Anya Taylor-Joy Kept Something Truly Disgusting From Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Contains spoilers for "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga"
"Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" has finally arrived. A prequel set years before 2015's "Mad Max: Fury Road," the solo Furiosa pic is receiving rousing reviews from critics. Looper's review of "Furiosa" praised both its action sequences and performances, with particular kudos for Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays the fierce titular character. But while filming "Furiosa" was a traumatizing experience for Taylor-Joy, she also got to take home something truly disgusting from the shoot. In a profile for GQ, the actress revealed that she got to keep the prop tongue of the villain Dementus (Chris Hemsworth).
While shooting the film's finale, Taylor-Joy had the idea to have Furiosa cut off Dementus' tongue. Director George Miller agreed to film Taylor-Joy's pitch, but the final version of the picture doesn't feature the gruesome sequence. Luckily, Taylor-Joy got to keep a souvenir of the excised scene, revealing that she has Hemsworth's fake tongue chilling at home.
While her idea didn't make it to the final cut, Taylor-Joy's logic for suggesting it was sound. "It was really important to me that the confrontation between Furiosa and Dementus be a physical one, and that it was hard-won," the star said. A prop tongue is definitely one of the more interesting pieces of memorabilia that Taylor-Joy could have taken home — but it does show just how engaged the actress was during the film's production.
Working on Furiosa was liberating for Anya Taylor-Joy
It was a bold decision on director George Miller's part to replace Charlize Theron with Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa, but it seems like the choice has paid off. Taylor-Joy is receiving a healthy amount of acclaim for her sharp, tortured performance as the eventual Imperator and the film proves that she has what it takes to headline a major blockbuster. The picture also allowed the actress to tap into a deeper part of herself. "For all my championing of female rage, I've never been an angry person," she admitted to GQ.
But as production moved along, Taylor-Joy allowed herself to feel the emotions — rage, anger, vengeance — that she had to portray onscreen. "I'm so grateful for 'Furiosa,' because there was a real moment where I started getting angry for myself," Taylor-Joy added. "My husband was like 'I've never heard you be like this.' I was like, 'I'm glad! I'm glad that I'm angry!' If someone steps on me now I'm like, 'Hey, f*** you!' That makes me feel good."
Casting Taylor-Joy was a huge gamble but Miller's expectations were certainly high. The director thought that she was perfect for the role because of her training as a ballet dancer, an experience he felt would lend itself well to the physicality, discipline, and stoicism that was required for Furiosa. "She proved my instincts to be right," Miller told GQ.