‘The Queen’s Gambit’ launches globally on Netflix on Friday, October 23, 2020.
Based on the novel by Walter Tevis, the Netflix limited series drama, The Queen’s Gambit is a coming-of-age story that explores the true cost of genius. Abandoned and entrusted to a Kentucky orphanage in the late 1950s, a young Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) discovers an astonishing talent for chess while developing an addiction to tranquilizers provided by the state as a sedative for the children.
Haunted by her personal demons and fueled by a cocktail of narcotics and obsession, Beth transforms into an impressively skilled and glamorous outcast while determined to conquer the traditional boundaries established in the male-dominated world of competitive chess. The series is directed and written by two-time Academy Award nominee Scott Frank and executive produced by Frank, William Horberg, and Allan Scott, who also co-created the series.
The Knockturnal had the pleasure of speaking with The Queen’s Gambit cast about the method to mastering their characters, what chess means to them, and how their time on set was a transformative experience.