Anya Taylor-Joy has never been one to play it safe, and her latest public appearance was no exception. The actress made headlines when she stepped out in a striking red ensemble that turned every style expectation on its head. It was a bold, unapologetic choice from someone who has made it clear she approaches fashion the same way she approaches her roles — with full commitment and zero hesitation. The look arrived at a significant moment in her career, one that has been building quietly and then, almost all at once, very loudly.
The timing was especially meaningful because Taylor-Joy had just landed her first cover for Vanity Fair, a milestone she clearly felt deeply. She took to social media to share the moment with her followers and express genuine gratitude to the people who made it happen. She wrote, “Thank you to the team and a special thanks to Hermione Hoby for capturing a wild moment in my life through the weirdness of zoom dates…was a pleasure.” Writer Hermione Hoby conducted the profile remotely, which gave the piece an unusually intimate quality given the circumstances under which it was done. Taylor-Joy acknowledged that Hoby managed to understand and articulate her story even through the constraints of video calls, which is no small feat.
The profile captured a period of rapid transition for the actress, when her profile was rising fast and the world was still figuring out how to move through an era of disruption. Speaking from home rather than a polished studio set the tone for something more honest and unguarded than a typical celebrity feature. That rawness translated directly into her public image, a woman not trying to fit a mold but deliberately and thoughtfully stepping outside of it. The red look she chose for her public outing carried that same energy — deliberate, striking, and entirely her own.
Taylor-Joy has kept an impressive pace professionally in the years since that cover. She took on the physically and emotionally demanding role of a young Furiosa in ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,’ stepping into a character made iconic by Charlize Theron and holding her own against the weight of that legacy. She also appeared briefly but memorably as Alia Atreides in ‘Dune: Part Two,’ adding another major franchise to her growing resume. Each project has demonstrated a willingness to take on roles that carry real expectation and pressure.
Her voice work has also proven to be a massive draw for audiences. She voiced Princess Peach in ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie,’ which became one of the highest-grossing animated films in recent memory. She is set to reprise the role in ‘The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,’ scheduled for release in April 2026, which means her winning streak in that franchise shows no signs of slowing. It is a fascinating contrast to the darker, more intense material she gravitates toward in live-action work.
On the television side, she is attached to the Apple TV+ series ‘Lucky,’ where she will appear alongside Drew Starkey. She is also set to lead the Netflix adaptation of ‘How to Kill Your Family,’ a darkly comic novel that seems perfectly suited to her sensibility. Beyond that, she has a role in ‘Sacrifice,’ a film directed by Romain Gavras that also features Chris Evans, Salma Hayek, and Vincent Cassel — an ensemble that signals serious, high-stakes storytelling.
What ties all of this together is a performer who clearly knows what she wants and pursues it with focus. The red look was not an accident or a stylist’s afterthought — it was a statement from someone who has earned the right to make them. Fashion, for Taylor-Joy, seems to function as an extension of character work, another way of communicating something true about where she is and what she stands for at any given moment.
Vanity Fair’s annual Hollywood issue was first published in 1995, and its covers have launched and cemented some of the most enduring careers in the industry. Red has historically been one of the most psychologically powerful colors a public figure can choose, associated with confidence and authority in multiple cultural traditions around the world. The Super Mario franchise, meanwhile, began as an arcade game in 1981 and has since grown into one of the best-selling video game series of all time, making Taylor-Joy’s Princess Peach one of the most-heard voices in entertainment history.
What do you think of Anya Taylor-Joy’s bold approach to both fashion and her career choices — share your thoughts in the comments.
