According to The Hollywood Reporter, Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch) will be returning to Netflix for a lead role in How to Kill Your Family as Grace Bernard. The series is an adaptation of Bella Mackie’s (What A Way To Go) best-selling novel with the same title.
Taylor-Joy is known recently on the streaming platform for playing the lead as Beth Harmon on The Queen’s Gambit back in 2020. The thrilling chess series placed in the the top 10 in 92 countries on Netflix and ranked No. 1 in 63 countries, including the U.K., Argentina and South Africa. 62 million million accounts tuned in over the first 28 days of its release.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, the series will have a total of eight episodes, and Mackie will serve as co-executive producer. The lead writer for the series is Emma Moran, who also serves as executive producer alongside Sally Woodward Gentle (Killing Eve), Lizzie Rusbridger (Ragdoll) and Lee Morris (Time).
Mackie’s novel follows Grace, the illegitimate daughter of a millionaire who abandoned her and her mother. Grace’s father ignores her mother’s pleas for help as she faces death’s door. Grace vows revenge and decides to kill every member of her father’s family, leaving him for last.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Taylor-Joy said, “As soon as I turned the last page, I knew I had to be a part of bringing this story to life. After some light stalking of the inimitable Bella Mackie, I could not be more thrilled to be collaborating with the team that is Sally, Lizzie and Emma. I am looking forward to getting our hands even dirtier.”
Mackie added, “It’s been thrilling to watch the characters I wrote take on new life under this magnificent creative team. Anya is the most perfect fit to play Grace: I often think she understands her better than I do. Pairing up with Sid Gentle has been joyful, and introducing me to Emma has made me supremely confident the book is in safe hands.”
Taylor-Joy is known for roles in titles such as Furiosa: A Mad Max Story, The Menu and Last Night in Soho.