2013–2019: Early work and recognition Taylor-Joy made her acting debut in the 2014 fantasy comedy-horror
Vampire Academy, but her scenes as a background "Feeder Girl" were dropped from the final cut. Her television debut was portraying Philippa Collins-Davidson in an episode of the detective drama series
Endeavour. That was followed by a multi-episode arc in
Atlantis., a 2015 fantasty-adventure drama series. Also in 2015, she starred in
The Witch, a period horror film directed by
Robert Eggers, about a
Puritan family which encounters forces of evil in the woods near their
New England farm. It premiered at the
2015 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. The role was her breakthrough.
Anthony Lane of
The New Yorker called Taylor-Joy "remarkable in the role, her wide-eyed innocence entwined with a thread of cunning—proof either of her quick wits, scarcely unusual in a clever and curious girl, or of some fell purpose." She won the
Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor and the
Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer. In 2016, Taylor-Joy starred in
Luke Scott's science fiction horror film
Morgan, playing the title character. It received negative reviews and was a commercial failure, but
Booth Michigans John Serba wrote that "Taylor-Joy disarms us with a performance that keenly teeter-totters between little-girl innocent and dead-eyed viciousness." She next starred in the drama film
Barry, which focused on a young
Barack Obama during his first year at
Columbia University in 1981; it premiered at the
2016 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2016, Taylor-Joy's likeness was licensed from Storm Management to represent the character of
Valkyrie Cain on the tenth anniversary book cover of
Skulduggery Pleasant, and subsequently the covers of the
seventh,
eighth,
ninth, and
fourteenth books in the
series, before appearing in the music video for
Skrillex's remix of
GTA's song "Red Lips". In 2016, she was cast opposite
James McAvoy in
M. Night Shyamalan's
Split, where she played Casey Cooke, a teenage girl abducted by a man with
multiple personalities (McAvoy). It was a commercial success, grossing $278.5 million on a budget of $9 million. Her next film that year was
Cory Finley's directorial debut
Thoroughbreds. It co-starred
Olivia Cooke and
Anton Yelchin in his final film role. Taylor-Joy played Lily, a high-school student who schemes to kill her stepfather via a contract with a drug dealer. It premiered at the
2017 Sundance Film Festival; David Ehrlich of
IndieWire called her performance "captivating". Her third release in 2017 was
Sergio G. Sánchez's horror mystery
Marrowbone; Tasha Robinson of
The Verge wrote that Taylor-Joy brought "a shy, appealing warmth" to an inconsistent character. Taylor-Joy was nominated for the
BAFTA Rising Star Award, and was awarded the
Trophée Chopard at the
Cannes Film Festival that year. In December 2017, she portrayed
Petronella Oortman in the
BBC One period drama miniseries
The Miniaturist, based on
Jessie Burton's
novel of the same name. Taylor-Joy reprised her role as Casey Cooke in the 2019 psychological superhero film
Glass, the final film in the
Unbreakable film trilogy, appearing with McAvoy,
Samuel L. Jackson and
Sarah Paulson. It was a commercial success, grossing $247 million worldwide, Later that year, she appeared in the documentary film
Love, Antosha, on the life and career of her late co-star Anton Yelchin; and in
Hozier's music video for his song "Dinner & Diatribes". Her next two 2019 films, the animated musical adventure film
Playmobil: The Movie and biographical drama film
Radioactive, were commercial failures. She also voiced the character of Brea in the fantasy series
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. In her final role of 2019, she played the starring role of Gina Gray in the BBC One period crime drama series
Peaky Blinders.
2020–present: mainstream breakthrough In 2020, Taylor-Joy starred as
Emma Woodhouse in
Autumn de Wilde's directorial debut
Emma, an adaptation of
Jane Austen's
1815 novel of the same name. Reviewing the film,
Peter Travers of
Rolling Stone deemed Taylor-Joy "incandescent".
The Guardian critic
Mark Kermode described Taylor-Joy as having created an "admirably spiky character who is less likable than some of her screen predecessors, and all the better for it". She received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance. Taylor-Joy also portrayed
Illyana Rasputin/Magik, a Russian mutant and sorceress, in the superhero horror film
The New Mutants. It was originally intended for release in April 2018 but experienced several delays; it was released in 2020. Taylor-Joy starred in the Netflix miniseries ''
The Queen's Gambit as Beth Harmon, an orphaned chess prodigy on her rise to the top of the chess world while struggling with drug and alcohol dependency. The series and her performance received widespread critical acclaim. Netflix announced that it had been seen by 62 million households in its first 28 days of release, becoming its "biggest scripted limited series to date." Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly'' called Taylor-Joy's performance "darkly fascinating" and noted how she "excels in the quiet moments, [with] her eyelids narrowing as she decimates an opponent, [and] her whole body physicalizing angry desperation when the game turns against her." Similarly,
Caroline Framke of
Variety found her "so magnetic that when she stares down the camera lens, her flinty glare threatens to cut right through it." Taylor-Joy's portrayal won her the
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film and the
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie and garnered her a nomination for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. in
Cannes, France Then she appeared in the drama film
Here Are the Young Men (2020) directed by
Eoin Macken and based on the novel of the same name by Rob Doyle. In 2021, she starred in
Edgar Wright's psychological horror film
Last Night in Soho. In the film, she performs the song "
Downtown" by
Petula Clark; a music video of Taylor-Joy's rendition was also released.
Joe Morgenstern of
The Wall Street Journal highlighted the "dazzling sense of purpose" in her portrayal. She was included in
Time's
100 Next in 2021. In 2022, Taylor-Joy reunited with
The Witch director Robert Eggers for a starring role opposite
Alexander Skarsgård in the historical epic
The Northman. Based on the old Scandinavian legend of
Amleth, the film was called "a Viking revenge saga set in Iceland at the turn of century". It received a positive critical reception. Taylor-Joy then appeared in
David O. Russell's period comedy
Amsterdam, which received mixed reviews and failed commercially.
Mark Mylod's black comedy thriller
The Menu was released in November 2022. Taylor-Joy starred opposite
Nicholas Hoult and
Ralph Fiennes in it. The film received largely positive reviews and her performance garnered her a Golden Globe Award nomination. In 2023, she had a voice role as
Princess Peach in the animated film
The Super Mario Bros. Movie. In 2024 she acted in a cameo role as
Alia Atreides in
Denis Villeneuve's
Dune: Part Two, a casting that was initially kept secret and was not publicly announced until she walked the red carpet at the film's London premiere. Then she starred as the
titular character in
George Miller's action film
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which served as a prequel to the 2015 film
Mad Max: Fury Road. Taylor-Joy declared the film to have been an unpleasant working endeavor: "I've never been more alone than making that movie... I don't want to go too deep into it, but everything that I thought was going to be easy was hard." Nevertheless, she was praised for her performance by
Peter Bradshaw in
The Guardian; he said she is "an overwhelmingly convincing action heroine" In 2025, she starred opposite
Miles Teller in
Scott Derrickson's romantic action film
The Gorge, which was released on
Apple TV+. She will star with
Chris Evans in an action comedy film
Sacrifice. On August 18, 2025, it was reported that Taylor-Joy will portray a young
Joni Mitchell in a
Cameron Crowe-directed biopic;
Meryl Streep is to play an older Mitchell. ==Personal life and public image==