Anya Taylor-Joy

At a time when Scream Queens are more powerful than ever, the throne belongs to Anya Taylor-Joy.

[underwhelming reviews](https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2553554/the-new-mutants-reviews-are-in-see-what-critics-are-saying) despite years of fan anticipation), and the aforementioned Glass, which is the [least favored installment](https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2464869/glass-reviews-are-in-heres-what-critics-are-saying) of M. Movie and as a [younger version of Charlize Theron’s Mad Max: Fury Road hero](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/anya-taylor-joy-has-wrapped-her-mad-max-movie-furiosa-see-how-she-celebrated) in Furiosa. [horror movies from more recent years](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/recent-horror-movies-that-flew-under-the-radar-and-how-to-watch-them) have made this a great time for the genre, especially with talented, modern A-listers like Scream VI's Jenna Ortega, Ready or Not's Samara Weaving, and It Follows' Maika Monroe in the lead. [hide the darker true nature](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/last-night-in-soho-ending-explained-what-really-happened-to-sandie-in-edgar-wrights-horror-mystery) of aspiring singer Sandie Collins in Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho in 2021, or the following year when she beautifully played a charmingly brash fish-out-of-water in [The Menu cast](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/the-menu-where-youve-seen-the-cast-of-the-horror-film-before) as Margot? [adaptation of Richelle Mead’s YA novel](https://www.cinemablend.com/new/8-Big-Differences-Between-Vampire-Academy-Book-Movie-41567.html), Vampire Academy — which does, in some ways, count as horror, but is not the movie that made her a star. (which also earned her a Golden Globe nod), her reunion with Eggers in the [first name is pronounced “ann-ya”](https://youtube.com/shorts/OHSkgJ4FdBU?feature=share) and not “ahn-ya,” in case you did not know), is one of the most acclaimed talents working today and has a [stellar filmography](https://www.cinemablend.com/streaming-news/anya-taylor-joys-best-movies-and-tv-shows-and-how-to-watch-them) to prove it. [New Mutants cast](https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2490262/the-new-mutants-where-youve-seen-the-cast-members-of-the-x-men-spinoff) was still well chosen, especially with Taylor-Joy donning a convincing Russian accent as the irresistibly bleak Ilyana “Magik” Rasputin. Even the great Anya Taylor-Joy is no exception — having played the title role of 2016’s sci-fi thriller Morgan, starred in 2020’s horror-inspired Marvel movie, The New Mutants (which received However, as far as I am concerned, she earned that distinction immediately after giving her breakthrough performance in what just happens to be considered one of the [greatest horror movies](https://www.cinemablend.com/new/30-Best-Horror-Movies-All-Time-122567.html) in recent memory, The Witch. Throughout the decades, we have seen a magnificent rotation of many [amazing Scream Queens](https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2558148/the-all-time-greatest-horror-scream-queens-ranked) whose filmographies define the state of horror for their given era. [Academy Award winner Jamie Lee Curtis](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/jamie-lee-curtis-won-an-oscar-see-john-carpenters-message-to-the-halloween-icon) for decades, but she is really just one of many [great horror icons](https://www.cinemablend.com/movies/bruce-campbell-and-12-other-iconic-horror-movie-actors-ranked) (specifically ones who are female) to hold the title.