Years after winning her first Oscar with Monster (and then creating more Oscar buzz with North Country), Charlize Theron took another gamble that paid off. This, of course, was George Miller’s Mad Max: Fury Road. In the 2015 film, Theron portrays Furiosa, a female warrior who escapes a tyrannical ruler, along with his wives.
The actress’ experience on set may have been rough, but Fury Road was a huge hit. And while many expected Theron to reprise the role at some point, Miller ended up casting Anya Taylor-Joy instead after confirming that a prequel was happening.
Charlize Theron Once Said She Was Willing To Return For A Prequel
As rough as the situation was on set with co-star Tom Hardy when Theron worked on Fury Road, the actress was still determined to return should Miller ever revisit her character.
“I’d love to,” Theron confirmed while promoting Atomic Blonde in 2017.
Later on, the actress also admitted that she wanted a sort of do-over. “Because I never really truly appreciated or respected George Miller’s vision until I saw [the completed film and] went, ‘Oh my God, this is what was in his head the whole time and I couldn’t hear it,’” Theron said.
“And so it’s the one movie where I go, ‘If I had another opportunity, I’d get a little bit more of what he tried to do in the first one.’”
George Miller Thought He Could Reunite With Charlize Theron On The Prequel ‘For The Longest Time’
The truth is Miller had been toying with the idea of doing a prequel since he started work on Fury Road. That film took over a decade to realize, after all, and that gave Miller and co-writer Nick Lathouris time to work on character backstories, including Furiosa’s. But it was originally just meant to be a backstory.
“It was purely a way of helping Charlize and explaining it to ourselves,” Miller even said.
But then, Furiosa’s story was so interesting that he went ahead with a second screenplay. And when Miller did that, he initially thought that he could get Theron again.
“For the longest time, I thought we could just use CG de-aging on Charlize, but I don’t think we’re nearly there yet,” Miller revealed.
“Despite the valiant attempts on The Irishman, I think there’s still an uncanny valley. Everyone is on the verge of solving it, particular Japanese video-game designers, but there’s still a pretty wide valley, I believe.”
He Cast Anya Taylor-Joy After Auditioning With A Line From The Network
In the end, Miller found Taylor-Joy after one simple, but compelling audition where she delivered the “I’m as hell” speech from The Network.
“Apart from the brilliance of the writing, it’s a piece that can be done to camera. It doesn’t need an acting partner,” Miller told Empire Magazine. “Anya did one version, which was really good.”
With a single audition, Taylor-Joy also convinced Miller that she’d be perfect for a younger Furiosa.
“Then I gave her just a couple of simple notes about intention and she just absolutely nailed [it]. I think it was done on an iPhone. I sent it to the studio. I explained why I thought she was right for the role,” he continued.
“I said I was really happy to talk about it but it was so persuasive that we didn’t need to talk. The studio said, ‘Tick.’” Taylor-Joy has since wrapped up her time on Furiosa.
Charlize Theron Is Okay With Anya Taylor-Joy Not Reaching Out After Getting Cast
As for Theron, she’s moved to various other projects. The actress is also happy that Furiosa is happening and that Taylor-Joy will take over her role.
“Listen, I’m not mad about [Miller doing a prequel instead of a sequel],” she said. “One of the greatest f****** actresses [Anya Taylor-Joy] is picking up something that I only imagined.”
Theron also understands why Taylor-Joy hasn’t reached out.
“It’s always tricky. Who wants to pick up the phone and say, like, ‘Hey, we’re going to go do this without you,’” Theron said.
“No one wants to do that. So, I totally get that. And I love George. I know I’ll talk to him again. I think it was just too hard.”
And while the two A-listers are yet to speak to each other, Taylor-Joy looks forward to chatting with Theron soon.
“Charlize was sweet enough — I think both of us ended up in a situation where we were both so respectful of each other that we didn't want to reach out prior [to filming],” the actress recently told People.
“The second it was over, once this press tour is over, we're having dinner and we're going to swap war stories for sure.”
Since finishing her work on the film, Taylor-Joy also has nothing but praise for the franchise and the upcoming movie.
“It is an entirely unique situation and I only finished it 13 days ago and was then thrown into this circus, so I think it's going to take me a second to understand what's going on. But I feel really grateful to be here and I feel so grateful that I got to work with the unbelievable creatives that man Furiosa,” the actress said.
“The Mad Max world is entirely unique and epic at a scale that I can't even [describe].”
Furiosa is set for release on May 24, 2024.
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