Anya Taylor-Joy says filming Mad Max movie unlocked her 'feminine rage'

22 May 2024 , 13:01

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Anya Taylor-Joy says filming Mad Max movie unlocked her 'feminine rage' (Image: PA)

Anya Taylor-Joy has told how filming an apocalyptic Mad Max movie has helped unlock her "feminine rage" - as she looked fighting fit in the new GQ.

The actress, 28, is currently in Cannes where she has been promoting Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. It is the origin story of the renegade warrior played by Charlize Theron in Fury Road, and Anya takes on the title role. Speaking about how the role changed her as a person, she confessed it had helped her learn how to 'be angry' for herself.

She explained: "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. For all my championing of female rage, I've never been an angry person.

"For a long time the only time I ever got angry was on other people's behalves. I've always internalised this thing of 'I've done something wrong. If you treat me badly, it's because I am the problem'. And I'm so grateful for Furiosa, because there was a real moment where I started getting angry for myself."

She said filming for Mad Max unlocked her 'feminine rage' (PA)

The actress stars in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (PA)

Anya was born in the US but went to school in the UK, and says she had a tough childhood as she felt like an outsider and would spend summers climbing trees in Hyde Park or reading in retreat from life which was her response to being frustrated.

‘Dear Jacinda Ardern - can you ever forgive me for my post-feminist cynicism?’

She told GQ magazine: “The messaging I was getting at school was that everything about me was wrong. I think the way that I looked played into it, and then the extremes of my personality definitely played into it,” she said. “If I loved something, I loved something. I have no chill in any regard, and that can be frightening for people, I guess.

“As a survival mechanism you learn to be self-effacing and self-deprecating. You bury yourself before anybody else does,” she says. “What I’m coming to understand is: as long as you’re not causing anyone else harm, you have to stand your ground.”

Last month the actress, who previously starred in Netflix hit The Queen's Gambit, confirmed she secretly married her partner Malcolm McRae two years ago in a ceremony in New Orleans.

• The Heroes Issue of British GQ is available via digital download and on newsstands on June 11.

Mark Jefferies