"I'm Weird-Looking": Anya Taylor-Joy Of 'The Queen's Gambit' Says She's Not Beautiful Enough To Be In Films

Anya Taylor-Joy’s captivating performance as chess prodigy Beth Harmon in the Netflix series The Queen's Gambit has been leaving fans, critics, and first-time viewers glued to the screens. But recently, the 24-year-old beauty has revealed she has been struggling to fit Hollywood beauty standards.

Anya told The Sun that “I have never and I don't think I will ever think of myself as beautiful.” She also said that “it sounds pathetic and my boyfriend warns me people will think I’m an absolute d*** for saying these things,” but she still insists that she's “weird-looking.”

The stunning actress was first discovered by the legendary model scout Sarah Doukas outside London’s Harrods shopping center. Sarah signed the 16-year-old Anya up to the Storm modeling agency, which opened a way to the world of acting. Despite that, the star is still working on accepting herself the way she is: “I have made it a practice in my life to not turn down compliments.”

The American-Argentine-British actress said she always felt different when growing up. “I was too English to be Argentine, too Argentine to be English, too American to be anything,” she told The Sun.

The peer pressure was hard during school years. “The kids just didn’t understand me in any shape or form. I used to get locked in lockers.”

Anya revealed that she felt very separated and lonely. “I was so lonely as a kid. I felt so isolated that I created this story in my head about lonely was bad, being alone was bad.” Thus, she said she “spent a lot of time in school crying in bathrooms.”

Anya also said that when it comes to the movies she’s starred in, “I won’t go to the cinema to watch my own film.” Instead, she said she’ll watch it before. “The beauty of being in your own skin is that you don’t have to look at your own face.”

Even though Anya dreamt of acting since she was 6, she always has had an idea that she is not beautiful enough to star on the camera in the back of her mind.

As she filmed this year’s movie adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma,” she thought the role didn’t quite represent her.

“I genuinely had a panic attack on Emma because I thought, ‘I am the first ugly Emma and I can’t do this,’ because the first line in the movie is, ‘I’m handsome, clever and rich.’”

But despite Anya's insistence that “I have never and I don’t think I will ever think of myself as beautiful,” her unique ethereal looks and incredible talent prove the contrary.