The dystopian sci-fi franchise Mad Max has been one of the most celebrated sci-fi franchises of all time. It has created a legacy with actor Mel Gibson and directors George Ogilvie, and George Miller. Later in 2015, Tom Hardy joined Miller in the new Mad Max film, replacing Gibson in the movie.
Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron’s Mad Max: Fury Road created yet another landmark for the franchise. It was a fresh approach and brutal horror on screen from Miller. The movie made $415.2 million worldwide against a production budget of $154.6–185.1 million.
When Tom Hardy Met Mel Gibson
Before Tom Hardy, Mel Gibson played three Mad Max films in the franchise. At the time of Mad Max: Fury Road’s release, Gibson was too old to play George Miller’s new version of Max. Also, the Braveheart actor was surrounded by controversies, for which Gibson had to depart from the franchise. However, he gave his blessings to Hardy to play the iconic character.
However, when the Venom actor met Gibson to discuss the iconic role in the series, Gibson was bored. “He was bored with me,” Hardy said. “He said, ‘All right, buddy, good luck with that,’” he added.
“I made him a bracelet. And then we talked for a couple of hours about all kinds of stuff. I left, and that was that. And then he called up my agent and said, ‘I think you found someone that’s crazier than I am.’”
Later, at CinemaCon, when JoBlo asked the actor if Gibson has been an inspiration for the preparation of the role or made him feel better talking about the role, Hardy said, “No, absolutely not. In a nutshell, no.”
But Hardy has proved to be a capable actor in the past and proved his prowess in the film as well.
Why Did Tom Hardy Apologize to George Miller?
Although the reason is unknown, the Locke actor said that he owed an apology to the director of the post-apocalyptic movie. “I owe George an apology for being so myopic. . .. That was my first thought,” Hardy told journalists at a Cannes Film Festival press conference (via Vanity Fair). The most frustrating thing for the actor or the hardest part of shooting was “trying to know what George wanted me to do at any given minute on a minute-by-minute basis, so I could fully [execute] his vision,” Hardy said.
“But because [Miller was] orchestrating such a huge vehicle literally in so many departments, and because his signature is on every single detail [of the film] and because all of the [parts] in the vehicle are just moving, there is just motion.”
Hardy further said that he had to apologize for the frustration he showed earlier, “there is no way that George could have explained what he conceived in the sand while we were out there.” The actor also praised the director after seeing the film and appreciated the hardship he had to undergo to meet his vision of the film.
“And because of the due diligence that was required to make everything safe and to make everything that was incredibly complex so simple—which is what I saw—which is a relentless barrage of complexities simplified in a fairly linear story . . . I knew [Miller] was brilliant, but I didn’t know how brilliant until I saw it.”
Mad Max: Fury Road has been dubbed as one of the greatest action films ever made by many critics. The movie won six Oscars and several other accolades.
The franchise has slated the 2014 release of the Mad Max: Fury Road sequel Furiosa. The George Miller directorial prequel stars Anya Taylor-Joy, and Chris Hemsworth in the leading role and Hardy will also join the cast. The movie will hit theatres on 24 May.
The franchise also has a sequel, Mad Max: The Wasteland lined up. The film does not have a release date yet.
Source: Indiewire
