Mad Max: Fury Road star Charlize Theron says she "didn't feel safe" on set due to tensions with co-star Tom Hardy.
It’s no secret that Hardy and Theron had a troubled partnership while filming Fury Road, but a new book by Kyle Buchanan titled Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road sheds some light on the tensions, and it’s a disturbing read.
Theron says she spent “several weeks on that movie where I wouldn’t know what was going to come my way, and that’s not necessarily a nice thing to feel when you’re on your job. It was a little bit like walking on thin ice.”
Speaking to Buchanan, Theron and several members of the crew, who took part in the lengthy shoot in the Namibian desert, accused Tom Hardy of unprofessional behavior.
Hardy was apparently known for turning up to set late, and during one incident, this boiled over into a furious argument between Hardy and Theron. Hardy, along with the rest of the cast and crew, was required to be on set by 8am. After producers made a “special request” for Hardy to turn up on time, he nevertheless turned up 3 hours late, all while Theron was on set and ready to shoot – despite the fact that she was a new mother at the time, with her baby in childcare nearby.
Theron was reportedly furious. “She was really going to make a point,” said camera operator Mark Goellnicht. “She didn’t go to the bathroom, didn’t do anything. She just sat in the War Rig.”
After Hardy finally arrived, Theron apparently responded: “How disrespectful are you?” and said the producers should “fine the f**king c**t a hundred thousand dollars for every minute that he’s held up this crew”.
Hardy apparently responded by “charging up to her” demanding: “What did you say to me?” Goellnicht noted that Hardy was “quite aggressive” and that Theron “really felt threatened.” At this point, Theron demanded protection on set.
“It got to a place where it was kind of out of hand, and there was a sense that maybe sending a woman producer down could maybe equalise some of it, because I didn’t feel safe,” she explained. However, producer Denise Di Novi was ultimately barred from set herself.
“I don’t want to make excuses for bad behaviour, but it was a tough shoot,” she added. “Now, I have a very clear perspective on what went down. I don’t think I had that clarity when we were making the movie. I was in survival mode; I was really scared shitless.”
Theron admitted that she too could have been more thoughtful of the situation for others around her and Hardy: “It was horrible! We should not have done that; we should have been better. I can own up to that.”
Director George Miller admits that he felt “disappointment about the process,” and added, “Looking back, if I had to do it again, I would probably be more mindful."
Several crew members noted that the on-set friction may have helped the on-screen tension between Max (Hardy) and Imperator Furiosa (Theron).
“Boy f**king howdy, was it clear that those two people hated each other,” said editor J Houston Yang. “They didn’t want to touch each other, they didn’t want to look at each other, they wouldn’t face each other if the camera wasn’t actively rolling.”
Those interviewed seem to agree that it was Hardy who made matters worse. Assistant cameraman Ricky Schamburg said that Hardy was “very provocative” while Theron was “the easiest person to deal with.”
Nicholas Hoult, who played Nux, said it was like being “on your summer holidays and the adults in the front of the car are arguing.”
Hardy responded to the allegations by saying “[I was] in over my head in many ways”.
“The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times,” he added. “What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me. That’s something that can’t be faked. I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.”
Hardy recently admitted that Mad Max: Fury Road was ultimately Furiosa’s movie. And despite having a tough time on set, Theron found it “a little bit heart-breaking” when the role of Furiosa was recast for the upcoming prequel.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Charlize Theron 'Didn't Feel Safe' on Mad Max Set With Tom Hardy - IGN - IGN
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