For years, rumors circulated about Mad Max: Fury Road stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron feuding on the blockbuster’s set, but the cause of their troubled relationship was never made clear. Charlize Theron’s Furiosa and Tom Hardy’s Mad Max garnered their actors acclaim, with Furiosa getting a spinoff of her own in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. However, their on-set tension reached the media before the movie’s production wrapped. For years, neither actor spoke about their reported feud. Hardy and Theron’s seven-year silence on the matter was punctuated by asides about struggling with each other, but neither actor delved into specifics.

A 2022 book about Mad Max: Fury Road’s production sheds light on the story. In Kyle Buchanan’s Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, the feud was discussed alongside the production difficulties that led to the movie’s tense work environment. The book speaks to a diverse range of players, from the creator of the Mad Max franchise to camera operators and casting directors, to the pair’s co-stars, to the actors themselves. Although the feud sounds intense, according to the actors and their collaborators, Theron and Hardy’s issues with one another were resolved before filming ended.

Tom Hardy’s Method Approach To Max Troubled Filmmakers

Hardy’s Method Acting Alienated Some On Set

According to the book’s extensive interviews, Tom Hardy’s approach to playing Mad Max was not one that made life easy for his collaborators. The filmmakers collectively agreed in retrospect that Hardy’s efforts were worth the trouble, with the actor offering a version of the antihero who diverged completely from Mel Gibson’s original Mad Max and essentially reinvented the sci-fi cinema icon. However, this impressive performance came at a cost to the actor and his collaborators alike. Some of Hardy’s in-character affectations, like wearing an earpiece to get a feel for Max’s police officer past, earned him the ire of the movie’s creators.

Both camera operator Jason Boland and cinematographer Mark Goellnicht euphemistically describe Hardy’s process as “Tricky,” with casting director Lora Kennedy saying the actor was “Misunderstood” due to him “Taking everything so seriously.” This disposition eventually resulted in screenwriter Kelly Marcel warning Hardy that he didn’t want a headline reading “You Killed George Miller” in his near future, an anecdote that illustrates how contentious many of the production’s staff found his process. This alone could have made Mad Max: Fury Road a hard movie to shoot, but the movie’s lead actress also had a hard time early in the filming process.

Charlize Theron Struggled While Shooting Mad Max: Fury Road

The Shoot Was Grueling And Often Confusing

By all accounts, including her own, Theron struggled with Fury Road even before her feud with co-star Hardy. This was partially due to her less invovled style of acting clashing with Hardy’s process, but was also affected by external circumstances. For example, the actor had, according to Miller, “This aversion to dust,” an issue often exacerbated by the movie shooting in the Namibian desert and frequently encountering sandstorms. Theron said she was “Incredibly scared” while shooting since she had never worked on a project like Fury Road, adding that she “Didn’t always understand the narrative that we were telling.”

This combination of struggling with the sequel’s story (although she maintained that she always understood Furiosa’s individual motivations) and the intense physical demands of the part took a psychological toll on the actor, meaning Theron was in no place to butt heads with the method-reliant, mercurial Hardy. According to Goellnicht, the fact that Hardy spent the shoot in character as Mad Max himself was what made the “Tension so tough between him and Charlize.” However, that explanation wasn’t sufficient to defuse the tension, which collaborators like actor Nicholas Hoult compared to being trapped in a car while angry parents argued.

Hardy and Theron’s Feud During Mad Max: Fury Road’s Filming Explained

Director George Miller’s Confusing Directing Style Didn’t Help

In most behind-the-scenes accounts, the feud arose from Theron and Hardy’s fundamentally divergent approaches to the art of acting. Where Hardy is described by co-workers as “Very physical and all over the place” and “Provocative,” Theron’s acting process has been called “Cerebral, consistent,” and “Not [provocative].” The two could not have had less in common save for the one thing that both of them shared, which was unease around Miller’s directing process. According to their colleagues, Hardy handled his uncertainty around Miller’s direction by constantly asking questions and needling the veteran director.

Theron says she went into “ Survival mode ,” wanting to get through each sequence and onto the next, while her co-star wanted more explanation, more motivation, more character insight, and more time spent on every scene.

Meanwhile, Theron’s role as Furiosa saw the actor take the opposite approach. Theron says she went into “Survival mode,” wanting to get through each sequence and onto the next, while her co-star wanted more explanation, more motivation, more character insight, and more time spent on every scene. This resulted in a pressure cooker atmosphere that producer PJ Voeten claimed made the tension visible in the air during filming, with the veteran producer saying the atmosphere felt as though it would implode even as early as the movie’s pre-production process.

How Hardy and Theron Got Through Their Fury Road Feud

Their Civility Was Hard Won

Theron and Hardy’s relationship on-set reached its nadir when Theron was left waiting for her co-star for three hours one morning during shooting. Hardy arrived for an eight o’clock call time after eleven, prompting Theron to angrily swear at the actor and admonish his lack of professionalism. Before the end of Mad Max: Fury Road’s production, the two were on civil terms, but peace was hard-won. After that incident, Theron asked that a female producer be brought to the set as she felt uncomfortable. Although this wish was never fulfilled, the pair came to an unspoken agreement.

When Hardy and Theron’s Feud Ended While Filming Mad Max

The Green Place Scene Was A Turning Point

Theron conceded that the movie’s workplace environment could have been more constructive, while Miller admitted that he wishes he had done more to ensure the comfort of his actors and less to safeguard his artistic vision.

Although Theron never got her wish, according to Goellnicht, shooting the scene wherein Furiosa and Max leave the Green Place signaled a sea change in the duo’s dynamic. The cinematographer claimed that Hardy warmed to Theron after shooting that scene and the issues that had plagued the Mad Max movie’s long production faded as the actors grew to mutually respect each other. Since then, Theron conceded that the movie’s workplace environment could have been more constructive, while Miller admitted that he wishes he had done more to ensure the comfort of his actors and less to safeguard his artistic vision.

What Charlize Theron & Tom Hardy Have Said About Their Mad Max: Fury Road Feud

Both Actors Have Since Said The Experience Was Regrettable

Theron said Hardy’s behavior was “Out of hand,” before adding that a producer’s willingness to excuse the actor’s actions was “A man forgiving another man for really bad behavior.” The actor softened her stance on Hardy’s conduct slightly by conceding that it was “A tough shoot” and reiterating she was in “Survival mode” during filming, adding that she now had more perspective. For his part, Hardy denied Theron’s claims, saying she was “A very serious actor” and that he couldn’t see how she would be intimidated by him. He did admit that “The pressure on both of us was overwhelming.”

What George Miller Has Said About Charlize Theron & Tom Hardy’s Feud

The Industry Veteran Said There Was No Excuse For The Feud

Miller said that Hardy’s live-wire Method acting style clashed badly with Theron’s consummate professionalism.

In a 2024 interview with The Telegraph, Miler reaffirmed that Hardy and Theron’s divergent acting styles were to blame for their infamous on-set feud. A self-confessed optimist, Miller admitted that he saw in the pair’s dynamic the same relationship that their battle-hardened characters built. Miller said that Hardy’s live-wire Method acting style clashed badly with Theron’s consummate professionalism, acknowledging that both actors were talented performers before repeating that there was “No excuse” for the feud taking place. Although Mad Max: Fury Road became a classic, Miller said the sequel could have been made without this onset conflict during its production.