For Anya Taylor-Joy, working on the Mad Max franchise’s Furiosa installment was a dream come true, but it wasn’t without its difficulties. The actress recently opened up about how she fought to have her character become the ‘crazy feminist icon’ she envisioned.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Taylor-Joy recounted that she stood up in the theater and cheered when she saw 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road starring Charlize Theorn. “This was my dream,” she said. “It was my dream to be in these Mad Max movies and as this crazy feminist icon. […] I knew that I would enter Australia and leave changed. That’s part of what attracted me to it.” Working with director and producer George Miller wasn’t entirely what she expected, however.
Anya Taylor-Joy Recounts Working with George Miller on Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Taylor-Joy starred as the title character in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which was released back in 2024 as the fifth installment in the franchise and the first not to be focused on the character of Max Rockatansky. It was a prequel to Fury Road, giving an origin story to Theron’s Furiosa — and Taylor-Joy felt compelled to make sure the story did the character justice.
Furiosa follows the character’s life for over a decade, beginning with her kidnapping by the warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) all the way to her ascension to the rank of Imperator in the post-apocalyptic world.
Taylor-Joy didn’t share the exact details about what George Miller originally wanted for the story, but she did reveal that every day, for six months, she went to him and told him of her desire for Furiosa to have a more satisfying final confrontation that embodied her name.
“It’s a very difficult conversation to have,” she said. “If I were to be completely honest about my experience, it would hurt nobody but myself. I just advocated and advocated and advocated for her to live up to her name.”
In the end, Taylor-Joy says she was successful in getting Furiosa’s satisfying ending. In the film, she captures Dementus after an extended chase, imprisoning him in the Citadel and using his living body as fertilizer to grow a peach tree, giving the story a full-circle moment. “That was my mountain on that movie, and I got it, but it was hard, hard won,” Taylor-Joy added.
Taylor-Joy Calls Dune Role Her Favorite Filmmaking Experience Ever
Taylor-Joy’s fight for Furiosa was long and hard won, but the actress also opened up about a much more easygoing filmmaking experience: working with Denis Villeneuve on Dune: Part Two. In 2022, the director told her he had written a role for her in the film, but she believed she wasn’t able to do it, considering she was already committed to Furiosa.
“I was devastated,” she shared. “I really wanted in on the world this man had built.” In her gut, she knew that the opportunity would still present itself. After Furiosa wrapped, Villeneuve asked her to take an astonishing six flights, meeting in Abu Dhabi to shoot one scene in one day. She said yes before he even finished asking the question.
“It’s probably my favorite filmmaking experience, ever,” she shared, recounting the experience which included ten people in the desert for one day. She is expected to reprise her role in Dune: Part Three, which hits theaters on Dec. 18.
Anya Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is now streaming on Prime Video.
- Release Date
-
May 24, 2024
- Runtime
-
149 minutes
- Director
-
George Miller
