Anya Taylor-Joy's 7-Part Netflix Thriller Has Aged Like Fine Wine

3 hours ago 6

Published Jul 12, 2026, 11:30 AM EDT

Liz Hersey is an Editor and Critic for ScreenRant's TV team, editing, reviewing, writing, and creating content about the iconic shows you love to watch. She began her editing career at ScreenRant in 2019, shortly after joining the site as a Writer that same year.

With a passion for all things books, Liz frequently attends Toronto literary events and conferences, and loves interacting with her book lover community. In addition to being an avid reader of the romance and thriller genres, Liz is a writer of several short stories, and is currently at work on a young adult witch novel.

When she's not working, reading, or writing, Liz can be found seeing movies at her local cinema, attending live jazz events, or curling up on the couch to binge her favorite TV shows.

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Gone are the days when Hollywood's elite were divided into strict film or television actor camps, with many of today's stars of the big screen frequently headlining excellent TV shows. In fact, some actors like Nicole Kidman are enjoying more success in the television realm than in that of feature films.

Then there are the movie stars whose television careers are far less prolific, but just as impactful. It's been six years since Anya Taylor-Joy appeared in a TV show, but she'll return to the small screen in Apple TV's highly anticipated crime thriller miniseries, Lucky. With Lucky's July 15 premiere just under a week away, now is the perfect time to watch Taylor-Joy's last TV project, The Queen's Gambit.

The cerebral thriller miniseries, which was a huge hit for Netflix when it premiered in 2020, centers on orphan chess prodigy Beth Harmon, who climbs the ranks of the male-dominated, chess-playing elite in the 1950s and '60s while battling dark personal demons, including drug addiction. The Queen's Gambit was so popular that it sparked an unprecedented interest in chess, also picking up myriad awards and acclaim along the way.

Much of that praise was directed at Taylor-Joy's incredible performance, which won her both a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award. This is especially impressive considering that, while male actors are frequently awarded for playing complicated and morally grey antiheroes, many look down their noses at television's female counterparts, dismissing them as simply "unlikable". However, unlikable small-screen female characters happen to be Taylor-Joy's specialty.

The Queen's Gambit Proved Anya Taylor-Joy Is Best Playing "Unlikable" Characters

The fact that millions of viewers were not only willing to watch, but deeply engage with, such a complicated female protagonist all the way up until The Queen's Gambit's ending is a huge testament to Taylor-Joy. For every one of Beth's redeemable qualities — her sympathetic backstory, her dogged work in honing her chess-playing skills, her underdog status — she has just as many flaws. Beth is reckless in every sense of the word, from her drug use to her finances to her relationships, exploiting those who get close to her only to turn her back on them.

Her behavior can make The Queen's Gambit hard to watch at times, but Taylor-Joy shows that there's really no alternative. Having Beth be a sweet, good little orphan girl stereotype would have grounded the riveting plot and character development to a halt. Her performance is also a refreshing take on the destructive genius protagonist. So often, this archetype is a male character who ultimately proves irredeemable due to all the privileges afforded to him. But the destructive genius who's also an underdog? That's interesting.

This is precisely what makes Taylor-Joy's return to television so exciting, as the titular protagonist of Lucky shares these traits with Beth Harmon. Lucky Armstrong may be a con artist, but being on the run from law enforcement and dangerous criminals alike, with no one to rely on but herself, makes her the ultimate underdog.

Ultimately, with Taylor-Joy in the lead role, Lucky has every chance of becoming as successful and beloved as The Queen's Gambit — though hopefully it won't do for grifting what the Netflix series did for chess.