EXCLUSIVE: GLASS Star Anya Taylor-Joy Explains Why Casey Cooke Returns to Help Kevin In His Time Of Need

Ahead of the theatrical debut of M. Night Shyamalan's Glass last week, I was granted an exclusive opportunity to sit down with rising star Anya Taylor-Joy at the global press junket and chat about her return as Casey Cooke in the long-awaited conclusion to Shyamalan's Eastrail 177 trilogy.

In the first part of our lengthy chat, Taylor-Joy discusses her return as the ever-resilient Casey Cooke and explains why she believes Casey returned to help Kevin Wendell Crumb in his time of need. Plus, she also tells me about working with James McAvoy .

ROHAN PATEL: Casey's grown quite a bit since her experience with Kevin in Split, and both films see her make major leaps as a character. She just keeps getting stronger and stronger, despite all the tragedy that seemingly surrounds her.

Before starting Glass, what was your approach to revisiting Casey and how did you want to differentiate your performances in this one compared to the last one? 

ANYA TAYLOR JOY: I think my first thought, which is gonna sound a little crazy, but actually makes a lot of sense is that, in Split, Casey's basically enclosed in one room and under extreme duress. People act differently in those situations and I think, bizarrely enough, her being in that room felt like an actual representation of the way that she's always felt, so getting to play her in the outside world and have her be comfortable moving within that, that's huge for her. And it was such a pleasure to give that to her because she's so thoroughly deserves it.

Kevin started off a healing process in her that I think hasn't reached the zenith of the lesson that she's supposed to learn and I think Kevin really saw her and gave her the permission to see herself. She now wants to do that for him. She's fascinated by him and she wants to - She cares about him, she loves him.

ROHAN: Yeah, she kind of wants to give him what he was able to give her?

ANYA: Yeah and I think it's also very important to remember that she has never once doubted his DID (dissociative identity disorder). She very firmly believes, as is the truth, that these are all individual personalities, so Kevin never really did anything to her.

Kevin's just a broken person that's had to find a way to survive and these other personalities have helped him survive, but Kevin and Casey, they're chill.

ROHAN: How was it reuniting with James again? You guys had such terrific chemistry in Split and it's even better this time. You two play opposite one another so well, regardless of which personality he's inhabiting in any given scene.

ANYA: Honestly, we have such an intense connection that it almost feels like the most normal thing in the world to reunite is Casey and Kevin. It just it feels - we both create a space for each other that's very quiet and comforting and that has always been there.

There's a space that exists between the two of us, when we act, where we just are allowing each other to be incredibly vulnerable. He holds a space for me, I hold the space for him and then, it just felt as if no time had gone by, except that this time we knew each other so much better. You know we had made a film together, we went on a world tour together, we'd been friends, and then, we got to reunite as characters and it felt - it felt safe with James. It always has, which I think is a really special feeling to have.

Check back in throughout the week for even more from Anya Taylor-Joy as she tells me all about Glass, and stay tuned for our full interview which features tons of juicy and spoiler-y details about M. Night Shyamalan's latest hit! 

M. Night Shyamalan brings together the narratives of two of his standout originals—2000’s Unbreakable, from Touchstone, and 2016’s Split, from Universal—in one explosive, all-new comic-book thriller: Glass.

Following the conclusion of Split, Glass finds Dunn pursuing Crumb’s superhuman figure of The Beast in a series of escalating encounters, while the shadowy presence of Price emerges as an orchestrator who holds secrets critical to both men.