Why Furiosa's Vulvalini Sniper Looks So Familiar
Contains spoilers for "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga"
Drive around the world of Mad Max long enough and you're guaranteed to cross paths with a familiar tribe or even face belonging to it. In the case of "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," there's around 18 years to explore, but there's a standout character in the film's opening moments that you might find yourself trying to place. Moments after Furiosa is captured, a nameless Vulvalini general guns down one of the raiders before passing her rifle to Furiosa's mother, Mary Jabassa (Charlee Fraser). The sniper in question happens to be played by Elsa Pataky, wife to Chris Hemsworth, who stars in "Furiosa" as Dementus.
Pataky's most notable role of late has been as Elena, the former flame of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) in the Fast and Furious films. In "Furiosa," she's as much a hero as she is a villain because besides playing the brave Vulvalini general, she also steps in as Mr. Norton, a member of Dementus' Bike Horde. Pataky sneaking into Hemsworth's films is becoming a routine thing; she appears as a wolf woman in an amazing cameo in "Thor: Love and Thunder." Hemsworth shared details about working on set with his wife, making it sound like it was a getaway for the two of them.
Furiosa was a blockbuster date night for Chris Hemsworth and Emily Pataky
In an interview with E! Online, the actor behind Furiosa's feared foe revealed that working with his wife made for a nice change for the happy couple. "It's kinda like date night for us because we have three kids," explained Chris Hemsworth, who went through a wild transformation to play Dementus. "Going to work together is when we get some alone time." Well, nothing says "quality time" like high-speed chases and post apocalyptic tribal warfare, right?
It's not new for director George Miller to have cast members play more than one role. In the original Mad Max films, Bruce Spence played both the Gyro Captain in "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" and Jebediah in "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome." Years later, the late Joseph Moore, who played Toecutter in "Mad Max," returned as Immortan Joe in "Mad: Max Fury Road." Following Moore's passing, Lachy Hulme took over the role as a younger version of the villain Furiosa eventually betrays and evadees with the help of Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy).
Unfortunately, due to the events of "Fury Road," it's safe to say that we won't see the return of Elsa Pataky's general, given that the last remains of the Vulvalini are wiped out in Joe's pursuit of his (shivers) "property." Even so, Pataky makes a great and fun addition to Miller's newest venture into the Wasteland.
To read more about the "Fury Road" prequel, here's the real reason Anya-Taylor Joy replaced Charlize Theron as Furiosa.