Mad Max: Fury Road star Charlize Theron delivers verdict on Furiosa

Actor had a turbulent experience behind the scenes of ‘Fury Road’

Charlize Theron has given her opinion on Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, the recent prequel to 2013’s Mad Max: Fury Road.

Furiosa served as an origin story for Theron’s Fury Road character, Imperator Furiosa. For the film, Theron’s role was recast with The Menu’s Anya Taylor-Joy.

Fury Road, widely regarded as one of the best action movies ever made, nonetheless had a turbulent production process, and Theron’s interpersonal difficulties with co-star Tom Hardy have been well documented.

However, the experience didn’t put her off the franchise for good. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, the Australian actor, 48, described the George Miller-directed prequel as “beautiful”.

“It’s amazing – it’s a beautiful film,” she said in the interview.

Asked whether she had spent time with her successor, Taylor-Joy, Theron replied: “No. We’ve really been trying to connect. It’s been one of those – we can actually make a comedy out of it.

Anya Taylor-Joy and Charlize Theron as Furiosa (Warner Bros)

“We keep running into each other and in places when we don’t have time to really talk to each other, so we’re constantly like, ‘Oh my god, OK, let’s get together!’ And then life takes over. But it will happen when it’s right.”

Furiosa was positively received by critics, though an underwhelming performance at the box office has left the future of the franchise in doubt – despite Miller having expressed a desire to film another prequel, this time focussing on Hardy’s Max.

In a five-star review of Furiosa for The Independent, critic Clarisse Loughrey wrote: “Furiosa is divided into chapters. At various junctures, we’ll be whisked months or even years into the future, but the storytelling never feels choppy. There is always a new chase or fight sequence to keep the audience’s attention.

“Director George Miller combines speed, grace and explosive violence, emulating Sam Peckinpah westerns and even, at times, the work of Charles Dickens – Furiosa is a bit like a young Artful Dodger, using her wits and courage to stay alive.”

She continued: “Dialogue is kept to a minimum. But even in an action role almost entirely bereft of quieter moments, Taylor-Joy is still able to convey plenty about Furiosa’s raw inner emotions. Her eyes, captured in extreme close-up throughout, are endlessly expressive.”

Furiosa is available to rent digitally now on demand.