Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy Admit to "Fighting" on Set of Mad Max: Fury Road

Almost seven years after the release of Mad Max: Fury Road, Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy addressed their on-set feud in a new book about the making of the 2015 film.

By Gabrielle Chung Feb 23, 2022 1:58 AMTags

Oh, what a day... to revisit Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy's feud on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road.

In an excerpt of Kyle Buchanan's new book, Blood, Sweat and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, published by Vanity Fair on Feb. 22,  the two stars—who played reluctant allies Furiosa and Max in the 2015 box office smash hit—addressed their contentious rift while making the high-octane action film. Looking back, Charlize likened their on-set spat to "two parents" arguing in the front of the car while the kids sat in the backseat.

"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," she said, referring to the rest of the cast. "It was horrible! We should not have done that; we should have been better. I can own up to that."

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Also starring Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough and Zoë Kravitz, the movie was shot on-location in the middle of a desert. Charlize remembered it being a "tough shoot," though she admitted that it was not an excuse for "bad behavior."

"Now, I have a very clear perspective on what went down. I don't think I had that clarity when we were making the movie," she added. "I was in survival mode; I was really scared s--tless."

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Likewise, the years have provided more clarity for Tom, 44. "In hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways," he said. "The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times."

The actor went on to say that what Charlize "needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me," joking that "now that I'm older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion."

In the book, other cast and crew members also detailed their own experiences witnessing the alleged on-set tension between Charlize and Tom. According to those involved in the film, the pair had very different approaches when it came to their craft and often butted heads as a result.

"Tom is very provocative. Charlize isn't. And it was a clash," first assistant camera Ricky Schamburg explained, while actor Richard Norton recalled, "Tom would want justification for every bit of choreography, not just in the actual action but in the pre-setup of the action and everything else. Charlize, her basic want is simple: I just want to f--king kill him. Let's shoot it."

Per first assistant director P. J. Voeten, the co-stars had beef right from the get-go. "It seemed to implode in preproduction. We weren't even shooting and there seemed to be this animosity," he said, adding, "The day that we were rehearsing the fight scene when they first meet, you could see the tension in the air. It was unbelievable."

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According to Charlize, things came to a head one day in Namibia when her co-star was allegedly late for a shoot, resulting in a "really bad moment where things kind of came to blows between me and Tom." Without getting into details about the confrontation, Charlize said 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."

Eventually, producer Denise Di Novi was called in to settle the dispute at the behest of director George Miller, Charlize recalled, saying that the move "made me breathe a little bit, because it felt like I would have another woman understanding what I was up against."

The Oscar winner added, "Looking back on where we are in the world now, given what happened between me and Tom, it would have been smart for us to bring a female producer in."