Actress Anya Taylor-Joy has developed a reputation for advocating that her character roles express anger and rage, rather than just crying or subdued emotions. In an interview with British GQ, she explained her perspective.
“I’ve developed a bit of a reputation for fighting for feminine rage,” Taylor-Joy said. “I’m not promoting violence – but I am promoting women being seen as people. We have reactions that are not always dainty or un-messy.”
Taylor-Joy first pushed for her character’s rage to come through in her debut film The Witch in 2015. The script called for her character Thomasin to cry in a scene, but Taylor-Joy felt rage was more fitting. She convinced director Robert Eggers to let her character express anger instead of tears.
“Eventually I said, ‘She’s angry; she’s pissed. We have to stop with the crying,'” Taylor-Joy recalled telling Eggers, who agreed to the change.
This established Taylor-Joy’s willingness to speak up for what she believes is right for her characters. She did it again on the films The Menu and The Northman, successfully getting her directors to adjust scenes to allow her characters to express rage rather than sadness or fear.
Even on her latest film Furiosa, where her character has little dialogue, Taylor-Joy lobbied for months to be allowed to let out an enraged scream in one scene, which director George Miller eventually permitted.
“I am a really strong advocate of female rage,” Taylor-Joy stated. “We’re animals and there’s a point where somebody just snaps.”
Though she didn’t win every proposed change, the actress has become known for pushing to portray multi-dimensional female characters who can express the full range of human emotions, including anger.