George Miller Followed Ridley Scott’s Example to Cast One Key Character in His Unmade Mad Max 4 Film Long Before ‘Fury Road’
George Miller’s post-apocalyptic action movie, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth from a screenplay by Nico Lathouris, was recently released. The movie is the fifth installment in the Mad Max franchise and serves as a prequel as well as a spin-off to Mad Max: Fury Road. As the title suggests, the movie focuses on Imperator Furiosa.
Upon its release, the movie received mixed responses from critics and the audience, with special praise for the actress. A critic called the actress an overwhelming, ‘convincing action heroine’. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, ahead of its release, premiered at the 77th Cannes Film Festival, where it was appreciated. But before Miller worked on Mad Max: Fury Road, there was one actor he had decided to cast, following Ridley Scott.
Sigourney Weaver was considered to play Furiosa in George Miller’s Mad Max 4
George Miller’s 2015 Mad Max: Fury Road was the fourth installment in the Mad Max franchise, which starred Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in the lead. The movie received a positive response from critics and the audience upon release at the time and became the highest-grossing Mad Max film. It is regarded as one of the greatest action films of all time.
Charlize Theron played the role of Imperator Furiosa, and even though in a recent movie Anya Taylor-Joy portrayed the character, Theron will always be associated with it. According to Hollywood.com, before Miller found Furiosa in Theron, he considered casting actress Sigourney Weaver for the female co-lead opposite Mel Gibson in Mad Max 4, which was being developed in the early 2000s.
Gibson suggested Weaver to Miller for the part as they worked on The Year of Living Dangerously. However, the attacks of 2001 halted production, and the director stated in an interview that the American dollar collapsed against the Australian dollar, and their budget ballooned.
Four years later, Miller decided to return to the Mad Max franchise, this time without Gibson, who was ‘too old’ to play the part, and Weaver (reasons unknown). He found his leads in Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, and now Theron is considered a successor to Weaver’s Ellen Ripley.
Sigourney Weaver’s casting as Ripley is regarded as one of the most groundbreaking casting. Women characters that were only portrayed as helpless, timid, and dependent on male characters were given a breakthrough via Weaver and Scott. The character of Ripley is known for defining her character not based on her gender but her abilities and her intelligence, which was at the time protested but is now considered one of the best casting.
George Miller on casting Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa
In his interview with Men’s Health, the filmmaker was asked about casting Anya Taylor-Joy as his furiosa, to which he said,
Edgar Wright was insistent that she’s got it all—she’s got everything that an actor needs. Actors have to be physically athletic, they have to be intellectually athletic, and they have to be emotionally athletic.
They’re warriors, in a way, particularly in these films. Anya is someone who studied ballet from the age of 3 and up to the age of 15—I’ve worked with dancers, and I’ve realized how they have this relaxed discipline, and precision is really important.
Miller noted that the Queen’s Gambit actress was almost hard-wired for the character because of her training as a ballet dancer, and he could see it in the work. He also added that she worked hard and managed to do a lot of her stunts by herself.
Talking about Hemsworth, he said he’s a guy of many dimensions, incredibly wise for someone so young. Working with him made Miller realize that he could do so much more on-screen and blew him away. He also added that he is also physically and emotionally athletic, and can bring all that on the table while playing a character.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is now in cinemas.
