Los Angeles, June 19 (IANS) Hollywood actress Anya Taylor-Joy has shared that she was bullied at school for not being beautiful, before she went on to bag a modelling contract at the age of 16.

The 30-year-old actress is known for her unique beauty, and has made a name for herself as one of Hollywood’s most up and coming leading ladies, reports ‘Female First UK’.

However, as she was growing up, her appearance didn’t earn her fans, especially when she went to school.

As per ‘Female First UK’, she recalled how she moved from Argentina to England at six years old, and quickly had a shock when she was branded a lesbian and frozen out by her classmates after kissing a fellow student on the cheek.

After this, the children told her consistently that she “wasn’t beautiful”. Despite the bullying, the actress went on to initially make a name for herself as a model when she was a teenager, although she was only ever interested in using modelling as a stepping point to get into acting.

Preparing for a party the next day, a 16-year-old Anya walked along the street to practise being steady in stilettos, at which point a car pulled up beside her and a man leaned out and said “If you don’t stop, you’ll regret it”.

When she got in the car, she found Sarah Doukas, the head of modelling agency Storm, inside. Faced with the prospect of a contract, she told Sarah,, “I have no interest in modelling, other than I hear that sometimes models become actors. And that’s what I want to do with my life”.

While she made her onscreen debut in ‘The Witch’, and went on to star in movies such as Glass and Thoroughbreds, it was the Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit that turned her into a household name. She played Beth in the chess drama, and said of the role: Sometimes you feel like a character is ahead of you.

She told ‘The Hollywood Reporter’, “Sometimes you feel like you’re both exactly at the same place. But with Beth, I had experiences in my own life where I just thought, ‘Oh, I can sort of big sister you through this’”.

After it hit screens in 2020, The Queen’s Gambit became one of the most-watched shows in Netflix history.

“It was one of those beautiful moments”, she added.

–IANS

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