Vlad Bunoan

Article (news)

Yong Chavez

ABS-CBN News North America

<div><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jvbC8ntq6L8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe> </div>In chatting with Anya Taylor-Joy and Drew Starkey for Apple TV’s new thriller “Lucky,” our conversation kept circling back to decisions that didn’t look anything like luck.Before “Lucky,” both actors had already built impressive résumés through very different paths. Taylor-Joy broke out with “The Witch” before starring in projects including “The Queen’s Gambit,” “Split,” and “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” establishing herself as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading actresses. Starkey, meanwhile, became a breakout star through Netflix’s “Outer Banks” and drew further attention for his acclaimed performance opposite Daniel Craig in Luca Guadagnino’s “Queer,” making Lucky another significant step in his rapidly growing career.Their characters are relentless go-getters, so I asked them about the biggest risks they’ve taken in their own lives. Taylor-Joy laughs when she remembers the choice she made that worried the people closest to her.“I think if you asked my parents, me dropping out of school to pursue acting full-time was probably a risk. I’m not sure their friends or my siblings were entirely supportive of that decision, but I’m very glad that it worked out,” she says.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1784274751684Anya and Drew star in Lucky_Photo_010103.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Anya Taylor-Joy and Drew Starkey star in ‘Lucky.’ Apple TV</div>Starkey’s story follows a similar path, even if the destination felt uncertain for everyone watching from the sidelines. “I think my biggest risk was going to school for acting. My parents and friends were like, ‘What? Okay, what will you do with that?’ ‘Ultimately, you’ll act. It’s a gamble. I give the school my money, and hopefully everything works out.’”Hearing two successful actors describe the early stages of their careers in a matter-of-fact way was refreshing. Neither romanticizes uncertainty, but looking back, those decisions became turning points.That perspective also impacts how they think about luck itself, an appropriate topic for a show carrying that name. Taylor-Joy shares: “I think coming from a Latin and Hispanic background, I’m naturally superstitious. I think that comes from my grandmother. In terms of luck, I definitely believe in being lucky. I think you can just be blessed with good luck, but I also think that you make your own luck. When I was a kid, my dad would always tell me, ‘The harder I work, the luckier I get,’ and I think that’s really good advice.”Starkey reached for another familiar saying and briefly lost it in spectacular fashion. “Luck is… luck is preparation meets…” he began, prompting Taylor-Joy and I to jump in together with, “Opportunity!” <div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1784274782865Drew Starkey in Lucky_Photo_010401.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Drew Starkey in ‘Lucky.’ Apple TV</div>Our Zoom room briefly erupted in giggles. He continues: “I believe that. I believe that so much that I forgot it. I certainly feel very lucky. I obviously try to work my hardest at this, but there are certain things that I can’t explain. It’s just right place, right time. That’s why I feel very lucky.”It was one of those interview moments that reveal natural chemistry. Onscreen and off, this project shows how Taylor-Joy and Starkey settled into each other’s working rhythm with the ease of longtime collaborators, teasing each other, and letting the conversation breathe without trying to control every beat.That easy rapport ultimately serves the series well, especially as their characters navigate a relationship built on shifting identities and uneasy trust.Taylor-Joy, who also executive-produces through her production company, LadyKiller, plays a woman whose survival depends on convincing everyone around her that she is somebody else. The challenge, she explained, was in balancing deception with emotional honesty. “I think the opportunity of playing somebody that I wanted the audience to emotionally invest in, whilst she was continuously pretending to be other people and continuously telling lies, was very interesting to me because it meant that every day I was sort of dialing, ‘Okay, how well do I want to sell this con? Do I want people to be able to see what’s going on underneath it, or do I want to sell it 100 percent straight?’ And that, as an acting exercise, was so cool.”In describing technique, Taylor-Joy sounds energized by the subject of performance. She speaks about her process, how she constantly adjusts what the audience sees and what remains tucked beneath the surface.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1784274820564Anya Taylor-Joy and Timothy Olyphant star in Lucky_Photo_010104.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/>Anya Taylor-Joy and Timothy Olyphant star in ‘Lucky.’ Apple TV</div>The star’s enthusiasm extends to her scene partners, whose presence clearly elevated the experience. I asked about working with Annette Bening and Timothy Olyphant, and she immediately praised them. “They’re so cool. We got so lucky with our cast. I’m very pleased to say that everybody that we wanted for the roles, we got, which was marvelous. Annette is such a superstar. She comes on set. Everything sounds great coming out of her mouth. She’s so unpredictable, and she’s managed to make this role really sexy and intellectual, and not what you would necessarily consider a mob boss. And Tim is effortlessly charming and so charismatic and funny and warm. Yeah, it was a dream.”When I turned to Starkey to ask about his own experience, Taylor-Joy immediately jumped in with a playful warning. “I won’t listen.”Starkey seized the opening, eliciting laughter. “Yeah, don’t. Please. I have a lot to say about you. Nightmare. Awful.”“No, the best,” he says. “The absolute best. It was interesting to play this kind of bait and switch in the beginning. You meet this character as one person, and then you discover what he’s been hiding. I thought that was really fun. The amount of collaboration that went alongside all the work was really unbelievable. In shaping Cary, trying to find out who he is and his past and why he does the things that he does, it was just an ultimate collaboration with everybody.”“Lucky,” written and executive produced by Jonathan Tropper, is based on the New York Times bestselling novel of the same name by Marissa Stapley. The Apple TV show’s ensemble cast also includes Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Clifton Collins, Jr. and William Fichtner.

In chatting with Anya Taylor-Joy and Drew Starkey for Apple TV’s new thriller “Lucky,” our conversation kept circling back to decisions that didn’t look anything like luck.

In chatting with Anya Taylor-Joy and Drew Starkey for Apple TV’s new thriller “Lucky,” our conversation kept circling back to decisions that didn’t look anything like luck.

Here in Hollywood: How Anya Taylor-Joy and Drew Starkey got ‘Lucky’ in life

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Here in Hollywood: How Anya Taylor-Joy and Drew Starkey got ‘Lucky’ in life

Yong Chavez,

ABS-CBN News North America

Published July 17, 2026 05:19 PM PHT

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Lucky

Apple TV

Anya Taylor-Joy

Drew Starkey

Here in Hollywood

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