Actress Anya Taylor-Joy on runaway success of 'The Queen's Gambit'

Anya Taylor-Joy suggests it is the loneliness and self-doubt of her character which makes her journey so compelling. Photo: Handout

Anya Taylor-Joy is the charismatic star of The Queen's Gambit, the wildly popular drama series that made chess sexy and became Netflix's most-watched scripted limited series.

And the 24-year-old believes she knows why.

The streaming service revealed last month (November) that a record 62 million subscriber accounts had watched at least two minutes of the series within a month of its Oct 23 debut, propelling it to the top of Netflix's most-watched list in 63 countries.

And observers say this, along with the pandemic, is driving booming sales of chess sets and a resurgence of interest in the game, with chess gaming sites and academies reporting millions of new members since the show premiered.

Chatting to the press recently via video call, Taylor-Joy suggests it is the loneliness and self-doubt of her character - brilliant but troubled chess prodigy Beth Harmon - which makes her journey from orphan to grandmaster so compelling.

"Because I think every human being has a part of themselves that believes they don't belong, that believes there is something different about them," says the British-Argentine actress, who starred in the psychological horror films Split (2016) and Glass (2019).

"And what's beautiful is Beth finds a place where she belongs, then has to learn that unless she makes a home within herself, she's never going to be happy or content."

Taylor-Joy wonders if viewers feeling cut off from friends and family during the pandemic also connected with Beth's isolation - and how she then finds her tribe in the world of chess.

"The show has the beautiful idea that working together gets you further than working by yourself. And when we're all so isolated, it's nice to be reminded of that."

The actress is often drawn to characters who feel alone, she says.

"That's how I identified for the majority of my childhood and young adulthood. I only really found my community when I started making films and before that, there were 18 years of being the lone-wolf, offbeat individual," she says with a laugh.

She adds that "with these characters, I feel I have the perspective to be able to tell their story right, and also it's a form of catharsis for me".

Still, the success of the seven-episode series - based on the 1983 coming-of-age novel of the same name - has caught the actress off-guard. "My brain completely exploded," she says in a lilting mid-Atlantic accent.

"And I still don't really understand the global impact of it. I've heard the figures but it's very difficult to wrap your head around them.

"I'm just very touched and proud people have chosen to spend their time with Beth and her story," says the star, whose breakout role was in the period horror film The Witch (2015).

Viewers have also raved about Beth's glamorous 1950s and 1960s outfits, but for the actress, they meant more than just looking good.

"The duality of Beth's love and passion for both chess and clothes was important to me because as women, we're often told we can't be both - you're either a beauty or a brain and never the two shall meet, and that's so reductive and antiquated," she points out.

"It's not mutually exclusive: You're allowed to be a passionate sports person and also have an appreciation for clothes. So that was important to show."

And true to that sentiment, the actress geeked out as much over the chess scenes as the costumes.

This included a memorable speed-chess game where Beth takes on three players. "This was one of my favourite parts of the show. It was like problem-solving, or seeing how quickly you could complete choreography."

The actress had memorised a book of 350-plus games she was given before filming.

But when the games in those scenes were changed at the last minute, she decided the only way to get through the shoot was "if I learn to do each match five minutes beforehand".

And this is how she memorised those speed-chess moves on three boards.

"It was such an interesting way to challenge your brain," she says. "And the feeling after the first take where we got it right was probably one of the proudest moments I've ever had on set." – The Straits Times/Asia News Network