Anya Taylor-Joy laughs off the niche she’s been placed in: “People love to put me there”
The actress talks about her affinity for fantasy and science fiction as she prepares for the premiere of ‘Lucky,’ her new miniseries for Apple TV.
Anya Taylor-Joy has, almost without meaning to, become one of the most recognizable faces in recent cinematic history. Not only for ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ where she took on one of the toughest and most physically demanding roles in George Miller’s modern imagination, but also for her entry into the ‘Dune’ universe, first as a brief cameo and later as part of the future of Denis Villeneuve’s saga. The actress is aware of this; she views it with detachment and laughs at this sort of visual destiny that the industry seems to have assigned her.
In an interview with L’Officiel USA, Taylor-Joy discusses that very typecasting with a mix of humor and acceptance. “It always makes me laugh, because I have no idea what it is about my hair, my skin tone, or the largeness of my eyes that makes anyone think I’m suited to be a desert creature—but people love to put me there, and I do feel a real affinity for it,” the actress says when asked about her presence in films set in those extreme landscapes.
An Actress for Scorched Worlds
Taylor-Joy possesses a presence that is hard to tame within the confines of everyday realism. Her face, her eyes, and that slightly timeless quality have made her a particularly effective performer in worlds where the body seems subjected to extreme pressure, whether it be the religious fanaticism of ‘The Witch,’ the mental architecture of ‘The Queen’s Gambit,’ the stylized mirage of ‘Last Night in Soho,’ or the brutal wasteland of ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.’
In the case of ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ that fit was a physical one. Taylor-Joy had to portray a younger Furiosa without imitating Charlize Theron, carry much of the film through silences, glances, and subtle gestures, and visually hold her own in a world of dust and metal. Her “desert creature” wasn’t a promotional gimmick, but a way of being on screen: lean, alert, restrained.
With ‘Dune: Part Three,’ the connection takes on a whole new dimension. The Arrakis desert is not just a setting, but a civilization, a faith, and a political condemnation. Taylor-Joy already made a brief appearance in ‘Dune: Part Two’ as Alia Atreides, and her future in the saga reinforces that connection with characters who seem to exist on the fringes of humanity, caught between family legacy, prophetic vision, and an environment that transforms those who inhabit it.
From Arrakis to a criminal escape
The irony is that her next major project marks a complete change of pace. Taylor-Joy stars in and produces ‘Lucky,’ the new Apple TV miniseries based on the novel by Marissa Stapley. The platform has set its global premiere for July 15, 2026, with the first two episodes available from day one and new episodes every Wednesday through August 19. The series also stars Annette Bening, Timothy Olyphant, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Drew Starkey, Clifton Collins Jr., and William Fichtner.
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The premise casts Taylor-Joy as Lucky, a con artist forced to flee after a multimillion-dollar heist goes wrong. Hunted by the FBI and a crime boss, the protagonist must once again rely on the skills she had tried to leave behind. It’s a different kind of survival—less mythical than that of Arrakis or Miller’s Wasteland—but equally marked by an identity that cannot be fully abandoned.
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