Queen's Gambit Star Anya Taylor-Joy Is A LOTR Superfan, Watched Entire Trilogy On Christmas Day

The Queen's Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy is a big fan of The Lord of the Rings film series, so much so that she watched all three movies on Christmas Day this year.

Speaking to another Lord of the Rings superfan, Stephen Colbert, Taylor-Joy recalled the story of how it came to be that she spent the entire day in Middle-earth. She explained that, during a normal year, she would spend the holidays with her family in Argentina. However, this year she stayed in London and was by herself. Looking for something to do, she turned to one of her favorite traditions: marathoning all of the Lord of the Rings movies.

"I just thought, 'OK, you have to find a way to bring something positive to this. What's a wonderful tradition that you really enjoy?' And the answer is obviously Lord of the Rings. Like, obviously," she said.

Pressed by Colbert on theatrical versus extended cuts, Taylor-Joy said she watched Fellowship of the Ring's theatrical cut before moving on to the extended edition of The Two Towers. "Just because I love Two Towers," she said. For Return of the King, Taylor-Joy watched the theatrical cut, but she might have gone with the extended edition were it not for her viewing partner.

"Because the person I was with fell asleep, which is sacrilege, I know," she said.

Also in the interview, Colbert mentioned how Taylor-Joy was sporting a hairstyle that is very reminiscent of Galadriel's from the film series. "Honestly, I've been trying to look like an elf my entire life. That is my number one goal in life," she said.

After truly breaking out with The Queen's Gambit, Taylor-Joy is lined up for another major role, as she is set to star as Furiosa in the upcoming Mad Max spinoff. The Queen's Gambit has been enormously successful for Netflix, while it's also driven an increase in chess game sales.

As for The Lord of the Rings, Amazon is working on a big-budget TV series that is filming in New Zealand. Director JA Bayona (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) recently finished production on his episodes for the series.