While she has delivered many adored lines in her successful career, Anya Taylor-Joy has less to say for her new film, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Her role reportedly includes just 30 lines of dialogue, meaning she would go months on set without speaking on camera. “I’ve never been more alone than making that movie” the star said in a recent interview, but if you know your action classics, her solitude may have paved the way for success in the genre.
Hard to believe as it may seem, many of the most quoted lines in action movies come from actors who spoke very little. Everyone remembers “I’ll be back” from 1984’s The Terminator, but Arnold Schwarzenegger’s cyborg assassin had just 17 lines of dialogue in James Cameron’s film. “I must break you” was one of nine lines Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) had in Rocky IV (1984), while Keanu Reeves’ John Wick uttered just 380 words in the fourth chapter of the revenge franchise.
