Anya Taylor-Joybleeds for her art.
In some cases literally, as when a satirical twist on a romantic proposal inEmmacalled for a nosebleed.
“I was in the moment enough that my nose really started bleeding,” the actress tells EW.
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The minor malady lends the insouciantJane Austenheroine the same complexity she has on the page.
“People connect with the character because of how layered she is,” Taylor-Joy says.
“People are afraid of messy women.
I wanted to ensure Emma was messy.”
I’m quite grateful for that.
How did you lean into the comedy of all that and bring it to life?
But you couldn’t be too aware of it.
How do you approach playing satire?
It’s more of a literary technique on the surface.
Because that makes the plastered-on, bemused smile that much more alienating.
Thinking about the public persona versus the private persona helped in that respect.
The proposal scene with Mr. Knightley is so unique.
How did that whole concept of the nosebleed come to life?
It was in the script from the beginning.
Autumn told me about it in our first meeting.
It’s far more realistic.
But then, I can’t describe.
Autumn was worried about me.
She was like, “Should we stop?”
and I was like, “No!
This is amazing.”
Did you have a plan to do something with makeup or something and then it happened for real?
The plan was to pause filming and add the blood and then continue.
I provided the blood, so there was no need.
It was all just happening at once.
But I was so lucky to have such a lovely screen partner.
There’s an undeniable magic; I call it the perfect cake.
Speaking of the dress, your costumes are exquisite.
When did you come into the wardrobe process, and did that help build who Emma was for you?
We would just be together for hours.
I’m talking eight-hour-long sessions of me just standing as a mannequin while these clothes were built into me.
We got to add all of these personalities to it.
What was your biggest challenge?
I really struggled with Emma at times.
There were moments where Mr. Knightley says, “She’s done badly indeed.”
I struggled with that.
Being in the bullying position was something that I had to weed out to my own heart.
It took a while to stop apologizing to Miranda [Hart] and to Mia [Goth].
They were like, “Brilliant, you did great.
It is written in the script.
You’re supposed to say these things.”
But I feel so horrible.
I give my feelings over very easily to these characters.
