Anya Taylor-Joy was recently referred to as a ‘woman of color’ after winning an award, causing confusion on the internet.
The 27-year-old actress, best known for her appearances in The Menu and The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as well as her depiction of chess prodigy Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit, became embroiled in an unexpected controversy following her Golden Globe triumph.
The misconception stemmed from an article referring to Taylor-Joy as a “woman of color” after she won a Golden Globe for her role in the Netflix thriller. This description perplexed many on the internet and caused a flurry of reactions.
Taylor-Joy is now earning plaudits for her latest film, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which is a prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). She plays a younger version of Imperator Furiosa, Charlize Theron’s original role.
Directed by George Miller, the film recounts Furiosa’s background and her journey to becoming the formidable road warrior portrayed in the previous film. Taylor-Joy has attended several events and film festivals to promote Furiosa, including the Cannes Film Festival, where she dazzled in a strapless Dior gown, according to Entertainment Tonight.
In addition to her cinematic roles, Taylor-Joy was recently crowned the world’s most beautiful woman by the Greek Golden Ratio of Beauty Phi, which assesses face symmetry and other aesthetic criteria, according to Entertainment Tonight.
However, the dispute dates back to 2021, when Taylor-Joy won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film for her performance in The Queen’s Gambit. Following her win, Variety referred to her as a ‘woman of color’.
The first press release said: “Argentinian Taylor-Joy is the first woman of color to win this category since Queen Latifah in 2008 and only the fifth woman of color to win overall since 1982 when the category was introduced.”
This depiction was underlined by writer Valerie Complex, who took to Twitter to voice her disbelief: “I love her as an actress but THIS article has her listed as the FIRST WOMAN OF COLOUR to win in this category and I legit give up.”
Many others turned to social media to share their thoughts on the statement.
A single individual posted: “Anya Taylor-Joy is very beautiful and very cool but she is not a woman of color.”
Another added: “Anya Taylor-Joy is a woman of color?! Is this a f***ing joke?! She is white and she is from Latin America. There are white people here too. Latin American is not an ethnicity, in any case, it makes reference to a geographical or cultural area.”
Another user pointed out: “Friendly reminder that being Latina and being a woman of color is not always the same thing. Congrats to Anya Taylor-Joy (Argentina) for her Golden Globe win and for speaking up.”
VAriety has subsequently modified the piece to appropriately reflect Taylor-Joy’s heritage. Taylor-Joy was born in Miami, Florida, to Scottish-Argentine father Dennis Alan Taylor and mother Jennifer Marina Joy. She grew up in Argentina till the age of six before coming to the United Kingdom and speaks English and Spanish fluently.
In an interview with Vulture, Taylor-Joy discussed her youth and her knowledge of her appearance in relation to her lineage. “I’m aware of the fact I don’t look like a typical Latin person, and that’s not fair. I don’t want to be someone that you can just sub in for that role when I’m really white and blonde,” she explained.
The article on Variety now includes a notice: “UPDATED: This story has been updated. A previous version identified Anya Taylor-Joy as a person of color. She has said she identifies as a white Latina.”
