Two of the most promising actresses of their generation finally converge in Edgar Wright’s highly anticipated thriller.
Since then, it seems as if every auteur of the moment wants to work with them.
Not to mention both leading ladies already have a filmmaker in common,M.
Edgar Wright working with Anya Taylor-Joy on the set of ‘Last Night in Soho’.Parisa Taghizadeh/Focus Features
Night Shyamalan, who directed McKenzie inOldand Taylor-Joy inSplitandGlass.
WithLast Night in Soho, their paths converge as they add another illustrious director to their impressive resumes.
She rents a flat and finds herself transported to the 1960s through her dreams.
Thomasin McKenzie’s Eloise watches Anya Taylor-Joy’s Sandie on stage in ‘Last Night in Soho’.Parisa Taghizadeh/Focus Features
I want the love to be the driving force.
ANYA TAYLOR-JOY: I was actually just saying to my friend, I’d forgotten about this memory entirely.
You know how suddenly memories just pop up in your brain?
Anya Taylor-Joy and Thomasin McKenzie mirror each other in ‘Last Night in Soho’.Parisa Taghizadeh/Focus Features
I knew so little about the film industry that I was like, “Cool!
Is that a good thing?”
He’s like, “Yeah!
It’s a great thing.
We’re in competition.”
I was like, “Oh, fun!
I hope that goes well for us.”
It’s not because I’m ungrateful for any of it.
It’s so wonderful and really, really exciting.
But at the end of the day, I just can’t wait to get back to work.
That’s my driving force.
I think I’ve fallen more in love with my work, if that was even possible.
He had a lot of storyboards.
Every single shot in the entire film had been storyboarded.
He just knew exactly what he wanted.
I didn’t chase Scott Frank.
We were supposed to makeThe Queen’s Gambittogether.
So, we’ve been talking about this project for years.
I’d only done two films at that point and only one of them was out.
You get engulfed into her literal dreams.
It was my first time doing stunts.
So there was just a lot.
I’ve lived with my grandma my entire life.
Our bedrooms are right next door to each other downstairs.
In a way, I was doing this film as a tribute to my love of her.
My grandma’s a grounding force to me.
TAYLOR-JOY:The first music that I fell in love with was the music of the ’60s.
It was all the music that I listened to when I was growing up.
[Edgar and I] both share a deep love and appreciation of The Kinks.
We spent many, many an hour discussing them and their brilliance.
On finding their rhythm
MCKENZIE: One of the biggest challenges of it was the timing.
You’d hear the “tick” and you’d have to be exactly on that beat.
The continuity on this film was unlike anything I’d ever done before.
Another part of my preparation was doing dance lessons in Wellington.
TAYLOR-JOY: I love that Edgar directs in beats because I have a background as a ballet dancer.
I naturally see scenes in beats.
When I’m going through it in my head, I’m almost dancing a bit.
And Edgar does the same thing with directing.
It melded both of my loves of dance and acting.
I’m so proud of how much of our film is practical effects.
We just had a very sisterly bonds pretty immediately.
There were many scenes where if Thomasin couldn’t move, I couldn’t move.
If I don’t move, Thomasin can’t move.
We also just enjoyed having a sister in arms.
We did a lot of night shoots on this very big movie.
We were pretty tired most of the time.
Having a friend to lean on was a good thing.
It’s the first time Ellie enters into one of these dreams.
The second [Ellie and Sandie] lock eyes, they’re in sync and theyareeach other.
Anya is a beautiful dancer.
I learned a lot from her to see her fluidity and confidence.
On what’s next for them
MCKENZIE: I’d really like to do more stunt work.
It’s something that I really, really enjoy.
I had to do a bit of that onLife After Life[the upcoming series], as well.
I like the challenge of making it look as real and as intense as possible.
I had to punch someone inLife After Life.
I’m not tooting my own horn, but it was a pretty bloody good fake punch.
Everyone was very excited about it.
I promise I’m not violent person.
I always say I want to play a fairy.
I want to play a little tiny person.
I’d like to do more animation.
I have something in the works.
My top, top goal is to voiceover work for a Hayao Miyazaki film.
So, I’m just putting that out there.
TAYLOR-JOY: [Furiosadirector] George [Miller] is incredibly generous and so passionate.
I love working with him already.
He’s just the best.
I think my preparation is just about becoming strong enough to be able to carry this film.
That’s what it is.
It’s emotional strength, it’s physical strength, it’s mental strength.
I cannot wait.
I’m so excited.
It wouldn’t beMad Max, if there were not vehicles of some sort.
Last Night in Sohois in theaters this Friday.
A version of this story appears inEntertainment Weekly’s November issue, on newsstands now oravailable here.
