‘The pressure was overwhelming – I was in over my head’: Tom Hardy addresses Charlize Theron’s claim she was ‘scared s***less’ and demanded protection from him while filming Mad Max: Fury Road

• Theron, 46, and Hardy, 44, played the lead roles in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road
• The two had a tense relationship due to their different acting styles
• Theron reportedly called Hardy a ‘f**king c***’ after he left her waiting on set
• The actress also requested on-set ‘protection’ after she ‘felt threatened’ 
• Hardy was ‘in over his head’ and Theron needed a ‘more experienced’ co-star 

Tom Hardy has responded to reports that Charlize Theron felt threatened by his behaviour on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road.

The pair worked together on the 2015 movie but had such an explosive relationship on set that they were often involved in intense shouting matches, with Theron calling Hardy a ‘f***ing c***’ after he made her wait on set for hours.  

Theron, 46, also had a female producer to be with her at all times as ‘protection’ as she was ‘scared s***less’ by ‘aggressive’ Hardy, 44, according to New York Times columnist Kyle Buchanan’s new book. 

Addressing the tension Hardy admitted to Buchanan: ‘In hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways. The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times. 

‘What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me. That’s something that can’t be faked. I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.’ 

I was in over my head’: Tom Hardy admitted Charlize Theron needed a ‘more experienced’ co-star on Mad Max: Fury Road after it emerged the actress ‘wanted protection’ from him on set

Hardy starred as the title character, who was played by Mel Gibson in the first three films in the series, while Theron starred as newcomer Imperator Furiosa, a lieutenant to the villain Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) who turns against her leader to team-up with Max. 

In an excerpt of Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild And True Story Of Mad Max: Fury Roa, published by Vanity Fair, Natascha Hopkins, a stunt double on Fury Road, recounted how Theron didn’t want to waste time on set, as she was a new mother at the time and was balancing her role with parenting.

But camera operator Mark Goellnicht recalled how Hardy was often late for the start of shooting.

He recounted one day when Theron was on set at eight o’clock sharp and got her makeup and costume set up before getting into the film’s War Rig.

However, despite producers making a ‘special request’ for Hardy to show up on time, it would be hours more before he arrived.

‘Gets to nine o’clock, still no Tom,’ Goellnicht recounted. ‘“Charlize, do you want to get out of the War Rig and walk around, or do you want to . . .” “No, I’m going to stay here.” She was really going to make a point. She didn’t go to the bathroom, didn’t do anything. She just sat in the War Rig.’

Tom admitted: ‘The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times. What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me’

Hardy finally arrived after 11 a.m., while Theron had remained in the vehicle the entire time.

‘She jumps out of the War Rig, and she starts swearing her head off at him, saying, “Fine the f**king c*** a hundred thousand dollars for every minute that he’s held up this crew,” and “How disrespectful you are!”’ Goellnicht continued. 

‘She was right. Full rant. She screams it out. It’s so loud, it’s so windy — he might’ve heard some of it, but he charged up to her up and went, “What did you say to me?”’

The camera operator said Hardy seemed ‘quite aggressive,’ and that his costar ‘really felt threatened.’

‘That was the turning point, because then she said, “I want someone as protection.” She then had a producer that was assigned to be with her all the time,’ he explained.

‘It got to a place where it was kind of out of hand, and there was a sense that maybe sending a woman producer down could maybe equalize some of it, because I didn’t feel safe,’ Theron explained.

‘I kind of put my foot down. [Director] George [Miller] then said, “Okay, well, if Denise comes . . .” He was open to it and that kind of made me breathe a little bit, because it felt like I would have another woman understanding what I was up against,’ she continued.

However, she noted that ‘when I was on set, I still felt pretty naked and alone,’ as the producer Denise Di Novi was forced to stay in the production office and wasn’t allowed on set on the orders of producer Doug Mitchell.

Kelly Marcel, a screenwriter and a friend of Hardy, called Mitchell a ‘bulldog.’

Stymied: Theron requested veteran producer Denise Di Novi accompany her on set, but producer Doug Mitchell forced her to stay at the production office to avoid slowdowns and to keep her away from director George Miller (R)

‘He’s going to protect George no matter what, at all costs. And you can send your producer, you can do whatever you want, but if you’ve got Doug standing there, there’s absolutely no point unless he wants you there,’ she claimed. ‘He was never going to allow anybody to interrupt this world, no matter how fraught the world was.’

Marcel also said the fight between the lead actors came from a ‘really intense, intense, intense period in an intense, intense place,’ though she claimed that ‘Family was made there, and family loves and hates each other.’

She explained that Hardy was ‘very physical and all over the place and would try very different things,’ whereas Theron was ‘cerebral and very consistent in the way that she approaches a character.’ 

‘They’re both powerhouses, but in their very different ways of working. Which, weirdly, is why the film works: It’s all pouring out on the screen.’ 

Conflict: Kelly Marcel, a screenwriter and friend of Hardy, said he  was ‘very physical and all over the place and would try very different things,’ whereas Theron was ‘cerebral and very consistent in the way that she approaches a character’; still from Fury Road

In hindsight, Theron thought it ‘would have been smart for us to bring a female producer in.’

‘You understand the needs of a director who wants to protect his set, but when push comes to shove and things get out of hand, you have to be able to think about that in a bigger sense,’ she continued. ‘That’s where we could have done better, if George trusted that nobody was going to come and f**k with his vision but was just going to come and help mediate situations.’

She theorized that Miller ‘didn’t want any interference,’ but that resulted in ‘several weeks on that movie where I wouldn’t know what was going to come my way, and that’s not necessarily a nice thing to feel when you’re on your job. It was a little bit like walking on thin ice.’

Miller said that he felt ‘disappointment with about the process [sic],’ adding, ‘Looking back, if I had to do it again, I would probably be more mindful.’ 

Hardy said he was ‘in over my head in many ways.’

‘The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times. What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me,’ he admitted. ‘That’s something that can’t be faked. I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.’

Missed opportunity: Theron understood that director George Miller was worried about his vision being impeded by a female producer, but she thought her presence would have helped to ‘mediate’; still from Fury Road

Hardy said he was ‘in over my head in many ways’ and added that Theron need a ‘more experienced’ costar at the time; still from Fury Road

Goellnicht noted that Hardy ‘was a different person by the end,’ and he and Theron appeared to warm up to each other after shooting scenes together later in the production.

He said Hardy was ‘a lot easier to deal with, a lot more cooperative, more compassionate. He’s such a Method actor that I think he took the arc in the literal sense.’

Notably, Miller is continuing with the Mad Max franchise following the on-set animosity between Theron and Hardy, but the next film in the series will be a prequel titled Furiosa, which will focus on a younger version of the character, with Anya Taylor-Joy taking over the role in place of Theron.

Although Hardy at one time said he was attached to more Mad Max sequels, it’s unclear if those films are still in the works.

Miller has been engaged since 2017 in a lawsuit filed in Australia against Warner Bros. over millions in bonus payments he claims he’s owed for Fury Road.

The director alleges that Mad Max: Fury Road came in under budget, a requirement to get the bonus payments.

But Warner Bros. contends that the film went over budget due to reshoots.

Miller and his production company claim that it was Warner Bros. that required the additional reshoots, and that the studio originally said the cost of reshoots wouldn’t be factored into the initial cost of the production.

The director successfully managed to keep his lawsuit in Australia, after Warners attempted unsuccessfully to have the suit moved to California, where it expected to receive a more favorable judgment. 

Left out: Despite originating the popular role of Furiosa, Theron’s part has been recast with Anya Taylor-Joy in Miller’s upcoming prequel Furiosa; seen in February 2020 in Hollywood

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