Summary

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga delves into the origins of Imperator Furiosa, exploring her journey from The Green Place to the Wasteland.
Director George Miller allows the cast to fight for their ideas, creating a collaborative and thoughtful process for the movie.
Chris Hemsworth brings a new terrifying villain to the Mad Max world with Dementus, showcasing his depth as an actor in a major franchise.

Furiosa: A Max Max Saga explores the origins of Imperator Furiosa, who was first introduced in Mad Max: Fury Road. Furiosa is stolen from her people and home, The Green Place of Many Mothers, and falls into the hands of the Warlord Dementus’ Biker Hoard. The Biker Hoard comes across the Citadel, which is led by The Immortan Joe, while traversing the Wasteland. As the two tyrants fight for power and dominance, Furiosa will face many hardships as she tries to survive and find a way back to her home.

George Miller has helmed the Mad Max saga since it began in 1979, but Mad Max: Fury Road brought a new character that captured audiences’ attention and hearts with Imperator Furiosa. While her origin was touched upon in the movie, Miller wanted to dig deeper into how she became the warrior that fans love. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga explores not only her origin but the Wasteland outside of Max, which is a first for the franchise and opens the door to countless more stories in this world. Anya Taylor-Joy leads Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, taking the torch from Charlize Theron, who established Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, and Chris Hemsworth brings a new terrifying villain into the desolate world of Mad Max as Dementus.

Screen Rant interviewed stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth about their new movie, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Taylor-Joy discussed collaborating with Miller and the stunt team. Hemsworth shared how he found the voice of his villainous Dementus and why he leaned into the charismatic aspects of dictators to capture the character.

Anya Taylor-Joy Talks George Miller’s Collaboration Process

“You Almost Plant The Seed Day One…”

The world of Mad Max has been living in Miller’s head for years, with the director helming each movie of the franchise. Taylor-Joy explained that while Miller has a clear idea in his head, the cast has the opportunity to fight for ideas they believe will improve the movie, but they need to be diligent and thoughtful about which ideas they lobby for.

Anya Taylor-Joy: With George, everything is up for discussion, but if you have a choice that you feel really strongly about, you better go to bat for it. You go to bat for it because he’s so considered, and rightfully so. He’s been living with this world and these characters for such a long time.

If there’s something that you want to add to it, you almost plant the seed day one, and then you check on it every day. Some days you give it a lot of water. Other days you just leave it alone. But it makes me happy about the things that have ended up in the film because I’m like, “Okay. I argued it strongly enough that it’s in there.”

While Furiosa needs to be skilled behind the wheel, Taylor-Joy is a novice herself, never having gotten a driver’s license. However, her time working on Furiosa: A Max Max Saga has inspired her not only to get her driver’s license but potentially her stunt driver’s license as well, after being inspired by the stunt team.

Anya Taylor-Joy: I was just so grateful because [the stunt people are] so cool. I just immediately got enveloped into this family of people where I was like, “Yeah, I want to be your friend, and I want to be doing everything that you’re doing.”

I’m really, really grateful that the environment I was a part of was never one of aggression. It was never like, “Listen, you have to do this, and you have to do it by this point.” It was always, “We believe in you. We know you can do this, and now go and do it. You’ve got all of us behind you.” I think it’s massively inspired me. I’d love to be able to get my driver’s license and my stunt driver’s license, just because it is so much fun.

But oh my goodness, you can’t have any action movie – but especially a Mad Max movie – without the incredible stuntmen and women that worked on this. We are just grateful to them.

Chris Hemsworth Gives A Disappointing Update To The Hulk Hogan Movie

Hemsworth has become synonymous with hero after playing Thor in the MCU for over a decade. That’s not to say he hasn’t played a villain before, but Dementus is an opportunity for him to show off his depth in a new kind of role in a major franchise. While Hemsworth taps into his charisma to play Dementus, there is an edge of malice in his actions as opposed to the kindness underlying his most famous role.

Chris Hemsworth: It was really refreshing to have that opportunity. The charisma was a big thing that George talked about from day one, two years prior to shooting; the commonality between dictators and people in power who had amassed large followings [is that] there had to be an air of charisma. There had to be promise out of the suffering they were in and identification around, “I know who has caused your problems, and I know the solution. Follow me!”

There needed to be some sort of fun, humor, joy and charisma in order to woo people into – not a false sense of security, but some sense of comfort. He needed to be enjoyable to be around. I think it also makes it a little more surprising when there is a brutal act or an act of violence if, just prior to that, you’ve sort of relaxed into an enjoyable statement.

The unpredictable nature of it was what George was definitely after, what was on the page, and what we kind of played with a lot. But it was so refreshing to do something different and do something that allowed me that opportunity. I love playing the superhero, but it does come with its limitations.

Hemsworth also discussed finding Dementus’ voice and why he had more freedom playing an original character. He also gave a disappointing update on the Hulk Hogan movie and explained the pressure of playing a real person, especially in portraying their most iconic aspects, like their voice.

Chris Hemsworth: No, not really. To work with Todd Phillips, who we discussed making that film with, would be an honor and a fantastic opportunity. I can’t say it’s officially happening yet. If there was a green light, I’d get to work on it.

But it’s interesting. Dementus’ vocal quality was something I could invent and it would be surprising to people, but there wouldn’t be any judgment or comparison. It’s a tricky thing to play a real-life character. I’ve done it once before, and people immediately have the measuring stick out and the critiques and so on. It’d be nerve-wracking, but if there’s a great script and a story to tell, I’d love to jump into it. But there’s nothing official at this point.

About Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

As the world fell, young Furiosa is snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and falls into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus. Sweeping through the Wasteland, they come across the Citadel, presided over by The Immortan Joe. While the two Tyrants war for dominance, Furiosa must survive many trials as she puts together the means to find her way home.

Source: Screen Rant Plus