Anya Taylor-Joy jokes that she and husband acted like spies when planning secret wedding

Anya Taylor-Joy has joked that she and her husband acted like spies when they planned their top-secret wedding.

Earlier this month, the Queen’s Gambit actor revealed she and musician Malcolm McRae had tied the knot in a secret ceremony in New Orleans in April 2022.

She said: “We did our research, we were like pretty spy-orientated”, adding that the intimate nature of their nuptials “made it all the more special because it just felt like a secret that we got to keep to ourselves.”

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, the actor, who is rumoured to be starring in the third instalment of the smash hit sci-fi epic Dune after making a surprise cameo in Dune: Part Two, said her wedding day was “magical”.

“At the end of the day, it was about the two of us and so we ran away with our two best friends and had the most magical day possible.”

The couple celebrated with friends and family in a star-studded second ceremony in Venice in October 2023.

Announcing their secret vows in an Instagram post, Taylor-Joy said: “Two years ago, on April Fools, I secretly married my best friend in New Orleans. The magic of that day is ingrained in every cell of my being, forever. Happy second ( first ) anniversary my love…you’re the coolest.”

Among the collection of images were some unique wedding cakes. The Last Night in Soho actor added: “N.B yes, those are anatomically correct heart cakes. Yes, I am the vampire Lestat.”

Her husband also shared his own words on social media, writing “I love you now and somehow I always have and somehow it will never end. Happy two year anniversary (yesterday), beautiful.”

The pair met at the March 2021 premiere of the hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, in which the actor plays protagonist Beth Harmon.

Days after their meeting, McRae wrote an original song for the actor and posted clips on Instagram of him performing the song with his band More.

He captioned the video “I wrote this song for Anya two days after meeting her. It’s called “Really Want to See You Again”.

Taylor-Joy opened up about their romance in an interview in 2023 with British Vogue, saying she’d “finally found someone who will happily sit in silence with me reading.”

The American-born actor is next set to appear in the upcoming post-apocalyptic action adventure film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.