Actress Anya Taylor-Joy has opened up about her “alienating” move to London as a young child and how she struggled to fit in at school.
The actress who starred in this year’s adaptation of Jane Austin’s Emma moved to Buenos Aires in Argentina as an infant and spoke only Spanish before her family relocated to London aged six.
Speaking to THE FALL magazine, Taylor-Joy, 24, said her first few years in England were “traumatic.” She said not speaking English made her feel like an outsider, and making friends at school was very difficult.
The star, who started off her professional life as a model after she was discovered outside Harrods department store, said: “To begin with it was traumatic because I didn’t speak a word of English.
"I had just started to read in Spanish and when we got to England I was like, I don’t speak this language, I can’t read, I can’t keep up in school… I felt very alienated. It definitely left me with the feeling of being an outsider.”
(THE FALL)
Speaking specifically about her time at Queen’s Gate school in South Kensington, the actor - who is starring in upcoming Netflix drama The Queen’s Gambit - said: “I just didn’t fit in at school. I couldn’t find that niche that I saw other kids exploring.”
The actress has previously spoken about being bullied at the school, and how she fled London for New York in her late teens.
Taylor-Joy, who has starred in Peaky Blinders, also told how her parents struggled to cope with her boundless energy. “My parents were always looking for the ‘off’ button,” she said. “‘How do we power her down?’ I think my family and friends are both really glad that I now have something that makes me tired.”
Read the full interview with Anya Taylor-Joy in the Autumn/Winter issue of THE FALL on sale now.
