Actor Anya Taylor-Joy was born in Miami in 1996 and brought up in Buenos Aires and London. She was scouted as a model at the age of 16, which led to signing with an acting agent. She has starred in horror film The Witch (2015), M Night Shyamalan’s Split (2016), the BBC adaptation of Jessie Burton’s The Miniaturist and was nominated for a Bafta rising star award in 2017. She stars in the black comedy thriller Thoroughbreds, directed by Cory Finley, in cinemas this week.

1. Book
The Descent of Man by Grayson Perry (Allen Lane, 2016)

I like Grayson Perry’s art but I wasn’t actually aware that he was writing. This was recommended to me by a friend and it was so fascinating. It’s about toxic masculinity and gender stereotypes – we all have friends or family members who accept this idea that boys can’t cry. As a reaction to #MeToo and everything that’s been going on, it was really interesting to read, from the perspective of a man, about how rigid gender roles are destructive not just to the individual but to society as a whole.

2. Music
Kaleo

Kaleo are an Icelandic blues rock band and I actually discovered them in Iceland. I went into a record store and just bought a record that I picked at random. And they’re brilliant. Some of the music gets pretty intense and hardcore, but it’s beautiful. I especially like listening to it on photoshoots for some reason; I’m not quite sure why. It’s incredibly atmospheric; they really build in the tone of the song before they let rip on it. I spend most of my time walking around to movie soundtracks, so atmosphere is something I really care about. Plus everyone who’s Icelandic is cool.

3. Podcast
Anna Faris Is Unqualified

I’d never really properly listened to podcasts before; during press for Thoroughbreds, we went in to this podcast with Anna and I just fell in love with her. It’s an agony aunt kind of situation, where people call in for advice. It’s quite surreal, all her guests speaking with, I don’t know, Mindy from Michigan, and getting so involved in this particular person’s struggle. Anna is a very welcoming presence as well as being incredibly funny and I’m enjoying listening to her other podcasts.

4. Film
Coco (dir Lee Unkrich, 2017)

I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was amazed by this. Animation has the ability to tear a feeling from your heart and make it universal and provoke absolutely every emotion you thought was possible to have. It follows a young boy who has ambitions of becoming a musician, but his great-grandmother was left by a musician, so she basically stopped the whole family from being able to play music. But on the Day of the Dead, Miguel steals a guitar and gets into the world of the dead – I liked how it took a really dark turn.

5. TV
Love (Netflix)

I’ve not had much spare time lately but I made a conscious effort to binge-watch this show. It follows Mickey, who is an alcoholic, sex and love addict, drug addict, but trying to get over it. She’s destructive but you really feel for her. That’s what I enjoy about this show – you care about the characters. She meets Gus, a nerdy teacher who falls madly in love with her and it’s about the two of them trying to work it out and making lots of mistakes. It’s wildly entertaining, really funny, quite quirky and the acting is phenomenal.

6. Documentary
Whitney: Can I Be Me

I have always been a huge fan of music documentaries. I just inhale them. I was obviously aware of the impact Whitney Houston had on the music industry and in breaking racial boundaries, but I didn’t know much about her personal life story. This documentary really made me feel for this woman and it gave the music a whole new light to me. I love documentaries where you spend the whole time thinking “I didn’t know that”. I thought it was fascinating and very caringly done, which I think is important.