Warner Bros.
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While Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron ultimately took Anya Taylor-Joy taking over the role of Furiosa hard, the actress was still full of praise for the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel film. Anya Taylor-Joy played the part in the 2024 film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
In Mad Max: Fury Road, while Tom Hardy’s Max Rockatansky is the technical main character, the film is ultimately Furiosa’s story, with Charlize Theron stealing the film with her performance, both emotional and physical, stealing the film.
Despite how beloved Charlize was as Furiosa, Mad Max franchise director ultimately decided to recast the role with a younger actress for the 2024 prequel, tapping Anya Taylor-Joy in the lead role.
“I watched it, and I think it’s a beautiful film. I am a massive fan of Anya [Taylor-Joy]. She’s an incredible actor. There’s nothing around [the recasting] that, to me, felt malicious. It was something that just dragged out for too long, and I totally understand it,” Theron said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the release of her new film The Old Guard 2
“It still doesn’t make it feel any better. I probably lived in [Furiosa’s] body the longest out of any of my characters, and it was challenging. It was really challenging. But I am so supportive of what ended up happening, and I think the movie is absolutely beautiful.”
When it comes to Taylor-Joy’s performance as Furiosa, while movie fans largely agreed she was already one of the most exciting young actresses in the world, her performance in Furiosa revealed a whole new layer most didn’t know she had.
Although it was critically acclaimed, Furiosa — which also starred Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Alyla Browne, Lachy Hulme, John Howard, Angus Sampson, Charlee Fraser, Elsa Pataky, and more — was ultimately a disappoint at the box office as it grossed $174 million at the global box office against a reported $168 million budget.