Matt Smith Reveals What It's Really Like Working With Anya Taylor-Joy - Exclusive
The new thriller from director Edgar Wright, "Last Night in Soho," stars Thomasin McKenzie as a young London fashion student named Eloise who finds herself having dreams about a romance between a young woman named Sandie and a man named Jack that took place in the 1960s. While at first the affair is passionate and Sandie trusts Jack to make her a star performer, love soon curdles into fear and disillusionment as Jack reveals his true nature and agenda to the naïve Sandie — all while Eloise watches.
Jack is played by fan favorite actor Matt Smith, who starred as the 11th Doctor for three seasons of "Doctor Who" and played Prince Philip on two seasons of the Netflix drama "The Crown." Sandie, meanwhile, is portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy, whose own career has been rocketing upwards ever since she made her film debut in 2015's "The Witch." While her other considerable film credits since then have included titles like "Split," "Glass," "Emma," and "The New Mutants," it was her starring role in the smash Netflix series "The Queen's Gambit" that officially confirmed Taylor-Joy as a major new star.
When asked what it's like to work with Taylor-Joy, Smith — who knows something himself about sudden stardom — modestly tells Looper, "We're very lucky to have her in the movie."
What Anya Taylor-Joy is really like as an actor
Matt Smith had only been working as an actor for a few years, in relative obscurity, before being chosen to portray the 11th Doctor on "Doctor Who," one of the most high-profile and long-running sci-fi programs of all time. While his success was pretty instant — landing the role of The Doctor tends to do that — Anya Taylor-Joy has had a slightly slower but still relatively brief climb to the same heights.
So what is she like to work with now? "I love Anya," Smith reveals to Looper. "I think she was really generous as an actress and as a soul on set. I think she's just fabulous in the movie. She suits the period so much, you can't take your eyes off her really. So yeah, I was of course really excited and it's been wonderful to watch her do such quality work elsewhere as well. We're very lucky to have her in the movie."
One of the best elements of "Last Night in Soho" is the chemistry that Smith and Taylor-Joy generate as Jack and Sandie, at least in the early part of their relationship, which comes across most intensely in the dancing that the pair do together.
"I had to work hard to learn all the moves on this," says Smith, who says "absolutely not" when asked if he considers himself a dancer. "There was a wonderful choreographer, Jennifer White, who was fabulous and very patient and put me through my paces. But there were lots of rehearsals with Anya as well, who picks it all up very easily and can do it standing on her head, whereas I think it takes a degree more practice and study for me."
"Last Night in Soho" is in theaters now.