Anya Taylor-Joy on Acting: 'If You Spend Too Much Time Being an Imbecile...'

Anya Taylor-Joy has shared her perspective on why female actors might not gravitate towards the Method acting technique. The popular acting approach, popularized by Lee Strasberg and rooted in Stanislavski's teachings, generally requires actors to deeply immerse themselves in their characters, often drawing from personal emotional memories.

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If you look at it closely, women don't use the Method because they have things to take care of, we can't lose our heads.

In an interview with Complex News, Taylor-Joy suggested that women may have other responsibilities that prevent them from fully committing to such intense immersion. She described acting as a "controlled psychosis," where one embodies another person for extended hours, affecting their thoughts and actions. "I see acting as a sort of controlled psychosis," she explained. "You pretend to be someone else and have their thoughts for 16 hours a day, and you move like someone else, in their house and with their clothes."

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I see acting as a sort of controlled psychosis. You pretend to be someone else and have their thoughts for 16 hours a day, and you move like someone else, in their house and with their clothes.

Taylor-Joy noted that while she sometimes needs to be reminded to return to herself, she finds it challenging to sustain such a state constantly. She emphasized the importance of maintaining positive professional relationships, stating, "If you spend too much time being an imbecile, then it's not going to be fun at all." She also touched upon her personal life, revealing that her marriage to musician Malcolm McRae has brought her a sense of stability and confidence, which in turn fuels her willingness to take on greater professional challenges.

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If you spend too much time being an imbecile, then it's not going to be fun at all.