All About Anya Taylor-Joy's Parents, Jennifer Marina Joy-Marancho and Dennis Taylor (2024)

If Anya Taylor-Joy seems like she’s wise beyond her years, it’s likely due to her parents, Jennifer Marina Joy-Marancho and Dennis Taylor, who raised her with trust from an early age.

Anya was born to Jennifer and Dennis on April 16, 1996, as the pair’s last child and the youngest of six siblings.

Growing up in Argentina and London meant that Anya was often treated as an adult, and that certainly helped make her case when she wrote them a letter saying she was dropping out of school to pursue acting — at only 16.

As Anya said in a 2020 interview with NME, “My parents were tired! They’d already raised five children. When I came around, and I was very willful and knew what I wanted to do, they were like, 'Go for it!’ ”

Here’s everything to know about Anya Taylor-Joy’s parents, Jennifer Marina Joy-Marancho and Dennis Taylor.

They raised Anya in Argentina and England

The actress is the definition of multi-cultural thanks to her parents, as Jennifer is African-Spanish-English and Dennis is Scottish-Argentinian.

Anya being an American citizen is “basically as a fluke,” she once told PEOPLE, because her parents were vacationing in Miami when she was born. The family quickly moved to Argentina after her birth, where Anya spent most of her childhood.

When Anya was 6 years old, Jennifer and Dennis moved the family to England due to the restless political situation in Argentina at the time — which devastated Anya. She told PEOPLE that she refused to learn how to speak English for two years because she hoped her parents would take her back to Argentina.

In an interview with Marie Claire in 2017, Anya said she’s come to appreciate the change. “We all really resented them for it, and now we look back, we’re like thank you so much because they gave us such an opportunity in life," she shared.

They share two kids together, including Anya

Anya’s dad Dennis has six kids — two with Anya’s mom Jennifer, and four with his first wife. A 2017 Irish Times profile revealed the large age gap, as Anya’s closest sister in age is still seven years older.

The Furiosa star told the outlet that she was mostly raised “kind of like an only child," adding that she “had the best of both worlds.”

"I think because my siblings are so much older than me, I grew up around adults and I never thought of myself as a child," she said. "My parents raised me as if they always trusted me."

Jennifer is a trained psychologist with “a big heart”

Jennifer was referred to as a trained psychologist in Anya’s 2017 Vice profile, where she also said her mother has a "Stevie Nicks personality, artistic with a big heart."

She gave similar details about her mom in a 2018 Vulture piece, saying she’s a “beautiful, warm-hearted hippie."

Dennis was a champion powerboat racer

Dennis was previously a banker, The Standard reported, before he decided to get into powerboat racing.

In a post on the website Powerboat Racingworld, fans of the sport remembered how Dennis won two offshore world championships: his first in 1987 in Catalonia, Italy, and his second in 1988 in Messina, Italy.

Anya's mom helped her through a difficult time

During a 2022 appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show, Anya opened up about being bullied — and the sage advice Jennifer gave her that helped her overcome the teasing.

"I was very, very lucky with my parents because when I was bullied for my looks, my mom always said, 'You look at the inside of somebody, you look at the inside of somebody,' " she said. "You don't look at class, you don't look at anything like that. You don't look at what they do for a job. It's just: 'Do you like that person's heart?' "

Anya then told Barrymore she wanted to "give a big shout-out to my mom for that [advice] because it was really helpful."

Anya took her dad as her 2024 Oscars date

Anya fulfilled a childhood promise to her dad in 2024 when she took him as her date to the Oscars, where she presented a category.

Dennis walked the iconic red carpet with his daughter, where he answered a few questions about the actress. When Extra asked if he was proud of Anya, he responded, “She’s put so much hard work into [her career]. The talent is there, but the hard work and the perseverance is there. That’s important.”

After the show, Anya posted a sweet message on Instagram in their native Spanish, alongside a picture of the two holding hands. “At 12 I promised my dad that if I was ever invited to the Oscars, I would take him.. 🥹,” she wrote.

Anya added that she was “llena de gratitud” — or “filled with gratitude.”