Peaky Blinders' Anya Taylor-Joy on Taking on Jane Austen's Iconic Emma | Lorraine

Anya Taylor-Joy is with me now. It was, I just sat there and just let it, I just absorbed it all, it was beautiful, it was just fantastic. So there you are, you're the lead, there's all these other acts, you've got Bill Nighy there, you've got all, you know, Miranda's there, you've got all this amazing cast. Bit scary I would have thought actually. Yeah, yeah, the first day of rehearsals I definitely walked in, I was like this isn't GCSE drama anymore, I really need to bring it up, but the cast was so lovely to me and really supportive and we had such a good time making it. It was really, really fun to get to know everyone and we just had a blast. Oh, it looks so beautiful. The thing about Emma is though, sometimes you want to shake her, she's infuriating and then other times, because you've got that vulnerability as well, other times you just want to give her a cuddle and say it's all going to be okay. Yeah, well she just gets a bit confused, but I did, I definitely wanted in this adaptation, I wanted to show her making mistakes and I wanted there to be moments when you wanted to shake her and go what are you doing with your life? And that just made it so much more fun to play because she really does change on a dime and it's a story of redemption at the end of the day and she pulls through. Absolutely, and love. Yeah. Lots and lots of love, I mean everybody's sort of at cross purposes for a lot of it, but at the end it's alright, it's alright. Now look, everybody goes on about Colin Firth, do you remember? You were far too young, but I'm sure you've seen the scene for research purposes, when he dives in in Pride and Prejudice, it's all gorgeous. Now Johnny Flynn takes it to another level. Yeah, we weren't shy about it. No, no, no, because it's that thing of, but I love that about it because it's earthy as well, it really is and there is a scene where he just rips all his clothes off basically and yeah, we get a glimpse of a peachy bottom. Well we thought it was about time that we utilised the female gaze, it was time for that. See, I like that actually because he is the only one that gets nude in this whole thing. The women, no. And I think that's very good. We like that. It was also interesting because no one really knows how the men got dressed, you know, you see a lot of scenes of women pulling the corsets and all of that but the whole production of getting dressed for men too, you couldn't do it by yourself if you were wealthy and so it was interesting. Yeah, it's a hoo-ha isn't it? I often wonder why they ever got up to anything because by the time you take all your clothes off you're kind of like... You get very close to your dresser when you're making films like this, you spend a lot of time with them. Peaky Blinders, when you were doing Peaky Blinders, what sort of music would you be listening to for that girl? A lot of Sidney Bechet, Fred Astaire, I also had some Andre 3000 on there. Yeah, it was all just about being, you know, one of those gangster mould type characters. That was a brilliant character to play. Didn't you love that? I mean really, that is just remarkable, absolutely remarkable. That's you with James McAvoy as well. Goodness me, you've done so, so much and you're still so very young. I love this, when you were a kid and your mum said to you, what is it you want to be? And you said, I want to be in the right place at the right time. Yeah. That's amazing. I have no idea where it came from and I'm really, really glad it worked out because otherwise I'd be super embarrassed at this current moment in time but I just, I really felt like there was this world that I wanted to be a part of and I just really hoped that I was going to be in the right place at the right time and that I'd get a chance to play with everyone else. And you, you were in the right place at the right time because you were star spotted, weren't you? Somebody spotted you. Yeah, I was wearing heels for the first time to prepare for a party because I was certain I was going to be like Bambi on ice and I was walking my dog and yeah, someone just stopped me in the street. Wow, so that does happen. That sort of thing does happen. Apparently. Isn't that amazing? No, it's really good. So what was the first job? What was the very first thing? I think as a model I did a test shoot and then I was very lucky and I did a shoot with the cast of Downton Abbey which my mum was really excited about and that's actually how I got into acting. Ah, fantastic. I met the lovely Alan Leitch and he asked me to recite a poem for him and then he put me in touch with my agent. Fantastic and the rest is history. It all just worked out. So, born in America but then you grew up in Argentina. Yeah, in Buenos Aires. In this amazing ear for accents because your Emma is pitch perfect. Thank you so much. Absolutely pitch perfect. Thank you. But you are like a chameleon in that respect and of course you have to be if you're an actor. You've got to, haven't you? Yeah, well it really helps for the job but it is quite strange when I'm travelling around because I don't do it on purpose and so I'll go over to Ireland and all of a sudden I'll find myself slipping into it and I have to make a real effort. Will you be talking Scottish all day? I mean, I'm making a real effort right now to just It's a huge compliment. I think it's absolutely brilliant. It's really, really good. Lots of projects upcoming. Lots of things to look forward to. Yeah, I've got The New Mutants coming out in April. Of course, The Mutants, yeah. And then last night in Soho with Edgar Wright in September, I think it is. And then a Netflix show. Brilliant. Yeah, I've been working really hard. Really, really busy. No, it's great and you are a, I think, you know, I know going with Paltrow did Emma. Gosh, you know, that must be over 20 years ago now which is quite scary. But you've really brought something very fresh to the part. I think it's, although obviously, of course, it's a period piece, of course it is, but there's something quite modern about it but not in a way that jars. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, completely because I think it's interesting with period drama. It's such a long time ago that people almost treat it like sci-fi and they forget that they're real people and that the writing is very acerbic and funny and so we really wanted to bring the wit back into this and show how biting it is at times. Oh, a joy. Thank you for coming on. Good luck with the film. It's out on Friday and it really is, especially at this time of the year and the way things are so crazy, it's just so lovely to have a couple of hours away from all the noise. Oh, thank you so much. Thank you. Good luck with everything that you do. Great to see you.