Anya Taylor-Joy shared a cryptic description of what it was like filming Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, citing grueling loneliness and unexpected challenges while emphasizing her desire for growth and transformation.
In an interview with The New York Times published on Sunday (May 12), the 28-year-old actress said of her experience shooting for the newest film in George Miller’s long-running action series Mad Max: “I’ve never been more alone than making that movie.
Highlights
- Anya Taylor-Joy faced unexpected challenges and intense loneliness while filming Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
- Co-star Chris Hemsworth praised Anya for her dedication and protective nature towards her character.
- Anya aimed for personal growth, wanting to be changed by the extreme conditions of the film set.
“I don’t want to go too deep into it, but everything that I thought was going to be easy was hard.”
When asked what exactly it was about Furiosa that had proved more difficult than she expected, Anya responded: “Next question, sorry.
“Talk to me in 20 years.”
Anya Taylor-Joy cryptically described the challenges of filming Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Image credits: Jaime Nogales/Medios y Media/Getty Images
The movie was shot in Australia and required the Argentinian starlet and her co-stars to inhabit a very intense space for long periods of time with little reprieve, The Times reported.
Chris Hemsworth, who played Dr. Dementus in the upcoming movie, told the publication: “What you’re being asked to dig into and display emotionally is exhausting.”
The 40-year-old actor reportedly praised Anya for rising to the challenge, noting: “I found what she did inspiring because she was there every single day for months on end and was as fiercely protective of the character as you’d want.”
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
Regarding the mysterious nature on set, which was vaguely described by the actress, Anya did admit: “I wanted to be changed.
“I wanted to be put in a situation in extremis where I would have no choice but to grow. And I got it.”
The Mad Max franchise has an infamous history of having difficult productions, as was revealed by Charlize Theron when she portrayed Imperator Furiosa in the 2015 movie Mad Max: Fury Road.
Anya expressed intense loneliness and unexpected difficulties while alluding to personal growth
Image credits: bloodanya
In 2022, the 48-year-old South African actress claimed that she felt so threatened by her costar, Tom Hardy, on set that she required protection. She also claimed that producers forgave his “really bad behavior” because he was a man, Buzzfeed reported.
Fury Road was in development for nearly twenty years, and it faced multiple shutdowns by studio executives wary of a costly failure, while conflicts between Tom and Charlize in the remote Namibian desert necessitated external mediation.
Nevertheless, the post-apocalyptic action film ended up grossing $380.4 million at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing Mad Max film.
Image credits: Eric Charbonneau/Getty Images
Moreover, the film won six Oscars at the 88th Academy Awards, in addition to several other accolades.
The highly anticipated Furiosia features Anya as the younger version of Charlize’s iconic warrior woman.
Plucked from her idyllic home by bandits, Furiosa grows up shuttled between two captors, the psychopath Dementus (Chris) and the hulking warlord Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), as per The Times.
Furiosa faces constant danger on both sides, and she strives to survive long enough to escape, keen to exact revenge on those who have taken everything from her.
"I wanted to be put in a situation in extremis where I would have no choice but to grow. And I got it," Anya said
Image credits: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
To make Furiosa her own, The Queen’s Gambit star allowed herself to be put through an emotional and physical wringer for six and a half months, in which she recalled: “Like I knew I was going to need the two years that it took for the movie to come out to deal with it.”
The film's pivotal action scene, a daring raid on the War Rig where Furiosa is concealed, comprises 197 shots spanning the entire production period, featuring Anya in intense sequences of climbing, driving, ducking, fighting, and being silent.
The Golden Globe Awards winner said “months” would go by and she would never speak a single line on set.
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
She recalled: “I do want to 100 percent preface this by saying I love George and if you’re going to do something like this, you want to be in the hands of someone like George Miller.
“But he had a very, very strict idea of what Furiosa’s war face looked like, and that only allowed me my eyes for a large portion of the movie.
“It was very much ‘mouth closed, no emotion, speak with your eyes.’
“That’s it, that’s all you have.”
Charlize Theron previously disclosed challenges during the production of Mad Max: Fury Road
Image credits: Warner Bros. Pictures
The Florida native admitted that she doubted her ability to watch the movie, highlighting the difficulty of watching an early, black-and-white cut before all the special effects had been added: “Two minutes in and I’m sobbing.”
When asked what had set her off, Anya replied: “I adored a person that I could not protect.
“There were forces greater than me.”
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga will be out in theaters on May 24.
"I hope she's okay," a reader commented
