Anya Taylor-Joy Says She ‘Was Desperate To Tell This Story’ After Reading ‘The Queen’s Gambit’

Anya Taylor-Joy had no doubt that she wanted to join Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” after reading the 1983 book upon which the acclaimed series is based.

“First of all, I ran to the meeting with [producer] Scott [Frank]. I don’t run, that’s not something that I do really, but I ran to that meeting as soon as I finished the book, because I so excited and I just, I knew her so immediately,” Taylor-Joy said during a session about the show for Deadline’s Contenders Television event.

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“And the first thing I yelled at Scott across the restaurant was, ‘It’s not about chess. It’s about loneliness and trying to find your place and the price of genius, and what it is to be that other and attempting to find your world within that,’” she continued.

“And yeah, I was desperate to tell this story. I fell in love with her immediately, and I really thought that I could do it right,” added the actress.