then, you know, it's like hours later. And, I mean, I'm very grateful my parents put me in dance because that was something physical that I could, like, shake it out of. It's probably also part of it maybe being youngest child. I'm a youngest child myself.

Like, by then, they kind of, like, have left you to your own devices and you're just looking for attention wherever you can get it. I am, no, I am so grateful for my parents because I came out, like, because all of my brothers and sisters are so much older than me, despite the fact that I have, you know, this kind of childish energy and inquisitiveness, I was also like a miniature adult. And I, like, knew my rights when I was very little. I was like, you can't tell me to do that.

That goes against my moral principles. And my parents would just, you know, they'd had six kids. So they were like, oh, whatever. Like, this one, just do whatever you're going to do. We'll treat this one as an experiment. Let's see where it goes. She can just do whatever she wants to do. But I'm so grateful for the approach that my parents have had.

I did some pretty balsy things in my teenage years, and luckily, they paid off, but they were always supportive. Are you talking about, like, I mean, I know your initial, like, movement into work was modeling. Is that, is that what you're alluding to? Like, what were the, the, ballsy, crazy moves that young Ania was doing? Well, I quit school, because I was having, I loved learning, and I still love learning. I read, like, three books a week.

I'm just, I love knowledge, but I couldn't handle that environment anymore. It was just, it was too claustrophic. And I knew what I wanted to do. So I wrote my parents a really big letter that was like, hi, so I'm not going back to school and I'm going to be an actor. And I'm just going to work this out, which obviously did not go down well. How old are you at this point? 16.

And that's when I started living alone as well. But then luckily, I got scattered from modeling pretty quickly after that. And I never thought modeling was something I could do, but I knew that it was an inn. And so I'd like showed up at my modeling agency with a clip of me. singing with the beach boys. Like, they had pulled me up on stage, and I was pretending to air guitar. And I was like, if you can buy that I can play this guitar, like, I swear to God, I can act. You know, like, please, just give me a shot.

And then luckily it worked out, so. So backtracking little, so where was home growing up? Were you bouncing around different places? Like, what do you consider your, like, home base when you were a kid? That is the million dollar question. And that genuinely, I would love to know. I would love to know where I feel home is. Yeah, no, my parents had me in the States.

but we were all, like, we're all Argentine, everyone was over in Argentina, and I moved back there immediately. And then we left when I was six, because the political situation just got really scary. And so we went to London then. And so what, forgive me if this sounds like bizarre, but, like, how would you define your accent, like, the way you speak? Oh, God. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, oh, yeah, I know what you mean. It's, it's massively stressful. It's, I'm going to break that into two, two segments. One, So awesome for the job. Thank you, Christ, for that.

Because I'm a natural mimic. Because Spanish is my first language, I hear somebody else's accent. And this is actually the first time I'm in America that I'm making a conscious effort to try and stay more. Because the way that I sound normally is I'm British. I sound like...

Right, because I've heard you in interviews where it's going towards that. Well, yeah, because, I mean, if I wasn't trying right now, like, I come over to America and I sound like this because that's what you sound like. Right. And that's the easiest way to be able to fit in with your cadence and the way to be able to make this way. work like that's just for adopting to my weird ways no no it's not it's not weird it's just it's

something I'm the weird one like it just it's the way that that works it I go to Ireland and I start like I start going into that but I realize that it freaks people out so I'm trying to like stick to one I'm trying that's bizarre um okay so wait you so you drop out at 16 and where are you living by then are you already modeling by then I'm in London yeah and I'm modeling okay and is it true like do you have like one of these crazy modeling stories where like you were literally, like, picked off a street. Yeah. Like, that could have ended

another horrible way, but somehow this worked out. Like, sometimes I think back on it, and I'm like, so grateful I did it, but what was I thinking? Like, that's absurd. Yeah, black car comes up, starts chasing me. I pick up my dog. I start running, and guy sticks his head out the window and says, if you stop, you won't regret it, and I stop.

And it was the head of a modeling agency. I don't know if this is the story we want to encourage other young women to. I don't encourage other people. I have no idea what I was doing, but luckily it worked out. My parents came with me the next day to the modeling agency. I will say that. There you go. So, okay, and then I know we're jumping all around because I think you have a scattered

brain just like me, which is good. Yeah, sorry. No, it's good, it's good. So, and the early film influences that, what were, like, the films or pop culture things you were obsessed with, even before you started to get into the business? Like, what were the posters on your wall? What were the people you were obsessed with? Oh, wow.

Well, I mean, I kind of grew up with, like, 90s kids classics, and any film that had, like, a small-ish child and an animal in it. I was like, please, dear God, let me do that job. Like, I want to be in Jumanji. You know, I want to hang out with a whale. Like, that sounds like so much fun. It just married my two loves. It was like cinema and animals.

Like, amazing. And then I think the first film I became, like, properly... The first, like, non-cool film. Like, the first film that I was, like, properly obsessed with was 2003's Peter Pan with Jeremy Sumpter. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because I was... I still am.

Like, I love that book. and I love that story and I think I learned no I don't think I do know this is just so nerdy I learned that entire film with like cues and everything off by heart and like one day at school somebody printed out the script and was like I bet you can't do this and I was like watch me like I know this film like lighting cues everything that's great I had the same thing when I again much older but I had and it's gonna speak volumes about me with Bram Stoker's Dracula oh my goodness I knew that film literally by heart. It's your like, and the lights go down in three, two.

Yep. Pretty much. No strip needed. So were you a Potter kid? Did that hit you at the right time? Yeah. But I was a big, I was a bigger fan of the books. Like, I still, don't get me wrong.

I love the movies and I watch them a lot. But like, I was that kid that read each of the books at least seven times because it was the lucky wizardering number. Basically, I'm a massive nerd. Like, I'm not joking when I say when I like something, I love it. Did you, have you been sorted? Do you know what house you're in? there's a lot of discussion about this um i think well yeah i think i'm a ravenclaw i think that's where

i'm at but a couple of people because of the way i look they're like you're slithering man like that's what you are and i'm like i don't slitherto on the outside slytherns are cool i can yeah i can do it were you into comics obviously we're gonna see you in a big comic book film soon is that your jam growing up or no no i think my brother was really into it um and i can remember when I first came over to London there were like comic TV shows on on the TV but I couldn't speak English so I was like what the hell is going on

like what are they all talking about but no that was that became my jam later because I love the fact that those fans really really love it when did you when did you learn English then I learned English when I was eight okay yeah I stuck it out for two years in London refusing to speak English because I

wanted to go home and then eventually I was like I have no friends this is going to be a needed skill I need to learn this language. It's just to survive. And who were the favorite actors growing up? Who was the first, whether it's crushes or just people you admired or whatever? Sersha Ronan was big for me when I was, yeah, when I was maybe 13 because she was the first

at that age, like not as a kid kid. She was the first person that I saw that I was like, you're a similar age to me and you're doing the kind of films that I'm interested in. It's not all just fluffy. Yeah. So Sersia was a big one. And I'm trying to think... Did I see...

You met Sersha, right? Yeah. Yeah. She's the best. She's so sweet. She's so lovely. I, like, massively embarrassed myself, and she was really sweet about it. But now I think I'm...

Now I'm okay. Okay. Now I'm over it. Not over it, but you know what I mean? And Robin Williams, I loved him. I just loved him. I thought he was so brave. And it was just, it was joyful to watch him all the time.

So, okay, so jumping back, you drop out of school. You're starting to make a go of it. I assume you're starting to go on auditions. Yeah. How quickly does that actually develop into real work, or is there, and are you here now? Are you in New York? No. I came to New York when I was 14 for a little bit, and then I came back for a summer when I was 16.

Got it. But that was just an excuse to be in the city because I was rebellious and, like, wanted to, you know, hang out. I can't remember how long it took exactly, but I know I did a lot of little auditions, and it just wasn't going anywhere. Right. And then the first audition that I really remember going places was The Witch. And I thought that audition went so badly. Like, I truly thought I had messed that up massively because I had a huge panic attack before I went into it.

And luckily, that really worked for the scene. So it was fine. I didn't know that's what was going on. I hadn't worked on the accent because I didn't know how to work on an accent. I didn't realize I could just mimic. And, yeah, Robert gave me a shot to come back again. And that worked out. I mean, for those that have or have, those who haven't seen The Witch, first of all, go see The Witch because the Witch is amazing.

Thank you. The performance is what Robert Eggers is able to achieve visually. It's just like a, it's a trans, it, you really are transported to this very specific, scary, horrific kind of moment. You're welcome. No, I loved it. I love it. I don't know what that says about me. But it does feel like, I'm saying this to you before, like it's almost like you're in a foreign film.

Like there's like a dialect. There's like a speech pattern. and there's a way of speaking. Did it feel, I mean, that's a huge way to jump into film. It's not an easy role by any means. Did you feel, was there a learning curve on set or did you feel comfortable in the first days?

Well, I mean, it's twofold. Absolutely, it's a huge learning curve because I walked out there and they were like, hit your mark and I was like, who's Mark? I don't, you know, I didn't know. What did you do to me? Yeah, I didn't know what was going on. I thought my name was at the top of the call sheet

because my name started with an A. Like, I genuinely believed that for years. And so that was obviously a big learning curve. But the second thing was that I'd felt like I hadn't fit in anywhere for such a long time. And the group of people that made The Witch, we became instant family because of how isolated we were. And so just going into work every single day just felt like such a joy. I felt like I could breathe because I'd found a place where I was doing something that I loved with people who didn't think I was a psychopath. And, you know, I could have fun with it.

So I just, I loved every second of making that movie. So when the film debuted five years ago at Sundance and it immediately made an impact, did it feel like things changed very quickly? Yeah. I mean, I've always said that I went to Sundance and I didn't go home. And like that kind of genuinely happened. I think I went home to like pack a suitcase to go to my next job. But it was, it was crazy. And it was also crazy because all of us who had made it, we really thought that nobody was going to see it and that people weren't going to get it. And so we were all really proud of ourselves. And it was our base. and we loved it, but we didn't, you know, it's kind of a, it's a semi-deformed baby that you're presenting to other people and hoping that they, you know, like it as much as you do. And so when they did, it was just, it was extraordinary. It was mind-blowing. So the next major thing that I think most people have seen, obviously, was your collaboration with M. Knight-Sharmelon, who I'm a huge fan of I've done a tonnewood night over the years, and I know he's... So you know he's great fun.

People don't know he's like super funny and charming giggly and like but that's that was an interesting place in his career when he made a split did you know what you were getting into? You didn't know it was an unbreakable sequel I assume

when you signed on right? Oh no no no he told me about that like five months after we'd finished filming in a back in a backlock because I'd gone with him to to a test screening in Arizona, I think it was, because he was like, I'm going to see the film with an audience for the first time,

will you come with me? Sure. I think he wanted to be with somebody who was going to be as exposed as he was. He was like, you're in a lot of this doing some crazy stuff. Like, let's just, let's hold hands through this. And yeah, he told me in a parking lot.

And I was like, okay, that's like, can I come to? He's like, yeah, you can come to. But no, I had no idea what I was getting into. I think I met night and we instantly, gelled. And to talk about how, like, transitory and nomadic my life is, I showed up at that office with, like, two giant suitcases. And I

hadn't been to any home, like any place to unpack my bags for, like, months. And I looked insane, and he still took me on. So I feel very grateful for that. You also got the chance to mix it up with James McAvoy, who is a madman but a mad genius. He's such a

beautiful human. He's such a beautiful human. And, you know, still what he's done in both of those films is just remarkable, like, I don't even know what to compare it to. I know, right? It's one of a kind. So what was it like watching that, like, did it feel like bizarre to watch him go in and out in front of your eyes?

Like, did it feel like you're playing with different performers or like... Yeah, I mean, he, it didn't feel like a different, it definitely felt like different characters, but I think potentially the hardest thing was, like, when we were in the scenes, we're both really in it. And so then it is what it feels like to watch it as an audience member. it's disturbing because the character is disturbed. However, that being said, there were definitely moments when I was on the other side of the camera,

sorry, camera where I had to be like, Anya, you have to like wipe this like happy look off your face because I was just so close to him doing genius, brilliant work. Right. And it's like, oh my God, you're killing it. This is amazing to watch. I'm like, focus. You're acting too.

Come on, Anya. You return to Sundance with thoroughbreds, which I'm sure means a lot for a number of reasons. Obviously, it's a great film. It's a, for those that haven't seen it, it's kind of this crazy kind of black comedy. You and Olivia Cook and the late Anton Yeltsin, and that must have obviously given it a special kind of further resonance in the aftermath. Yeah, I mean, I did a couple like Q&A's for that, for Well, Antosha, the doc. Oh, wow, yeah.

Oh, my God. Yeah. Like, I only interviewed him a couple times, so I barely knew him, but to watch. He's a, he's, I mean, it was devastating. It's absolutely devastating. And it continues to be so. but his family are so special and his mother is an incredible human being. And there was something, like, that Sundance has a very, very special place in my heart.

Because there was something very special about going back to his favorite film festival. And, you know, that performance is so good. You know, it's not like, not that he ever turned in anything bad. No. But he took a role that could have easily been quite two-dimensional and uninteresting and made it just spark. And we're all just very lucky to have known him. And talk about a guy that appreciated and loved film.

Yeah. The conversation were having, right? Oh, gosh, I loved it, yeah. So in recent years, I mean, even just looking at, like, last year. So you had glass, obviously, the dark crystal I really enjoyed. Oh, thank you. So, again, like, just that, that even exists in the universe. It is amazing.

Peaky blinders. You popped up in one of my favorite shows. Amazing. And then, you know, going forward, you're, like, killing it because, okay, so let's first talk about Edgar Wright. because you've shot last night in Soho which is going to come out later this year A bit of a change of pace for Edgar, it sounds like Yes

And again talk about a cinephile, this guy I was going to say like the man loves cinema But he also, he just, he loves any art for him You know, it's so much fun to talk music with him Because he just has, he just knows everything I don't understand how he fits it all inside of his head Yeah, it's wonderful to talk art with him So what's, I know we can't talk much specifics

he's probably trying to keep the plot itself under wraps, but the specificity of the way he directs, what was unique about sort of being in Edgar's hands for a few months? I loved it as a dancer because he's big on choreography and things happen to beats. You know, it's not quite to the level of a baby driver where you're, you know, coordinating exact car chases to beats of the music, but I sort of act in beats in my head

and so I count those out for myself and he actually says them out loud. So it's a wonderful way to do that. It's also just like, without saying anything about the movie, when I watch, you know, bits of it back in ADR and stuff like that, I'm disturbed. Like, it's very claustrophobic and the colors are just so intense. It's kind of like, it's like a really well-directed acid trip in a way.

And I think people will really like it. You definitely will not be bored. I can't wait because it's fun to see like his, he's like, we obviously know how adept he is at storytelling, but to use kind of his powers in a different way is very intriguing. Yeah.

And you're surrounded by Matt Smith, right? He's so wonderful. Like, yeah, and Thomas and McKenzie's also just like gorgeous human being. Amazing, yeah. Okay, so you probably more than any other human being on the planet just want the new mutants to be out in theaters, right?

I can only imagine from an actor's perspective. Like, it's out of your hands, these kind of things. But like, thankfully we are actually, near the finish line of this one. Yeah, it's just strange, you know, because one year goes by and then two years goes by and then three, by three, you just think it's, you know, you sort of,

it's not that you forget about it, but, you know, life moves on. Yeah, you've made like five movies probably since then. Yeah, I've made a lot of films, man. I work very hard. I'm very gratefully hard, but it's, yeah, it's just a bit strange. It's kind of weird watching three years prior Annia on screen again. It's like, wow.

So this is Josh Boone. Did, I mean, you know, I'm hopeful, and I hope it all turned out as well as, you know, Josh is obviously an accomplished filmmaker. Did it feel like the production was fraught, like at the time? Did you feel like, oh, this might be issues with this, or did it feel like this is a normal kind of process? To be honest, I think we were so concentrated on doing what we were trying to do, and then, you know, I think some people get cold feet and they want to change it. But from the actor's perspective and from the relationship that we had with Josh, like, if you're going to have somebody direct, a movie about these characters it's so wonderful to have somebody

that's such a big fan of them doing it because you could just see him visibly geeking out all the time and the process of of getting to do it with a fan that knows what fans will like that's really helpful. Were you following all the crazy rumors in the last like couple years?

I mean it was like... What kind of crazy rumors? Well it was like that different actors it was going to be massive reshoots which it sounds like it never really happened. We haven't had reshoots, which is crazy. And then it was like Oh, maybe it's going to go to Disney Plus.

John Ham's coming in, Antonio Banderas, major, like, huge changes. It sounds like, for the most part, in the end, for all the turmoil maybe behind the scenes, they kind of let him, his interpretation, for the most part, stand. I know that Josh is happy with the movie

that he's putting out, and he feels like it's his movie. And that's, like, the thing that you want for your filmmakers, because it's awful to be in a situation where you just feel like their vision's not going to be fully realized. And so I think, like, this is Josh's movie.

movie, and he's happy with that. It sounds like you're going to re-team with Robert Eggers, potentially. Yeah, I am. I'm so excited about it. You should be. He's amazing. So, and Viking story with not one but two scars guards. I mean, come on.

I know. I'm very spoiled. What can I say? Yeah, this isn't a bad gig. Nicole Kidman? Maybe? Maybe. Okay, we'll see.

Okay. You have, no cameras have rolled yet. but what is it's intriguing to me what Robert's done even in his first two films because the witch we talked about already

had such a specific approach and then the Lighthouse had a very specific different approach it seems like he he's not one note he's going to apply a very unique kind of vision

that applies to the story he's telling is it safe to say that this one also will be unique in its own way from the last two he's done any movie made by

Robert Eggers will be completely unique and interesting. And I feel completely confident saying a statement as big and wide as that. Like I, that man is something else. He is a true artist and a true otter. And we are lucky to have somebody like that making bold and interesting films. Yeah.

So we've been talking about sort of like these amazing, exciting opportunities early in your career. And you know, it's by din of talent and a little luck, obviously, a nice combination. Do you feel like your, steering your own ship. I've talked to actors a lot about this. Like we're like a lot of it is luck. A lot of it is choice and a lot of it's just somewhere in between. Do you feel like at this stage in your career you know what path you want to be on and that you are able to chart that

path? Or do you feel like you're kind of just riding a, riding a wave? It's a combination of the two. I mean, I think at the beginning, you just want a job. You just want an opportunity to do something and be able to build up on that. And I've been so lucky with the characters that I've connected with and the scripts that have come across my desk that now that I've played such interesting, complicated people, I just can't. Yeah, you're spoiled now.

Now you can't go backwards. Yeah, I can't step backwards. And actually, it's really wonderful because I feel I'm very lucky and I'm very privileged to be in a position where I don't have to take a job to have that job. And so as uncomfortable as it is sometimes to say no because you're scared that you're missing out on something

or, you know, that you're not working because I do love to work. And so the idea of like, oh, there's so much space and time, what am I going to do with it? It's just better to not pick things that you don't feel as, you know, that you're not as passionate about as your previous projects. Like, you have to feel like you would jump off

the side of a building to do this movie and to work with this director and to be in that. And that level of passion is difficult. to come by sometimes. I'm getting the sense that what you just described are like the conversations you're having within like

your own friends and colleagues like your agents where they're like it sounds like you do want to work like you want to be on that film set and they're probably saying like yes but this maybe isn't the you know take a second yes or no?

I'm very lucky with my team I think I was mentioning to you earlier that I grew up with a whole bunch of brothers and sisters that were much older than me I've always been very respected by my team in the sense that I'm very opinionated and um so no one's telling you what's no not really but i definitely ask for advice but the difference is that what comes with a bit of maturity and what comes with a bit of like learning you know what

acting is and what being on a film set is is do i want to play this person for the next four months of my life like this is my life i've i've been living on film sets for five years and you know like occasionally sometimes i think it would be nice to find out like what ania would do with three months if she wasn't playing another person. So I'm trying to be more careful with my time there. Not to mention the kinds of material that you're doing, well, like, I would imagine just by then, like, the kind

of story that you're telling in Emma, you're maybe happier than making like a psychologically fraught thing, which is rewarding in its own way. You'd be surprised, you know? You'd be really surprised because dark film sets have to be very light places because of

the amount of like emotional trauma that you're going through. So you have to You have to be able to laugh and have a good time. But yeah, it's just more that, you know, you spend, despite not being method, you spend 18 hours a day thinking, behaving, and breathing as another human being. Like, that doesn't leave a lot of time to figure out what it is that you like, you know? So, I mean more of that kind of time. What's, you know, we're an award season right now.

What were your favorites of last year? Parasite. Christ. I love that movie. So good. It's just brilliant. It's so good. It's, oh, I loved it. I loved every second of it and he is a trip I've met

yeah well director bong I just I couldn't just the fact that I got to call him that I was like you're amazing I just I love his sense of humor he's such a funny man I love that yeah I love that in the award circuit this year

it's like the two people like winning at everything and just like being like getting all the standing o's are director bong and Brad Pitt like that speaks volumes you know what I mean do you keep a short list of the people that you're dying to to work with

is there a filmmaker that like you're seeking out that you're hoping you're secreting out into the universe pay attention to the work of Ania? I mean, I think it's more, I don't, I wish, I wish I thought that way, genuinely. I wish I was that strategic. I'm such a, like, I'm such an emotional, like, amoeba.

I'm just, like, consistently floating everywhere and, like, taking everything on that it's more like, I'll watch Parasite and think that person, like, wow, I really want to make a movie with that person. So it's kind of a more spire of the moment what I've seen. Right. You know, like, you're Goslanthamus, you watch the favorite, and you just go,

I want to do that. That's incredible. So it usually happens like when I'm watching their work. So how much downtime between now and that, so you're doing the press tour obviously right now? Yes. And how much downtime before you go get on a set again? Do you know? I hope to be on a set as of March. But that just means, I mean, I'm doing Emma for the next like month and a bit. Right.

Well, that's good. So I was worried about, because, you know, we've talked in the beginning about sort of where does the energy go. It sounds like the energy is going to go into spreading the good word of Emma. Yeah. prep for the next film and then hopefully you know you can channel this all into good stuff. I've got four movies coming out this year that's right. That's right. Jesus. It's like I got to get out there and spread the word. Yeah yeah yeah. Um well I'm glad we had a chance to catch up at length than this much better than the kind of silly junket thing and as I

said I'm a fan of your work and I'm excited that's just getting started. Everybody should check out Emma. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for enjoying the film. I really appreciate it. Thanks for stopping by Anya. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. The Old West is an iconic period of,

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