Anya Taylor-Joy, Pretentiousness, and The Disney Machine
In an interview with Harper’s Bazaar earlier this month, Anya Taylor-Joy admitted to turning down a role in a Disney Channel pilot in favour of Robert Eggers’ feature directorial debut, The Witch. Taylor-Joy’s ‘really good feeling about The Witch’ empowered her ‘to forego the Disney experience for […] the thing that felt sacred’, a noble sentiment for a teenage first-time film actor.
It is difficult to ignore the number of actors who have spoken out against the Disney Channel experience, with Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez among those who have heavily criticised the treatment of stars involved in the Disney machine. Speaking to The Telegraph in 2014, Idris Elba lamented the feeling of ‘torture’ whilst undertaking reshoots for Thor: The Dark World the day after returning from filming in South Africa for the hard-hitting Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom: ‘I’m thinking: “24 hours ago, I was Mandela” […] Then there I was, in this stupid harness, with this wig and this sword and these contact lenses. It ripped my heart out’. The humiliating image Elba paints of Disney acting makes it clear why Taylor-Joy praises the independent film where ‘Your title doesn’t stop at actor’ and the creative process is collaborative.
Where actors such as Bill Murray and Nicolas Cage made the switch to the independent film scene after they had already achieved massive blockbuster success, there is something admirable about Taylor-Joy’s faith in Eggers’ vision from the start, and the it-girl success she has nonetheless achieved since this breakout role. It’s then hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment watching Florence Pugh move straight from a starring role in Ari Aster’s Midsommar to the laughably poor Disney product that was Black Widow. Comparing the A24 indie darlings is perhaps unfair, as Taylor-Joy seems to be shedding all pretentiousness by starring in The Super Mario Bros. Movie next year. Watching actors known for their discriminating tastes make the switch to larger productions can feel like a betrayal of roots, and at worse a marker of their selling out, but how surprised can we be at actors sacrificing thoughtful independent film for successful blockbusters when Midsommar made $47.9 million and Black Widow was still considered a flop after making $379.8 million? The contemporary successful actor seems to have a choice: to keep a firm grip on artistic integrity whilst sacrificing a position in the A-list and any major recognition, or to star in soulless paycheck movies with a guaranteed massive salary but also a guaranteed lack of respect from the often pretentious industry. One is reminded of Martin Scorsese’s famous criticism of Marvel films, where he brushed them off as ‘not cinema’ and instead comparable to theme park rides. As harsh as these comments may sound, it is difficult to feel guilty for prodding at Disney and the actors working for them when, regardless of artistic merit, the profits are massive. Perhaps Robert Pattinson has the best approach to his roles, starring in arthouse projects that genuinely interest him like The Lighthouse and Good Time whilst keeping his mind open to large-scale Hollywood films such as Tenet and, more recently, the surprisingly fresh retelling of The Batman, allowing him to maintain respectability and edge whilst remaining relevant in the wider public eye.
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