When the Mad Max prequel was announced and Anya Taylor-Joy was cast as a young Furiosa, the burning question on everyone’s mind was if Taylor-Joy would shave her head like Charlize Theron’s iteration of the character. And Taylor-Joy was certainly on board, that is until George Miller stepped in.
“I was so excited to shave my head, then [filmmaker George Miller] saw me in real life, and went, ‘No, we can’t,’” the actress revealed to Empire. While they did not end up taking a buzzer to her head, with the magic of CGI and some good wig caps, Furiosa is still seen with her iconic buzzcut in the trailer.
As for Theron, who has previously mentioned that seeing someone else step into the role is “too hard,” she had been in touch with Taylor-Joy throughout the film’s production. “She’s been so classy and kind in letting me go and do it,” Taylor-Joy said of Theron. “But I feel very lucky that, from the second I read the script, I just knew this person. I felt so fiercely protective over Furiosa, and fiercely protective of her interests,” Taylor-Joy revealed.
Even though the two haven’t met in person, Taylor-Joy has been open about her love for Theron. In 2020, the actress spoke highly of Theron and her take on the character. “The level of commitment by those that have come before me, I endeavor to match that. That makes me really excited. [Charlize is] unbelievable. I have so much respect for the originators of this crazy world.”
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which also stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, and Nathan Jones, will follow the young heroine as she travels across a wasteland to try to make her way back home. The movie will hit theaters on May 24th.