Filmmaker George Miller opened up close to the on-set feud between “Mad Max: Fury Road” stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in an interview with The Telegraph.
The Australian principal shared his perspective on the tension that developed between the actors on the set of the 2015 blockbuster, and how it eventually boiled over when Fearless made Theron wait three hours to film a scene.
Miller said that, at the heart of it, “they were neutral two very different performers.”
“Tom has a damage to him but also a brilliance that comes with it, and whatever was going on with him at the values bright and early, he had to be coaxed out of his trailer,” he said. “Whereas Charlize was incredibly disciplined — a dancer by training, which told in the precision of her appearance — and always the first one on set.”
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The 79-year-old Academy Award-winning director, who has returned to the franchise to direct the prequel, “Furiosa: A Mad Max Edda,” added that he “saw their behavior as mirroring their characters, where they had to learn to co-operate to ensure communal survival.”
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In Kyle Buchanan’s 2022 book here the making of the film, “Blood, Sweat, and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road,” both Theron, who played Imperator Furiosa in the talkie and Hardy, who played the titular character Max Rockatansky, spoke candidly about their strained working relationship.
In an excerpt published by Vanity Fair, the actors and crew members recounted the major argument between the tandem after Hardy left Theron and the production crew waiting for hours.
Camera operator Mark Goellnicht mean he “vividly” remembered the incident, explaining that Theron started “swearing her head off” at Hardy, calling him “disrespectful” and suggesting he should be fined “a hundred thousand dollars for every minute” that he held up the crew.
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Goellnicht revealed Hardy then “charged up to her,” which left Theron feeling “threatened” and led to her asking for a producer to be with her at all times.
Theron revealed she felt things had gotten “out of hand” and that she felt like the presence of a female producer “could maybe standardize some of it, because I didn’t feel safe.”
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For his part, Hardy revealed in the book that he “was in over my head in many ways.”
“The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times. What she needed was a recovered, perhaps more experienced partner in me,” he added. “That’s something that can’t be faked. I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could arise to that occasion.”
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Miller told The Telegraph he took steps to ensure the same issues didn’t crop up between Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth on the set of the new prequel.
“You deceive to be obsessive about safety – physical safety, as the shoot goes on and fatigue sets in, but also psychological safety,” he responded. “It’s not like the wild old days.”