George Miller is easily one of the greatest filmmakers of our time, as he possesses the ability to craft stunning fictional worlds that are inhabited by intriguing characters. That’s especially been true with his Mad Max franchise, which is expanding this year with the Furiosa spinoff. For that flick, he has two capable leads in the forms of Anya Taylor-Joy (who plays the eponymous role) and Chris Hemsworth, who portrays the devious Warlord Dementus. Both are skilled performers, but you might be wondering what exactly made them right for these particular roles. Well, Miller himself has provided some thoughtful answers on that front.
The 79-year-old Oscar-winning director discussed his latest feature while appearing at this year’s CinemaCon, where CinemaBlend is among those present. While there, he discussed the two A-listers he was able to work with on the highly anticipated 2024 movie schedule entry. George Miller called both stars “superb,” before shedding some light on the decision to cast Anya Taylor-Joy as his badass protagonist. Apparently, Miller’s decision to cast her was in part due to her performance in another impressive flick from the past few years:
Well, they are both absolutely superb. Anya is — Edgar Wright showed me Last Night in Soho just before it was released. I saw Anya in that, and I said, ‘She’d be good for’ — and he said, ‘Do it, do it.’ Without me even telling him what it was, he said, ‘Do it. She’s great. She’s great.’ There’s something about her, it’s almost difficult to put it into words. There’s something mystical about her, and yet there’s an accessibility. I learned that she was somebody who is very, very disciplined, and she’s very young. She was a ballet dancer, Charlize was a ballet dancer. I worked on Happy Feet with a lot of brilliant dancers, and I understand the physical discipline, as well as emotional discipline they have. So, all of that led to Anya being Furiosa.
Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho was well received, and a number of those positive reviews highlighted Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance. If you’re like me, you’re probably in agreement with the Babe helmer’s assessment of Taylor-Joy’s talent. I’m also not surprised to hear how “disciplined” she is. After all, she did brave the elements while filming Robert Eggers’ The Northman. Based on what we’ve seen so far, the actress is looking to put her own awesome stamp on the role of Furiosa while following in the footsteps of Charlize Theron, who she hasn’t contacted, as far as we know.
Meanwhile, Chris Hemsworth will breathe fresh life into the despicable Dementus. We all know what the Avengers alum brings when it comes to physicality, and Hemsworth has described his Furiosa stunt work, which seemingly involves his villain’s awesome motorcycle. However, based on what his fellow Aussie George Miller said about him, the actor brought more to the role than his rippling muscles and experience with action scenes:
In terms of Chris, I knew the character, I never thought of Chris until we met and we talked. I realized he was somebody with a lot more [ideas] than I initially thought of him…So, I thought, ‘Well, I can’t wait to see [what he does].’ He [resonated] really well with the material, so I thought, ‘Let’s just see what he can do with it.’
Considering the shrewd casting decisions George Miller has made in the past, I certainly wouldn’t bet against him with the hirings of Anya Taylor Joy and Chris Hemsworth. Plus, what the public has seen of them in the roles thus far via the Furiosa trailers has been great. I don’t know about you, but I’m incredibly excited to see what they manage to add to the complex tapestry of interconnected Mad Max movies.
You can see what they bring to the table when Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga finally opens in theaters on May 24. And prepare yourself for the flick by grabbing an Apple TV+ subscription and streaming Mad Max: Fury Road.
