A young redhead with almond eyes discovers her passion for chess in the orphanage, grows up amidst tranquilizers and past memories, becomes a champion in her vocation, and finds that there are many other circumstances in her life that she had lost due to excess responsibilities. It is the story of Beth Harmon, the protagonist of the hit Netflix series, ‘Lady’s Gambit’, starring Anya Taylor-Joy (1996).
Since the series premiered last October, Anya has been on everyone’s lips. But this actress already had enough background as a performer in other famous productions such as ‘The Witch’, ‘The Secret of Marrowbone’, ‘Glass’ or even ‘Peaky Blinders’. So … why is everyone talking about Anya Taylor-Joy now?
Spanish is her mother tongue: her father is Argentine-Scottish, her mother of Spanish and English descent, and her grandmother lives in Zaragoza. But after Anya’s stay in Argentina, London was her next destination, where she went at the age of eight and learned to speak English. Always nostalgic for the place that welcomed her in her early years, Anya’s next stop was New York.
There her career took off after being discovered by agent Sarah Doukas. But Anya, before being an actress, was a model. And although she often holds the idea that her physique is not common, the truth is that her peculiar aesthetics has already captivated more than 62 million households around the world. Anya’s gaze has penetrated the viewers through one of the productions that have given a twist to history and have recovered the history of chess through themes that, although they appear discreet, are current problems to which the world is still fighting. The condition of women, racial discrimination, loneliness, or vices. There is nothing that can resist it.
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The role of Beth Harmon has managed to remember women chess players who remained in oblivion, such as Judit Polgár, Ellen Gilbert, or María Teresa Mora. And even though chess has much more weight in Eastern European countries than in the rest of the world, since ‘Queen’s Gambit’ has been installed on our screens, the sale of chess boards has skyrocketed in numbers outsized, the number of women in competition has grown federations and associations have 20 million new players.
Are we facing one of the biggest television phenomena in recent years? There is no doubt, but it has already been announced that ‘Lady’s Gambit’ will not have a second part. An Anya, however, we can follow in his upcoming role as Imperator Furiosa in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ production in which he will share with cast Chris Hemsworth or Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.
