Anya Taylor-Joy talks foodie thriller ‘The Menu,’ fangirling over Voldemort: ‘God, I’m such a nerd’
The Menu #TheMenu
‘The Menu’ star Anya Taylor-Joy on working with Ralph Fiennes, love for Harry Potter
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Don’t watch “The Menu” on an empty stomach.
In the dark comedy thriller (now streaming on HBO Max), Anya Taylor-Joy plays an enigmatic young woman named Margot who accompanies her foodie boyfriend (Nicholas Hoult) to an exclusive restaurant run by a menacing celebrity chef (Ralph Fiennes). Margot scoffs at the bougie clientele and conceptual cuisine and refuses to eat the progressively depraved dishes. But there is one greasy entrée that she relishes at the end of the film – and it was well worth the wait, the actress says.
“By the time we shot that, I was so hungry from watching everybody eat all day that I really did devour the whole thing,” Taylor-Joy says in an recent interview. “Just talking about this movie makes me hungry. I’m really looking forward to lunch.”
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After breakthrough roles in 2016’s “The Witch” and the 2020 Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit,” Taylor-Joy, 26, has become one of the most in-demand actresses in Hollywood. She also appeared in “Amsterdam” and “The Northman” this year, and just wrapped shooting the “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel “Furiosa” in Australia, playing a younger version of Charlize Theron’s renegade warrior.
With so many scripts coming her way, it can be hard to find projects that are genuinely surprising.
“I’m very good at guessing what the ending of a film is or what the twist is going to be,” Taylor-Joy says. “But when I read ‘The Menu,’ every time I turned the page, I was like, ‘Ooh! I was not expecting that.’ And I wanted to be a part of that original (storytelling).”
Taylor-Joy talks to USA TODAY about her ultimate comfort movie, favorite restaurant and Thanksgiving plans (edited and condensed for clarity):
Question: You said that you got starstruck working with your “Menu” co-star Ralph Fiennes, who played Voldemort in the “Harry Potter” movies. Did you ever get to tell him what those books or films meant to you growing up?
Anya Taylor-Joy: Yes, but only at the very end. My subconscious does this thing where if I can’t deal with information, it just stores it like a squirrel with a nut for winter, until there’s a moment I can deal with it. And so with Ralph, we just became really good friends and it wasn’t a big deal at all. And then the second the film ended, it was just, “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! I have to call my mom!” So he was very, very gracious about it.
What’s your favorite “Harry Potter” film?
Taylor-Joy: It’s controversial, but I would say (“Deathly Hallows”) “Part 1.” God, I’m such a nerd. But it’s the most time you get to have with them as people. There’s big, long stretches of trying to understand what each of these characters is going through, rather than it just being action, action, action. That said, I definitely felt like my childhood ended when Cedric Diggory died (in “Goblet of Fire”). And the burning down of Hogwarts for everyone of my generation was just insane.
If you could go to dinner anywhere, what would your ideal restaurant be?
Taylor-Joy: I had a very nomadic upbringing, and clearly my life has continued down that vein. But one of the first places I called home was Philadelphia, and they’ve got a great restaurant scene. One of those restaurants is a place called Charlie Was a Sinner. It’s really dark, they play black-and-white films on the walls, it feels super sexy, and all of the food is incredibly rich and satisfying. The whole atmosphere is very 1920s gangster, which is apparently my vibe.
Are there any foodie accounts or videos that you especially enjoy?
Taylor-Joy: Someone introduced me to Tiny Kitchen (on Instagram) and I love it. It’s so cute. It’s like teeny, tiny kitchen sets where they make real edible food, but it’s about half the size of my fingernail. It’s so satisfying to watch. I’m a terrible cook, but I would love for someone to make me a teeny, tiny spaghetti Bolognese.
One of the messages of “The Menu” is to really savor and enjoy things, whether that’s a meal, a movie or a TV show. What’s a piece of comfort viewing for you?
Taylor-Joy: “Almost Famous” is like my “feel better about the world” film. I feel so, so bad for my partner (musician Malcolm McRae) – he’d never seen it and we put it on, and I could not help it. I stood next to the television and performed the entire film. I know it so well. He had to watch it by himself without me the next day so that it was an actually enjoyable experience.
For Halloween last month, you wore a costume of your “Super Mario Bros. Movie” character, Princess Peach. Was that your first time dressing up like someone you played?
Taylor-Joy: Yes, except it’s slightly awkward. I based Margot’s whole look in this movie off what I used to wear when I was 18: the nail color, the fact that it’s all chipped, the lipstick color, everything. So I went out to dinner with a friend of mine the other night and she’s like, “Why are you dressed like your character from ‘The Menu?'” It’s like, “Oh god, I gave her my identity! What do I do now!” Unintentionally, I think sometimes I give characters too much of myself, and then it can seem like cosplay.
You grew up in both Argentina and England. Now that you’ve spent more time in the United States, have you adopted Thanksgiving as a holiday yet?
Taylor-Joy: I did my first Thanksgiving last year in Alabama, which I really enjoyed. There were definitely a lot of new foods. What’s that thing where they put pumpkin and marshmallows together?
Oh, you mean sweet potato casserole?
Taylor-Joy: Yeah, that blew my mind completely. But I’m doing Friendsgiving this year. I’ve been away for the whole year (in Australia), the furthest possible country I could have gone to. So I think it’s just going to be us hanging out and having the reality of, “You’re a real person and not a person on the screen!” I’m just looking forward to being with my friends.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Anya Taylor-Joy talks foodie thriller ‘The Menu,’ fangirling over Voldemort: ‘God, I’m such a nerd’