Charlize Theron was hoping to lead “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” before even “Mad Max: Fury Road” started shooting. Didn’t work out that way.
According to director George Miller, Oscar winner Theron begged him to go into production on “Furiosa” before “Fury Road.”
“She said, ‘Please, George, can we make this first?’” Miller told Empire magazine. “It was the first time I realized that there’s something really strong in this story.”
“Furiosa” is set 15 years prior to “Fury Road,” which was released in 2015. Writer/director Miller revealed that the first iteration of the “Furiosa” script was penned as part of the character development process for “Fury Road.” Theron’s Furiosa was a war captain serving tyrant Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne), who later leads a coup by freeing the ruler’s top female breeders.
“The story is the saga of Furiosa, and how she gets taken from home, and spends the rest of her life trying to get back,” Miller said of the storyline. “[In] ‘Fury Road’ the story unfolds over three days and two nights. This film follows the story that runs directly into ‘Fury Road,’ for 15 years. It’s a different animal. It’s got many different locations. It’s an odyssey. No question.”
Now, Anya Taylor-Joy will portray the younger version of the title character that Theron played in “Fury Road.”
Taylor-Joy told Empire that Theron was “so classy and kind in letting me go and do it.” The two have yet to meet.
“But I feel very lucky that, from the second I read the script, I just knew this person,” Taylor-Joy said of the Furiosa character. “I felt so fiercely protective over Furiosa, and fiercely protective of her interests.”
Taylor-Joy previously reflected on taking over the role from Theron, saying, “I fell in love with Furiosa because of the way Charlize presented her. She did such an incredible job. It was so beautiful. I can’t even think about trying to step into her shoes. It has to be something different because it just can’t be done.”
Theron called it “heartbreaking” to not return to the “Mad Max” franchise in a 2020 THR interview. “I really love that character, and I’m so grateful that I had a small part in creating her,” Theron said. “She will forever be someone I think of and reflect on fondly. Obviously, I would love to see that story continue, and if [Miller] feels like he has to go about it this way, then I trust him in that manner.”
