At 9.20am precisely on August 16, Anya Taylor-Joy, the global ambassador for Jaeger-LeCoultre, made time for a 20-minute chat with Tatler, despite being in the middle of a photoshoot. Though her agenda was packed, the 28-year-old actress exuded warmth and genuine enthusiasm during our video call. As our conversation unfolded, it became clear that her punctuality and outlook on life embody the values of the Swiss watchmaker she endorses.
The award-winning The Queen’s Gambit and Furiosa actor spoke about being a third-culture kid, time travel and the one complication she would love to have in her watch.
Tell us about that turning point or moment in your life when you felt everything just fell into place in your career?Oh, my God, it was the most exciting thing in the world. The thing that’s difficult about acting is that you have to be asked to do it. It’s not necessarily something that you can do alone in your room; you need so many other moving parts to come together. So I will always remember getting my first role, losing my mind with excitement and knowing that it was going to be something that was going to impact my life. I haven’t stopped working since, and I’m just beyond grateful.
I was at my house alone, and I got the call that it was going to happen. And it started a very long tradition now of what I do after I get a job, which is I hang up and I scream and I run around my house [shouting], “Yay, this is happening”. I hope I never lose that excitement because that moment is very special. It’s a moment where everything is just possible. You haven’t even started to think, “Oh god, how am I going to do this?” You just are ecstatic with the possibility of it all. Everything is just potential.
Your career has seen a meteoric rise. How do you keep time and maintain balance in your personal life amid such a busy schedule?I always remind myself that I’m lucky to have so many different things that I care about, and so many things that I want to spread my time between. So I do my best to never complain about it. I feel that complaining is something that people bond over, and I completely understand it, but everything that I get to do now is something that I once dreamt about getting to do, so I really try to just remain grateful for it. And then I have a lot of varied interests … so I just try and fit in as much as I can … whilst trying to remember to take tiny little breaks where I can breathe for myself, and think about my husband and my puppy.
Tell us about some of those varied interests.I love every aspect of filmmaking, not only the acting side of it. I love learning how the camera works. I love thinking about shots. I love thinking about the clothes that the character is going to wear. I love thinking about what I’m going to wear on the red carpet. I love music very, very deeply. Every [interest] informs the other, and so I try and think about it that way, rather than compartmentalising.
If you could pause time for a day, how would you spend those 24 hours?Oh, I would start with a very long, [slow] morning. I’d probably have a bath, listen to some great music, and read a book from start to finish, and then I would spend the rest of the day seeing friends. Oh! I would travel. No, [actually,] that’s what I would do: if time was paused, I would try and go to as many places, and have as many experiences [as possible].
Anya Taylor-Joy wearing the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duetto (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
As a Jaeger-LeCoultre ambassador, what aspect of the brand’s heritage resonates most with you?[A lot of my family members] are polo players. There are not many watches that were made, or at least that had an iconic watch [model] created in order to be able to help the sport. [The brand’s Reverso model was designed specifically for polo players.] So that was something that really excited and inspired me. I find the entire company very impressive.
In your previous interviews, you mentioned that you come from a family of athletes. Which other sports do your family play?My dad was a world champion powerboat racer. My niece plays lacrosse—there’s a lot [of sports in] my family; there’s racing [as well].
What’s on your travel bucket list?I’d love to go to New Zealand. And my mom was born in Zambia [so I want] to go to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Rwanda—I’d love to see more of Africa. I just think it’s the most extraordinary [place], and the people [from] there are just so peaceful.
I’ve never been to Vietnam. I would love to go. I really want to trek the Himalayas. There’s so many [places]. What’s unfortunate about all of this is that it takes a lot of time to train to be able to [trek] the Himalayas, but knowing me, I’m just going to end up there and be like, “Oh God, I’m not prepared.”
But you said you come from an athletic family!Here’s the thing: I’m not the fittest person in the world, but I am incredibly stubborn, so I will make it through.
Anya Taylor-Joy at the 2024 Oscars wearing the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 101 (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre/Getty Images)
Calibre 101 (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
You’ve spoken about your multicultural background and how it has shaped you. What advice can you give to those who consider you a role model and who might be pursuing their own dreams?I think something that took me a really long time to understand and appreciate is—and I know this from a lot of my friends, and a lot of the people that I connect with, [who are also] multicultural—when you’re younger, it can often feel like you’re too much of this and too little of that to be anything [in particular]. [For instance,] you’re too British to be Argentine or you’re too Argentine to be British. You’re not really American, but more American than other people.
There are so many different ways of trying to fit, but if you just keep trying to fit, that naturally means that you are repressing a side of yourself. And as you get older, if you’re able to integrate all of these [parts of yourself], it makes you a much richer human being. You feel the richness of all these different cultures—and the fact that these cultures can be so opposing—there’s so much fun to be had with that. My sense of humour is very British, very sarcastic; my warmth is incredibly Argentine. And these are things that I now celebrate, which, when I was younger, I think I had a harder time [accepting].
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If you could time travel to any era, which period would you choose and why?I’d love to go dancing in the 1970s. I would love to have a really big night, before there were [mobile] phones and when everybody just [wanted to] dance. I’ve [also] got a real fondness for the rebellion of the 1920s. I’m a big history buff. I’d love to be able to visit [these periods], but not stay, because, in terms of women’s rights, it wasn’t a great time.
Which has been your favourite role so far? That’s like choosing between children. Each had something very special to offer me. The Queen’s Gambit was a very special situation because I’ve never had a character arrive that quickly. The second I read it [the script], I was like, “Oh yeah, I know exactly what to do. I know exactly how she dresses. I know what she looks like. I know it all.” And to work with a team that was so understanding of that and allowed me to be as involved as I was, it just felt very special.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous Classique Moon (Photo: courtesy of Jaeger-LeCoultre)
You’ve won several awards—how do these accolades influence your approach to future roles, and what do they mean to you personally?It’s both a blessing and a curse—I tend to forget my accomplishments as soon as I’ve achieved them, which is a good thing because it keeps me hungry. It’s obviously an immense honour, and [particularly] when it’s been awarded to you by your peers. That just means so much, because these are people that I’ve grown up admiring, and they’re validating my work. So that’s a really lovely feeling.
But I wish that I remembered them [the awards] more. It would probably make me feel better. It’s not that I have something to prove—I just always want to be improving. So there’s a good and a bad side to it.
If you could create a watch that represented your personality, what unique features would it have?Something that charted the moon … would be really helpful for me. I find that my emotions are enslaved by the moon. If there was a countdown [along the lines of] “Hey, FYI! In a week [there will be a] full moon”, I’d be like, “Ah, that explains so much.”
If you could have a conversation with your future self 20 years from now, what’s the one question about time management you would ask yourself, and why?I would ask myself if I had learnt to nap because I am terrible at napping. I’ve never been able to nap, and I’m so jealous of the people that can. I’d ask myself, “Hey, did you ever figure out how to sleep for 15 minutes?” And I’m hoping her answer would be yes.
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