The vast majority of people might assume that working in the film industry is rosy, even for many, it could be the job of their dreams.
However, this is not always the case, because like any work environment, the ego and the conditions during the shoot can affect the behavior of many actors. Furthermore, working with troublesome people can harm the entire production, making the work less enjoyable than it should be, making it exhausting, frustrating and sometimes even miserable.
Perhaps these types of situations do not always come to light or at least not at that time. Seven years ago it premiered Mad Max: Fury Roadstarring Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, and so far secrets have been revealed that the fans of the movie have left us with our mouths open.
Kyle Buchanan, the writer of the New York Times, published his revealing book Blood, Sweat and Chrome: The Savage True Story of Mad Max: Fury Roadwhich includes interviews with the film’s stars, director George Miller, and various crew members who shared their personal experiences of working on the film and certainly didn’t hold back.
During the filming, which took place in the Namibian desert, Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy disagreed and the fights in the set they almost upstaged the film in the middle of its release.
In fact, Charlize became so intimidated by Tom that she had to ask for extra protection, accusing one of the film’s producers, Doug Mitchell, of condoning her co-star’s “really bad behavior” because he was male. Than?!
In the book, camera operator Mark Goellnicht claimed that “the straw that broke the camel’s back” between the two actors was when Tom showed up to the set three hours late even though punctuality was a special request for the actors.
Mark recounted that Charlize remained in position to film the in-character scene the entire time they were waiting for Tom, until the actor showed up three hours later casually walking through the desert, something that made Charlize furious, and she jumped out of the War Rig to start cursing him.
Fine the fucking id**t a hundred thousand dollars for every minute he’s held this team up. How disrespectful you are (Tom)!
The actress screamed so loud, but it was noisy and windy, so Tom came up to her and said, “What did you say?” According to the cameraman, Tom was quite aggressive.
Apparently, Charlize felt really threatened and that was the reason why she asked for protection, so the producer Denise Di Novi was assigned to protect the actress and be with her all the time.
Charlize has corroborated Mark’s story and confirmed that he asked for a woman in a position of power to be added to the set to “equalize” the tension. However, director George Miller decided to exclude Denise during the recording of the scenes, so Charlize stated that she “felt quite naked and alone”.
The actress added that it was as if she was “walking on thin ice” during filming, and the director admitted in the book that she would “probably be more self-aware” if faced with the same situation again.
Charlize also shared her guilt that she and Tom’s co-stars had to witness their feud, admitting that it wasn’t a good work environment for anyone in the set and apologized for his part in it.
Actor Nicholas Hoult likened the atmosphere to being “on your summer vacation and the adults in the front of the car are arguing,” something Charlize agreed with.
Tom reacted to Charlize’s version of the story and denied that she had been afraid of him.
Charlize is an intense woman. Very intense, actually. In a good way. I mean, watch her on ‘Monster’. She is a very serious actress. So, I don’t see why she would ever be intimidated by me or in any way afraid. Rather I think it’s stupid.
Tom also hinted that he wasn’t experienced enough for the role back then and would have handled the situation better if he faced it now.
In a previous interview with the Times, Charlize confessed that she was not empathic enough with Tom during the filming. She even referenced the fact that the actor was taking on the role of Mel Gibson, who played the character in previous installments of the franchise. Mad Max.
The couple’s co-star, Zoë Kravitz, also opened up about the feud on the set in a 2017 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
They didn’t get along. Also being in the desert for so long, I think everyone was tired, confused and homesick. We saw nothing but sand for six months, you go crazy.
Despite the behind-the-scenes drama of Mad Max: Fury Roadthe film was a huge success and received critical acclaim as well as 10 Academy Award nominations.
Although a prequel to the film is currently in the works, neither Charlize nor Tom are involved in the project.