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Nov. 17 (UPI) -- During a guest appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, actress Anya Taylor-Joy said that the talk show host "saved her life" at the Met Gala earlier this year. "My first and only time being there, and I was wearing a dress that was ridiculously heavy and I couldn't really move and I was just trying to get through the evening," Taylor-Joy said Wednesday.
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"And at the end of the night, I'm at the top of the stairs, and the gorgeous Hailee Steinfeld walked past me, had a very complicated, like, three-train thing, and I get wrapped up in it. And I'm like 'Oh, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die on the steps of the Met, dahling.' But literally, out of nowhere, the Hand of God came out and pulled me out of it, and it was you."
Taylor-Joy was on the show in support of her new movie, The Menu, starring Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult and Hong Chau, arriving in theaters on Friday.
"You were so sweet about it, you were like 'I'm Jimmy, nice to meet you,' and I was like 'OK,' Taylor-Joy continued.
Taylor-Joy was born in Miami and raised in Buenos Aires and London, broke through as chess prodigy Beth Harmon in the Netflix miniseries The Queen's Gambit. She is now starring in The Menu, a dark satire that skewers the upscale restaurant industry. After a group of people pays to eat at Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest, the meal takes an unexpected turn.
Taylor-Joy's character is central to the unfolding plot.
She shared on The Tonight Show that she got started in acting after being pulled onstage during a Beach Boys concert. When she was asked to model, but knew she really wanted to act, she showed the scouts video of her "shredding" on a guitar at the show.
She was actually pantomiming and in telling the story to Fallon, she said that's how she proved she had acting chops.
Taylor-Joy also shared more about The Menu.
"The movie is about a couple that signs up for a very exclusive restaurant on an island. It's supposed to be for the one percent of the one percent and very quickly, things go awry. But it is bitingly funny. I've been trying to get through this press tour using as many food puns as I can," Taylor-Joy said.
The 26-year-old is quickly becoming one of Hollywood's hardest-working actresses. She told Fallon that her Halloween costume was Princess Peach, the character she plays in the upcoming Super Mario Brothers movie. And she's starring in Mad Max Furiosa, the next film in the Mad Max franchise, which is scheduled to come out in 2024.
Taylor-Joy showcased those acting chops on The Tonight Show by doing the "Dramatic Delivery" segment with Fallon, acting out real texts between food delivery drivers and customers.
This year alone, Taylor-Joy has appeared in three high-profile films - The Northman directed by Robert Eggers, starring Alexander Skarsgärd, which came out in April, and David O. Russell's Amsterdam, released in October. The ensemble cast included Robert DeNiro, John David Washington, Rami Malek, and Margot Robbie.
