Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
Anya Taylor-Joy is calling for a more authentic and powerful portrayal of women’s rage. The actress, who has given numerous remarkable performances within a decade of her debut, has earned a place among some of the best-rising stars in the industry.
As she gears up to make her debut as the fierce and strong-willed Imperator Furiosa, Taylor-Joy recently opened up about how she has pushed several of her characters to express more than just tears in their scenes, emphasizing challenging the stereotypical portrayal of feminine rage on-screen.
Anya Taylor-Joy Advocates for Authentic Female Rage Portrayal
Anya Taylor-Joyis set to captivate audiences once again with her upcoming film,Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,taking on a role that allows her to showcase a broad spectrum of emotions, including rage and anger, something she has constantly advocated for.
“She needs to play Queen Rhaenys”: HBO Better Listen to Fans Who Are Begging For Anya Taylor-Joy’s Casting After She Confesses Her Love For House of the Dragon
In a recent conversation withGQ, she opened up about her commitment to ensuring her on-screen characters hit the right emotional notes, particularly when it comes to expressing rage. She argued that women’s reactions are not always“dainty or unmessy”and emphasized the need for women to be portrayed as individuals with diverse emotional responses.
I’ve developed a bit of a reputation for fighting for feminine rage, which is a strange thing because I’m not promoting violence – but I am promoting women being seen as people. We have reactions that are not always dainty or unmessy.
This is something that she has been constantly advocating through her on-screen characters since her debut film,The Witch,be it her character showcasing rage inThe Menuor suggesting a bold and defiant action for her character inThe Northman.
Anya Taylor-Joy Championing Female Rage in Character Portrayals
During her conversation with GQ, Anya Taylor-Joy also shared instances when she advocated for authentic emotional portrayals in her roles, starting from her feature debut,The Witch.She recalled one of the scenes, in which her character is dragged and accused of being evil.
During the sequence, her character in the film, Thomasin, was supposed to cry, but Taylor Joy demanded to be more realistic with her approach to the character, asserting,“We have to stop with the crying.”
“Eventually I said, ‘She’s angry; she’s f**king pissed. She’s been blamed time and time again, and she’s not doing anything,”she recalled. Similarly, in the dark comedyThe Menu,when her character learned of the sinister plot, Taylor-Joy rejected the idea of a single tear, opting for a visceral reaction.
“This is how a lady handles it”: Anya Taylor-Joy Gets into an Uncomfortable Spot With an Aggressive Fan While Promoting Furiosa in France
“What planet are we living on?”the actress said, as she recounted,“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.”And director Mark Mylod and co-starNicholas Houltembraced the idea.
Beyond emotional depth, Taylor-Joy has also pushed for her characters to exhibit defiance while filmingThe Northman.“It was Anya’s idea for Olga to douse her hand with her own menstrual blood before slapping Fjölnir in the face,”Robert Eggerssaid about a scene where Taylor Joya’s character had to discourage a man from touching her against her will.
The actress also proposed various experimental ideas for her upcoming film. While some were successful, she noted that not all of them made it into the final cut of the post-apocalyptic action drama film.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Sagais set to release on August 16, 2025.
Laxmi Rajput
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3448
Laxmi Rajput is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, with over 3,300 articles published covering film, TV, and pop culture. With a degree in Broadcast Journalism and over three years of experience in content writing, she pivoted to entertainment journalism because let’s be honest, superheroes, sitcoms, and Netflix binges are way more fun. Laxmi frequently covers Marvel, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and popular TV shows, offering both fan-first enthusiasm and thoughtful analysis. Her work often dives into Marvel theories, revisits the genius of The Big Bang Theory, or unpacks the Netflix phenomenon of Stranger Things.
