The new Apple TV limited drama series Lucky is a high-stakes thriller about survival, identity and the difficult process of escaping the life you were born into. At the centre of the story is Luciana "Lucky" Armstrong (Anya Taylor-Joy), a brilliant but troubled con artist raised by her father, John Armstrong (Timothy Olyphant), a charming career criminal who taught her everything he knew about deception and survival -- except how to escape the world he created for her.
Based on Marissa Stapley's best-selling novel of the same name, Lucky follows its titular character after a multi-million-dollar heist goes wrong. When her husband and partner-in-crime Cary Masterson (Drew Starkey) disappears with the stolen fortune, Lucky is left to face the consequences alone. Pursued by the FBI and hunted by a ruthless criminal organisation, she must fight for her life while confronting the choices and circumstances that shaped her.
But beneath the chase sequences and crime-thriller elements, Lucky is ultimately a story about identity -- about whether someone can truly break free from the person they were raised to become.
For Taylor-Joy, who stars as Lucky and also serves as executive producer through her production company LadyKiller, that emotional complexity was what immediately attracted her to the role.
"As soon as I read Lucky, I felt so much empathy for a woman who couldn't sit still and desperately wanted a place to put down roots," she recalled. "I was intrigued by the idea of nature versus nurture. There's something about a character who knows how to read everyone around her, but struggles to read herself."
The actress joined the project early in its development, taking on a role that extended far beyond simply portraying the title character. As a producer, she became involved in many aspects of the series, from creative discussions to the development of Lucky's world.
"I thought that if I could be a part of this show not only as an actor but also as a producer, I had the opportunity to learn from some of the best of the best," Taylor-Joy explained.
"I was in the writers' room with Cassie [Pappas] and Jonathan [Tropper], and I was watching cuts in the makeup chair. It felt incredibly collaborative. I was included in every step of the process and that shaped how I played her."
That level of involvement allowed Taylor-Joy to understand Lucky not only as a character, but as a person constantly struggling between instinct and desire. Lucky has spent her entire life learning how to manipulate situations and read other people, yet she has difficulty understanding what she truly wants.
"I loved the idea of a woman trying to break free from the patterns that once kept her alive," Taylor-Joy pointed out. "That's something I think a lot of people can relate to."
The challenge was finding the humanity beneath Lucky's criminal background. Although she is a con artist, the series avoids presenting her simply as an antihero. Instead, it explores the emotional cost of growing up in a world where trust is dangerous and survival depends on constantly performing another version of yourself.
"Lucky's story doesn't just move fast; it moves deep," she said. "There's no room to fake it in this world. You feel the dirt, the fear, the hope -- all of it."
To bring that emotional experience to the screen, director and executive producer Jonathan van Tulleken developed a visual style that would keep audiences close to Lucky's perspective. Having directed the pilot, as well as the sixth and seventh episodes, van Tulleken approached the series as a psychological thriller shaped by its protagonist's fractured state of mind.
"We wanted a heightened realism -- stylised but grounded," he explained. "Everything is through Lucky's lens and her world is distorted by memory, trauma, adrenaline. That affects the way we shot it."
Rather than observing Lucky from a distance, van Tulleken wanted viewers to experience the uncertainty and pressure that define her life. The camera becomes an extension of her instincts, constantly searching, reacting and trying to anticipate the next danger.
"Our philosophy was always about staying grounded in Lucky's perspective," he explained. "We didn't want the camera to feel omniscient, we wanted the audience to be right there with her, figuring things out along the way as she did."
The series moves through vastly different environments, from the bright lights and chaos of Las Vegas to the isolation of the desert and the dangerous spaces in between. For van Tulleken, each location helped reflect another stage of Lucky's emotional journey.
"Each episode has its own texture," he said. "There's a structure to the show that allows us to shift tone and energy depending on where Lucky is emotionally."
That visual language was also designed to reflect the instability of Lucky's life. She is constantly changing identities, adapting to new circumstances and trying to stay one step ahead of everyone around her.
The shifting atmosphere of the series mirrors her own uncertainty as she begins to question whether survival alone is enough.
That approach also shaped his collaboration with Taylor-Joy, whose involvement behind the scenes made her an important creative partner throughout production.
"Anya's incredibly collaborative," van Tulleken said. "She's not just playing Lucky -- she is Lucky. From day one, she brought ideas that elevated everything."
What impressed him most was Taylor-Joy's ability to capture the contradictions at the centre of the character.
"She has this ability to flip between strength and fragility in a single breath," he added. "It's magnetic. That's what Lucky needed -- someone who could hold contradictions and make them feel truthful."
The emotional foundation of Lucky is also built around the complicated relationships that shaped her life, particularly with her father John and her estranged mother-in-law Priscilla Masterson (Annette Bening), a powerful criminal figure who challenges Lucky at every turn.
While the series delivers action, betrayal and suspense, its central question remains deeply personal -- can someone escape the patterns they inherited?
For Taylor-Joy, the physical demands of portraying Lucky were inseparable from the character's emotional journey. The production required intense action sequences, but also quieter moments where Lucky's vulnerability could emerge.
"This production demanded everything," she said. "It wasn't just the physical toll, it was staying present in the quiet moments, too."
Lucky's journey is ultimately about confronting the life that shaped her and deciding whether she can become someone beyond it. After a lifetime of deception and survival, she must face the possibility that true freedom does not come from simply escaping her past, but from finally understanding herself.
"She may be a con artist," Taylor-Joy concluded, "but she's someone who is trying to find her own truth."
