You would think when you’re in love and married you’d want to shout it from the rooftops, but that hasn’t been the case with Hollywood starlet Anya Taylor-Joy. The Queen’s Gambit actress just revealed that she’s been secretly married to her partner Malcolm McRae since 2022. So who is he?
The couple married in New Orleans on April 1 2022, and the actress called Malcolm her best friend in a heartfelt Instagram post. “The magic of that day is ingrained in every cell of my being, forever,” she said. “Happy second ( first ) anniversary my love…you’re the coolest.” The last word was followed by a heart emoji. Sorry, a human heart emoji.
She also posted a video of herself in her beautiful wedding dress. It was designed by Dior specifically for the wedding, and it was embroidered with elegant hummingbirds. Oh, and the cakes were anatomically correct hearts.
The couple, by the way, got married again a year and a half later in Venice, and they stepped out together as a couple the first time in 2022 at the CAA pre-Oscar bash. Anya also made a splash when she kissed Malcolm at a premiere for The Northman, and they attended the Golden Globes together in 2023.
She told British Vogue that she “finally found someone who will happily sit in silence with me reading. We’re basically 80 years old and 7 at the same time, and it works really well.” When she was interviewed by Elle in her bathroom after winning a Golden Globe for best actress, Anya called Malcolm her partner and (looking back now) it seems like she was being intentionally vague about Malcolm’s profession.
“My partner’s just come back from work, and he’s moving around all of his equipment, so this was the safe spot,” she said. We don’t know exactly when the couple started dating, but she told Vanity Fair that she went through a horrific breakup right before she started filming the Jane Austen adaptation of Emma in the beginning of 2019.
“Prior to filming I’d just had a devastating breakup, and it had challenged everything. I was just incredibly insecure and very, very unsafe in my own skin.” She also said she watched Sex and the City to help her through the breakup, and that she even told the star of that show, Sarah Jessica Parker, that her character and Mr. Big gave her hope, because it made her feel like her heartbreak would end at some point.
Malcolm McRae is Anya Taylor-Joy’s husband
If you don’t know who Malcolm McRae is, you’re not alone. For starters, he’s a musician from Birmingham, Alabama. He’s in a band called More*. It’s a two person outfit and Malcolm plays piano, guitar and sings. He’s in the band with Kane Ritchotte, who was a member of the band Portugal. The Man from 2012 to 2016. So far, More* has released two EPS: 1/2 was released in July of 2020 and 2/2 was released in September of 2021.
In an interview with Rain Magazine, Malcolm revealed he likes to take his time with music and make sure it’s perfect. “Kane and I were doing solo projects individually and had a few songs we had written and recorded separately. We met up and decided it was fun to write together and bring our songs together. So we finished ten songs over about three years.”
If you head over to the band’s Spotify page, there’s a bio that may or may not be related to Anya. It says the band’s singer was in Alabama but moved to California “two years ago,” and also this: “Malcolm had only recently fallen in love with a young woman and followed his foolish heart, dropping everything to move to Los Angeles. Well, his heart was mistaken. The relationship was a disaster. But the music that followed wasn’t.” So maybe he was in a bad relationship first, and after the breakup, met Anya?
Of course, one of the perks of dating a musician has to be them writing a song about you, right? On March 11, 2022, Malcolm revealed on Instagram that his song “Really Want to See You Again” was about Anya, and that he wrote it “two days after meeting her.” Sample lyrics: “I know that I’m high now but I’ve gotta get this out. I think we’re alike in ways that I can’t quite explain right, but I might, could with some time. If ever we were in the same place. I want what’s right, but I want without warning now, and I think we’re wanting something the same.”
Anya also apparently appears in the More* single “Whose Side You’re On.” In the caption he wrote: “Thanks to our friends @ethangruska, @erroneousambergris, @dashiell_lefrancis, and @anyataylorjoy for their masterful parts on the recording.”
More* has toured with Haim, something Anya has posted about on Instagram. “… if you’re looking for a good time in the coming weeks, my heart(s) @moretheband are opening for the coolest sisters @haimtheband on their North American tour,” she wrote.
Malcolm first posted about Anya in July of 2021, where he shared a picture of himself and Anya with the caption “I’m besotted.” He posted again in October, sharing two selfies of the couple in front of mirrors that was captioned “Oof supremely happy.” On Valentine’s Day of last year, Anya shared a video on her Instagram story of the couple smooching it up and wrote “Mi amor” and “I’m all yours.” Sappy! He answered with an Instagram story of his own that said, “Mi bombón eres tú, para siempre. Happy Valentine’s Day love.”
Weirdly, the two share a birthday: April 16. He was born in 1994 and she was born in 1996. The couple also have a cat together named Kitsune.
Finally, in 2022 Malcolm dressed up as Mario to Anya’s Princess Peach at a West Hollywood party. Anya wore a pink dress and a gold crown. His bandmate Kane dressed up as Luigi. It was very fitting attire considering Anya played Peach in the megahit The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Congrats to the happy couple. Here’s to many more years together!
