Hollywood is rampant with famous stars who go by names that are not completely true to their legal identities. Did you know Reese Witherspoon’s real first name is Laura? Lizzo is really Melissa, Ashton Kutcher is actually Christopher, and Jamie Foxx is really Eric. Wild, right? Well, modern horror queen Anya Taylor-Joy also has a bit of a different first name than her stage name, but it’s actually been so insider that her partner didn’t even know what it was.
Anya Taylor-Joy tied the knot with American musician and actor Malcolm McRae in Venice, Italy last fall after the couple were together for two years. As the couple settle into married life and Taylor-Joy herself gears up to be in one of the most highly-anticipated of upcoming 2024 movies, check out this resurfaced clip from a time when the actress revealed her full name:
The YouTube short comes from when Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult were promoting The Menu together. While these two members of The Menu cast were attempting to find out how much they actually know each other, Taylor-Joy flagged knowing her actual full name as a super advanced thing to know about her. At the time, McRae must have known each other (not in a married sense, though) and been dating, but as she revealed, she hadn’t told him at that point her full name is, in fact, Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy.
As Taylor-Joy quipped, her full name is truly just riddled with first names. She actually has five first names in a row there! The actress’ parents are Dennis Alan Taylor and Jennifer Marina Joy, who decided to go for hyphenating their two last names to give her both. Her father is reportedly English and Scottish, while her mom is of an Anglo-Argentine descent. Taylor-Joy grew up between Buenos Aires and London as a kid before becoming the big name in Hollywood that she is!
As the actress, who brought something new to Princess Peach last year in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, shared, there’s only one person who really calls her Anya-Josephine, and based on her description on why, it’s probably one of her parents. Anya Taylor-Joy’s full name may be a mouthful, but it’s really pretty! At the same time, one can totally see why she decided to cut it down when it came to her stage name, especially with two hyphens in there to deal with.
Anya Taylor-Joy will star next in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which is set to hit theaters on May 24, 2024. In the George Miller science fiction film, she will take on Charlie Theron’s Fury Road role to tell the character’s origins alongside Chris Hemsworth, who is playing the movie’s villain. You can check out the Furiosa trailer ahead of its summer release.