In 2021, Anya Taylor-Joy was honored to join the list of personalities who have hosted the iconic comedy show Saturday night Live, and took the opportunity to remind the audience that he is proudly Spanish-speaking. At the end of her monologue, the actress—who was then gaining recognition for her work on the acclaimed series The Queen’s Gambit— asked to conclude in his native language, and showed an impeccable Argentine accent that excited the Latin community.
Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy, who has just released George Miller’s new film, Furious, He has an Argentine father of American and Scottish descent, and a mother born in Zambia of English and Spanish ancestry. Although he was born in Miami because his parents were on vacation in the city, he lived his entire childhood until he was six years old in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and attended a bilingual school, before his family moved to London, England. The experience, he has said, was not pleasant and he even avoided learning English to convince her parents to return to Argentina.
In an interview with the newspaper standard, reflected on his adaptation process: “When I was younger, I didn’t fit in anywhere. She was too English to be Argentine, too Argentine to be English, too American to be anything.” She claimed to have suffered bullying for being a foreigner and for her physical appearance, which has now made her one of the most recognizable actresses in the industry.
She herself attributes the fact that her accent can easily adapt to the place she is in to these childhood problems. She points out that in England she sounds more English and that in Ireland she adjusts the way she speaks: “It’s really difficult for my personal life, but for acting it’s amazing.”
Despite her Latin background, the actress does not usually play Latin roles in Hollywood. Her first role—and the one that immediately put her on the map—was in Robert Eggers’ film The Witch, where she played the teenage daughter of an English couple. In an interview with the magazine Vulture, Taylor-Joy noted that she identifies as Latina (particularly white Latina), but that she is “careful” about applying for Latino roles. “I am aware that I do not see myself as a typical Latino person and that is not fair. “I don’t want to be someone that you can only use for that role, when in reality I’m white and blonde.”
In 2021, when Variety magazine profiled the actress, it noted that she was the “first person of color to win the Golden Globe for best actress in a miniseries since Queen Latifah in 2008,” which immediately generated negative reactions for part of internet users who highlighted that the actress was not a person of “color.” This is reminiscent of the fact that the Spanish Antonio Banderas was also pointed out by some media as an “actor of color” after being nominated for an Oscar for his work in the film Pain and Glory by Pedro Almodóvar. Banderas does not identify as a person of color, however in an interview with Jorge Ramos he stated: “When I have gone to the United States I have considered myself Latino, because those are the people with whom I have connected.” He also explained that during an official search in the United States he stated that he was “white,” but that it was mentioned to him that he was actually “Hispanic,” to which he pointed out “Hispanic is not a race.”
This is proof of how complex the issue of identity can be for Spanish speakers in the United States. While many people in Latin America have indigenous or mestizo ancestry, others are predominantly white. In Argentina, where Taylor-Joy’s father is from, 97% of the population has European ancestry, within which 56% also have indigenous or mestizo ancestry. In Spain, where her mother is from, the majority of the population is white. However, Hollywood usually puts any Spanish-speaking person under a Latino threshold.
The fact that Taylor-Joy can speak Spanish draws more attention from Latin fans. One of her most viral videos is one in which she admits that her favorite foods are “churros with dulce de leche, provolone bread and empanadas, which are not found as much in the United States.” Regarding her connection with her country and the love that Argentines have for her, the actress says: “The idea that the people of Argentina love me that way and want me to represent them makes me cry.”
