Theron and Hardy famously ‘hated each other’ while filming the 2015 epic action movie in the Namibian desert.

There was friction between Tom Hardy (Max) and Charlize Theron (Furiosa) on the set of 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road. (LMK/Alamy)

We’re returning to the Wasteland this week for another film set in the Mad Max universe — 45 years after George Miller’s original Aussie road movie. Furiosa sees Anya Taylor-Joy step into the role previously played by Charlize Theron in the 2015 modern classic Mad Max: Fury Road.

In the decade or so since the last Mad Max movie came out, we’ve learned that the atmosphere on the set was as chaotic as the action on the Fury Road. Specifically, Theron and co-star Tom Hardy didn’t see eye to eye — at all.

Numerous accounts over the years have provided us various shades of the story but, if you pull everything together, a picture quickly begins to emerge.

What happened on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road?

Charlize Theron won plaudits as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. (Warner Bros Pictures)

The best chronicle of the tensions on the set of Fury Road comes from Kyle Buchanan’s 2022 book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, with an extract published in Vanity Fair detailing the source of the beef.

Theron was a meticulous professional on the set, preparing hard for each day and arriving on time with discipline. Hardy, on the other hand, approached the project in a more provocative way and would often turn up several hours late, according to claims in the book.

Nicholas Hoult, who played war boy Nux, described the atmosphere between the two leads as “kind of like you’re on your summer holidays and the adults in the front of the car are arguing”.

Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road. (LMK/Alamy)

Everything allegedly came to a head on one day when Hardy was three hours late for an 8am call time, with Theron choosing to stubbornly sit in the War Rig and wait for her co-star’s arrival.

When he finally showed up, she furiously swore at him and an altercation took place in which Hardy was, in the words of camera operator Mark Goellnicht, “quite aggressive” and Theron felt threatened. Female producer Denise Di Novi was subsequently flown over.

Watch: Trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road

Hardy’s close friend Kelly Marcel – who is also a screenwriter and filmmaker – said that the entire filming process was “fraught and frantic”, with nobody quite sure it was coming together as planned. She explained: “You had a studio out in LA who did not understand what was being made, and the people who were there on the ground couldn’t really tell them what was being made, either.”

All involved agreed that the intense atmosphere on the set, with the production spiralling out of control in the searing heat of the Namibian desert, caused major tension. Miller himself confessed in the book that “there are things that I feel disappointment with about the process”. He added: “Looking back, if I had to do it again, I would probably be more mindful.”

Theron later explained to Esquire that the relationship thawed by the end of production, with Hardy painting a self-portrait for her as a wrap gift. The inscription read: “You are an absolute nightmare, BUT you are also f***ing awesome. I’ll kind of miss you. Love, Tommy.”

What have Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy said about their Mad Max: Fury Road feud?

George Miller, Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival ahead of its premiere. (Mike Marsland/WireImage)

At the film’s Cannes premiere in 2015, Hardy apologised to Miller, saying that he “got frustrated” at the fact it was impossible for Miller to explain his vision while they were out in the desert. Seeing the incredible finished movie clearly changed his mind.

In Buchanan’s book, the star reflected that he was “in over my head” and added: “What [Theron] 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.”

Theron has also eaten some humble pie about the whole thing, confessing that both she and Hardy “should have been better” when it came to their behaviour on set.

She added: “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. I was in survival mode; I was really scared s***less.”

Charlize Theron with director George Miller on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road. (Warner Bros Pictures)

There doesn’t seem to be any ill will between Hardy and Theron — at least not publicly — now that the dust of the Fury Road has settled. The movie was ultimately nominated for 10 Oscars and won six of them, as well as earning $380m (£299m) at the global box office.

Furiosa can’t hold a candle to Fury Road in terms of turmoil, as far as we know, but it’s clear that Anya Taylor-Joy didn’t have an easy time on set. She told the New York Times that she had “never been more alone than making that movie”, saying that “everything that I thought was going to be easy was hard”.

When asked to elaborate, she said “talk to me in 20 years”. It seems that the sweltering journey along the Fury Road isn’t easy for anybody.

Furiosa is in UK cinemas from Friday, 24 May.