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Anya Taylor-Joy to star in new Netflix adaptation of Bella Mackie's How to Kill Your Family
British actress Anya Taylor-Joy will star in the Netflix adaptation of Bella Mackie’s bestselling How to Kill Your Family (The Borough Press), as part of a slew of new projects announced at the Edinburgh TV Festival.
The star will play the murderous protagonist Grace Bernard in the eight-part series, inspired by Mackie’s 2021 novel. Taylor-Joy “is the most perfect fit to play Grace,” Mackie told Netflix. “I often think she understands her better than I do.”
The plot follows Grace, the forgotten child of Simon Artemis, a merciless billionaire. After a heartbreaking rejection, Grace decides to exact revenge. But will this deadly scheme take even more from Grace than she’s already lost?
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 executive producers Sally Woodward Gentle and Lizzie Rusbridger. I am looking forward to getting our hands even dirtier.”
"How to Kill Your Family" was announced as one of a slew of Netflix projects announced at the Edinburgh Festival on 21st August and is produced by Sid Gentle Films, which also produced "Killing Eve”.
Emily Moran is an executive producer, along with Woodward Gentle, Rusbridger and Lee Morris. Taylor-Joy is also an executive producer for LadyKiller Productions Inc, which is also working on the project, with Mackie as co-executive producer.
Moran said: “Striking that balance between camp fun and brutal violence that Bella hits so perfectly in the book is a challenge I’m looking forward to. I’ve never had more fun on a project with such a high body count.”
Mackie added: “It’s been thrilling to watch the characters I wrote take on new life under this magnificent creative team.”
How to Kill Your Family has sold around 739,000 copies since publication in 2021, at £4.8m, according to Nielsen BookScan. Mackie’s second novel, What a Way to Go, it will be published by The Borough Press on 12th September 2024, and a second two-book deal takes her up to 2027 with the HarperCollins imprint.
