Anya Taylor-Joy has said she is "so grateful" for her role in Mad Max prequel, Furiosa, for empowering her to unlock her "feminine rage".
The 28-year-old The Queen's Gambit star, who takes the lead in the latest instalment in the Mad Max saga, admits that for a long time she only ever got angry "on other people's behalfs".
Speaking to British GQ, the Emmy-nominated actress said she has often fought to have scenes changed to showcase rage over emotional breakdowns.
"I've developed a bit of a reputation for fighting for feminine rage, which is a strange thing, because I’m not promoting violence — but I am promoting women being seen as people," Taylor-Joy explained. "We have reactions that are not always dainty or unmessy."
Taylor-Joy said she is "grateful" for her role in the George Miller film, previously played by Charlize Theron in Fury Road, because it allowed her to think deeply on the ways she had expressed anger in the past.
"For a long time, the only time I ever got angry was on other people's behalf. I’ve always internalised this thing of, 'I’ve done something wrong. If you treat me badly, it’s because I am the problem’.
"And I’m so grateful for Furiosa, because there was a real moment where I started getting angry for myself."
Taylor-Joy, who eloped and wed Malcolm McRae in April 2022, said that even her partner notices a shift in her behaviour after filming Furiosa.
"My husband was like, 'I've never heard you be like this.’ I was like, ‘I’m glad! I’m glad that I’m angry!’. If someone steps on me now I’m like, ‘Hey, f*** you!’. That makes me feel good."
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga roars into cinemas on Friday.
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