Hardy’s method in his Mad Max led Theron to ‘seek protection’
TOM HARDY, the Hollywood actor, was so “aggressive” on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road that his co-star, Charlize Theron, felt she needed protection, a new book has claimed.
The alleged “animosity” was said to have overshadowed the making of the film, according to an oral history featuring conversations with the cast and crew.
The 2015 film starred Hardy in the lead role and became a critical and commercial success worldwide, raking in hundreds of millions of pounds and winning six Academy Awards. But now, Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road claims production was beset by problems stemming from the conflicting approaches of Hardy and Theron to their craft.
London-born Hardy was said to have been committed to method acting, which saw him become “very physical” and keen to try “very different things” on set, while Theron was more “cerebral”, according to one screenwriter.
Theron, an Oscar winner who is one of the world’s highest-paid actresses, told the book’s author, Kyle Buchanan: “We were either fighting or we were icing each other – I don’t know which one is worse – and they had to deal with it in the back.
“It was horrible! We should not have done that; we should have been better. I can own up to that.”
Theron claimed she found herself in “survival mode” during filming and said she was “really scared”.
Their relationship was alleged to have deteriorated to such an extent that a veteran producer, Denise Di Novi, was dispatched to the set in Namibia to mediate the conflict, according to extracts from the book published in Vanity Fair.
It was prompted by what Theron describes as a “really bad moment where things kind of came to blows between me and Tom” when he arrived three hours late on the set.
Mark Goellnicht, a camera operator, said Theron began “swearing her head off at him” and calling for him to be fined “a hundred thousand dollars for every minute he’s held up this crew”.
Mr Goellnicht told the book’s author: “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 and went, ‘What did you say to me?’.
“He was quite aggressive. She really felt threatened, and 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.” Theron said she “didn’t feel safe” and it was this concern that led to a producer being sent down.
Hardy told the book’s author: “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.”