Born in Miami, Florida to British and Argentine parents, Anya Taylor-Joy grew up in Argentina and the U.K. as the youngest of six children. After studying ballet for much of her youth, Taylor-Joy eventually branched out into modeling, her real goal being to become an actor. She landed her first audition for the film " Maleficent " (2014). After playing a small, uncredited role in the supernatural teen film " Vampire Academy " (2014), she eventually won the lead role of the Puritan girl Thomasin in the independent film " The Witch " (2015). Having earned a new level of recognition, she made appearances in the TV movie " Viking Quest " ( SyFy , 2016) and on the series "Atlantis" ( BBC , 2013-2015) before taking on the title role in the thriller " Morgan " (2016). She would next appear in another thriller, starring alongside James McAvoy as a young woman kidnapped by a psychotic man in " Split " (2016). Later that year, she would take on a role in a biopic about President Barack Obama 's youth entitled " Barry " (2016). Later on, she starred in Autumn de Wilde's directorial debut "Emma" (2020) as Emma Woodhouse, which landed her a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance. In that same year, she starred in the Netflix miniseries "The Queen's Gambit" (2020) as Beth Harmon. For her portrayal, she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie. In 2024, she had a cameo role as Alia Atreides in "Dune: Part Two" (2024), and played the main character in "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" (2024).