Anya Taylor-Joy gives rare interview about her musician husband Malcolm McRae and says he's 'emboldened her to take more risks' and made her feel 'secure'

Anya Taylor-Joy has given a rare insight into her marriage to her husband, Malcolm McRae. 

The actress, 30, who is currently promoting her latest venture, Apple TV's Lucky, spoke about her relationship as she starred in a striking photoshoot for Elle UK. 

Anya and musician Malcolm, 32, tied the knot in New Orleans back in April 2022, after first meeting in a music studio. 

'I don’t want to sound smug, but I love him so much. To have a best friend who goes through life with you – it has given me a sense of security that I didn’t really ever dream about,' she said. 

'It wasn’t something that was on my list. Now that I have it, I just feel emboldened to take more risks because I know I’ve got something really nutritive and solid and healthy and so f*****g fun. I laugh, like, 90% of the time.'

Malcolm is the vocalist and multi-instrumentalist (guitar and piano) for the musical duo SRCHR (formerly known as more). 

He also has dipped his toes into acting with an appearance in Daisy Jones & The Six, and he has a small role as Eric in Lucky.   

The Jet Wilkinson-directed Apple TV series follows Anya as con artist Luciana 'Lucky' Armstrong, who is 'forced to go on the run' once a multimillion-dollar heist does not go as planned. 

She is pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless crime boss, played by Annette Bening, on her runaway journey. 

On Lucky being Anya's first producing role, she said: 'I’ve always been interested in not just why something works, but how it works. I felt like I’d been doing it [producing] for a while. It just hadn’t been part of my job title.'

As for what co-producing the show taught her, she added: 'I learnt that being a leader is about being unflappable. It’s not your job to freak out, it’s your job to find solutions and soothe everybody else.

'My dad’s motto from when I was very little was: the harder I work, the luckier I’ll get. My mum always told me to be myself. That’s taken a long time to learn, and I think it’s something that you just have to keep reminding yourself of.' 

Elsewhere in the interview, Anya described Taylor Swift's wedding to Travis Kelce in New York as 'wonderful'. 

Anya was one of the many guests who watched the couple get married on July 3 in a $50million ceremony at Madison Square Garden. 

 Lucky, which premiered on Apple TV+ on July 15, has been met with mixed reviews from critics, with some lambasting it as 'tediously formulaic', while others have said the actress is 'riveting'.

The Daily Telegraph awarded the series just two stars out of five and claimed Anya's 'streak of good fortune has run out'. 

In a scathing review, TV critic Ed Power claimed it was filled with cliches and said Anya struggles to bring the lead character to life. 

He wrote: 'Whatever the book has going for it, it surely isn't originality as translated to the screen, the story lands like a mash-up of Pulp Fiction and one of those Nineties Leonard adaptations that always seemed to star Danny DeVito. 

'Lucky also wants us to think of Taylor-Joy's protagonist as a tough woman in the patriarchal world of organised crime. In fact she is defined entirely by the men in her life in particular; her husband and her mentor and father, played with roguish zest by Timothy Olyphant. 

'He's the only member of the cast who seems to understand he's starring in a creaky Tarantino knock off and has fun with the part, Taylor-Joy by contrast comes across as mildly discommoded throughout.'

Writing for Roger Ebert, Brian Tallerico also gave two stars and wrote: 'Apple TV's Lucky is one of the most egregious examples of the 'Why Isn't This a Movie' problem of the modern streaming era.

'After a promising opening episode, it's another show content to spin its wheels to meet the episode order rather than develop the story at a reasonable pace. 

'With 10-15 minutes of plot and character development per 45-minute episode, it's a journey during which one is constantly envisioning the great film version of the exact same story, one that cuts away so much of the fat on what could have been a lean and mean thriller.'

The Guardian awarded Lucky three stars and called it 'classic summer viewing' but said the problem is that it 'refuses to commit to its nonsense'.

They wrote: 'The script doesn't help. Nor does the theme tune, which is performed by Fiona Apple in the manner of a blunderbussed elk.

'But, still. It's summer. Our energies have sagged like hastily loosened slacks at a poolside buffet. Resistance feels like too much effort.

'So, let's raise our Slush Puppie to the good bits (Ellis‑Taylor, Bening, the sateen blouson). And let's quietly flee through the nearest window from the rest.'

In contrast, NME said the show was 'instantly gripping, filled with twists and lots of fun'. 

Giving a four star review, critic Nick Levine wrote: 'This seven-part thriller from Your Friends & Neighbors creator Jonathan Tropper is a breathless affair from the off. Within the first ten minutes, Lucky is already ducking and diving through Caesars Palace with the FBI on her heels. 

'Showing off the action chops she honed in 2024's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Taylor-Joy is riveting as Lucky, a gimlet-eyed opportunist with a conscience. Well, some of the time.'

While the critic acknowledged there were cliches within the script, they said: 'Even with some corny and convoluted moments, Lucky works all the right angles.'