Charlize Theron Confirms What We All Suspected About Tom Hardy's On-Set Behavior For Mad Max
By all accounts, the fourth installment of the "Mad Max" franchise, "Fury Road," was difficult. For years, director George Miller felt there was nowhere else to go with the film series after 1985's "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," but then, in 1998, he had a "very simple idea": "What if there was a 'Mad Max' movie that was one long chase, and the MacGuffin was human?" (via The New York Times) Seventeen years later, after facing obstacles such as travel restrictions after 9/11, having to find a new leading man, and rainstorms flooding the Australian desert they were filming in, "Fury Road" finally got made.
When Miller met Tom Hardy, he "had the same feeling about Tom that [he] had when Mel Gibson first walked into the room: There was a kind of edgy charm, the charisma of animals." As for Charlize Theron, Miller said that when it came to Furiosa, he "could only think of her for the role" (via Wall Street Journal). There's no doubt that Hardy and Theron in the lead roles were brilliant and perfectly cast, but the two actors had completely different approaches to their craft. With the release of "Blood, Sweat & Chrome," an oral history book about the filming of "Fury Road," fans can finally hear from Theron firsthand about her experience working with Hardy on the film.
Charlize Theron felt threatened by Tom Hardy's behavior
"Between Tom and Charlize, it was literally the most contrast I've ever seen between two actors," said "Fury Road" camera operator Mark Goellnicht in an excerpt from "Blood, Sweat & Chrome" provided by Vanity Fair. For Charlize Theron and the crew, there was a specific moment on set when everything came to a head. "The call on set was eight o'clock. Charlize got there right at eight o'clock ... [Tom Hardy] was notorious for never being on time in the morning. If the call time was in the morning, forget it—he didn't show up."
When Hardy finally showed up — three hours late — Theron blew up at him, screaming and swearing. He got in her face and said, "'What did you say to me?' He was quite aggressive," Goellnicht says. "She really felt threatened." After the incident, Theron, fearing for her safety, requested she be accompanied at all times by a female producer. However, by the end of filming, Goellnicht remembers that things between Theron and Hardy had softened. Hardy "was a different person ... a lot more cooperative, more compassionate."