The year 2020 has been a banner one for Anya Taylor-Joy. She had the biopic Radioactive and the period comedy Emma, both arriving early in the year, The New Mutants finally coming off the shelf, and a new Netflix limited series in the fall. Though the coronavirus pandemic put a damper on a lot of her projects, that last one more than made up for it. After premiering on Oct. 23, The Queen's Gambit has become Netflix's most-watched limited series in history, and Taylor-Joy is more famous than ever. For those who need to catch up with her career, here are the best shows and movies starring Anya Taylor-Joy to stream next.
Though Taylor-Joy started acting as a teen, she was never really considered a "child star." Disney scouted her, but she turned down the offer to lead one of its kid-focused shows to instead to take a lead role in the horror film The Witch. The movie debuted at Sundance and led to a ton of recognition for Taylor-Joy, including a Saturn Award nomination for Best Performance by a Younger Actor.
Since then, Taylor-Joy has released multiple projects nearly every year. Here are some of her best performances so far:
The BBC series inspired by Greek mythology Atlantis only lasted two seasons. Still, it was long enough for Taylor-Joy to land her first recurring TV role, as the prophet Cassandra. Her five-episode arc, which plays out over the end of Season 2, finds her becoming the new Oracle, who reveals the will of the gods.
Both seasons of Atlantis are currently streaming on Hulu. Taylor-Joy's run of episodes begins with Season 2, Episode 8, "The Madness of Hercules."
Taylor-Joy got noticed for her role as the Oracle in Atlantis, but her role in the horror period piece The Witch jump-started her career. Taylor-Joy played Thomasin, the teen daughter of a family banished from their Puritan town. A series of misfortunes beset the family, leading her parents to accuse their own child of witchcraft.
The Witch is currently streaming on Hulu.
Next came 2016's Morgan. Technically, this horror film was an ensemble cast, but Taylor-Joy starred as the titular genetically-mutated murderer Morgan. The film featured many big-name actors, including Kate Mara, Toby Jones, Rose Leslie, Michelle Yeoh, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Paul Giamatti.
Morgan is currently streaming as a rental on Amazon Prime.
After smaller parts in several movies, including Netflix's Barry, Taylor-Joy's next lead performance came in the Sundance Film Festival entry, Thoroughbreds. Taylor-Joy plays Lily, who partners with her friend Amanda (Olivia Cooke) to murder her step-father via a contract with a drug dealer (the late Anton Yelchin).
Thoroughbreds is currently streaming as a rental on Amazon Prime.
TV fans got to see Taylor-Joy's first lead TV role in The Miniaturist. The limited series, which was originally produced by and aired on BBC One, is an adaptation of the Jessie Burton novel of the same name about a young bride in 17th-century Amsterdam who marries a wealthy trader.
The Miniaturist is currently streaming on PBS Passport.
Taylor-Joy landed her first superhero film with the second installment on the Unbreakable Trilogy, Split, in which she played Casey Cooke, the teenager whose kidnapping kicked off the middle film, and whose survival was part of the central plot. She returned in the finale, Glass, alongside James McAvoy, Bruce Willis, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Unbreakable and Glass are both streaming on HBO Max. Split, unfortunately, is not. It's only available via rental on Amazon Prime.
Peaky Blinders is one of Netflix's most significant BBC imports. The series, set during the interwar period in Birmingham, focuses on the titular gang, with a fictionalized "what if" scenario about what would have happened had the gang been active after the Great War. Taylor-Joy joined the cast in Season 5 as Gina Gray, the brand-new American wife of longtime character Michael Gray. Her arrival, and her push to get Polly to escape to New York City, is a running plot point in the season's latter half.
All five seasons of Peaky Blinders are streaming on Netflix.
Radioactive is a biopic of Marie Curie, starring Rosamund Pike as the famous scientist. Taylor-Joy plays her eldest daughter, Irène Joliot-Curie, who was not just a chemist and physicist but also a politician. The movie had a good opening at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, but its March 2020 worldwide debut was canceled due to the pandemic.
Radioactive is currently streaming for Amazon Prime members.
Taylor-Joy's other film from the beginning of 2020, Emma, squeaked into theaters only weeks before the pandemic shutdown, to critical acclaim. An adaptation of the famous Jane Austen romantic comedy of manners, Taylor-Joy plays the titular heroine, who accidentally nearly ruins the lives of everyone around her by trying to play matchmaker.
Emma is currently streaming on HBO Max.
Before The Queen's Gambit, Taylor-Joy's last major TV series was also a Netflix show, in which she voiced the lead Gelfling role in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Taylor-Joy plays Brea, the youngest Gelfling princess of the Vapra Clan, who teams up with Taron Egerton's Rian to warn her people about Skeksis's true evil nature.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is streaming on Netflix.
Emma was one of the last films before theaters shut down in 2020. Ironically, another Taylor-Joy movie was one of the first to arrive when they reopened in August: The New Mutants. With few folks willing to risk going to theaters during the pandemic, it bombed at the box office, but streaming could give the long-anticipated film new life.
The New Mutants is currently streaming as a rental on Amazon Prime.
