Why Creativity Is The Best Outlet For Anya Taylor-Joy | Forbes

I think not really ever having a home base has been incredibly good for me because as an actor I don't live anywhere. I live in different hotels. Wherever my characters live, wherever the movie is, that's where I am. And I think when I was younger I used to really struggle with the sense of identity and then I sort of realised that that's actually what makes me who I am. It's the fact that I do come from all of these different places and I can have that sort of understanding of different cultures. I think I'm just starting to own kind of being a mismatched bunch of stuff now. I am Annie Taylor-Joy. I'm 22 and I consider myself an artist. I wish I could say that I had a grand master plan for what I was going to do with my career. It just so happens that I sort of fell into horror. I think those characters are more interesting and probably more real in a way. It was a great education in film acting because it means that I'm now... there's very little that can shock or scare me on set. I've got five brothers and sisters and they all tell you that I am never off. I am literally the Duracell bunny. I have so much energy. I don't think I ever found a kid that could kind of keep up with me in playtime so I just sort of played with myself and created all these different characters and would run off into the woods and do that. I think I've kind of realised that being creative is just the best therapy for me. So if I'm not acting, I want to be writing poetry. If I'm not writing poetry, I want to be making music. I want to be directing something or writing something different and that's been a really good thing to learn quite early on because it just means that I have an outlet to put all of my intensity into. Learning how to be the celebrity version of myself I think has been quite tough. Because I am. I'm an extroverted introvert but suddenly to be all shiny and glamorous and all of that kind of stuff, that's not necessarily where I feel comfortable. I feel a lot more comfortable covered in blood and screaming down an empty hallway than I do in a glittering dress. I'm really excited because this is the first year that I'm completely booked up for the whole year so I actually know where I'm going to be living, which is nuts for me because usually I'm just like blah, blah, blah. But I'm really looking forward to taking more time to kind of honour the artist inside of myself. I'm learning the act of self-love. It's a tough journey but I'm learning it and I think this year is the first year that I'm going to actually do better.