Anya Taylor-Joy, who stars in the Mad Max prequel film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, made concerning comments about her time on set, seemingly reinforcing a legacy of misogyny and poor treatment of actors in the post-apocalyptic thriller franchise.
Charlize Theron, who played Imperator Furiosa in 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road, revealed in a 2022 book by New York Times pop culture writer Kyle Buchanan that she felt intimidated working with her co-star Tom Hardy.
Buchanan's book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road featured testimony from the film's director George Miller, cast, and crew.
Theron said she felt threatened working with Hardy and after a major clash required protection with a woman in power to "equalize" tensions on set. She also accused one of the male producers of excusing Hardy's "really bad behavior" because he was a man.
"I didn't feel safe," she added.
At the time, Hardy was dismissive of Theron's account and said of his co-star:
“She’s a very serious actor. So, I don’t see why she would ever be intimidated by me or in any way feel frightened."
He added, "I think that was more bollocks," despite other actors verifying the unfavorable working conditions at the time.
Taylor-Joy, who plays the younger Furiosa in the character's new origin story movie, told Buchanan in a recent New York Times interview about how difficult shooting the film was for her.
The 28-year-old Queen's Gambit Emmy nominee said that after wrapping production on the film in 2022 she was “going to need the two years that it took for the movie to come out to deal with it.”
Taylor-Joy added:
"I’ve never been more alone than making that movie."
"I don’t want to go too deep into it, but everything that I thought was going to be easy was hard.”
Buchanan recalled of the actor's apprehension:
“Sensing that she was skirting a sensitive issue, I asked Taylor-Joy what exactly it was about 'Furiosa' that had proved more difficult than she expected."
"For five long seconds, she contemplated giving me an answer. ‘Next question, sorry,’ she said.”
“There was a faraway look in her eyes, as if a part of her had been left behind in that wasteland.”
He then quoted Taylor-Joy suggesting to him:
“Talk to me in 20 years. Talk to me in 20 years.”
A fan posted a screenshot excerpt from the interview on X (formerly Twitter) saying:
"Anya never said anything like this before... what exactly happened on that set damn."
With very little to go on, social media users speculated that Taylor-Joy may have been mistreated during filming, and they wanted names.
Others thought filming in a desert location posed unique challenges.
Taylor-Joy also mentioned the restrictive challenges of going for months without a speaking line during production, saying:
“I do want to 100 percent preface this by saying I love George, and if you’re going to do something like this, you want to be in the hands of someone like George Miller.”
“But he had a very, very strict idea of what [Anya’s character] Furiosa’s war face looked like, and that only allowed me my eyes for a large portion of the movie."
"It was very much ‘mouth closed, no emotion, speak with your eyes.’ That’s it, that’s all you have.”
In defense of his direction, Miller told the news publication:
“When you’ve got someone with a lot going on and they’re silent, the audience is getting ahold of a lot of stuff."
"It’s that thing that you can really only do in cinema.”
Despite the cryptic behind-the-scenes account, Taylor-Joy expressed having a strong connection to Furiosa in a People magazine featurette.
She said of her character:
“I have very much been in her head."
“This character is so inspirational. She’s opened up a whole other universe for me.”
You can watch a trailer for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga here.
FURIOSA : A MAD MAX SAGA | OFFICIAL TRAILER #2youtu.be
While it was evident Theron and Hardy clashed while working together in Fury Road, Taylor-Joy appeared to have a healthier relationship with her Furiosa co-star Chris Hemsworth.
In an Access Hollywood interview, she said of the Australian actor:
"He’s just the most wonderful, kindhearted, big-hearted individual."
"We have a lot of fun. [I’m] very lucky."
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga opens in theaters on May 24.
