As he puts it, “She’s trying to kill me this whole movie.”
But now, he tellsEntertainment Weeklythat this prequel is “a lot more improved” from those earlier outlines.
Can the Venn diagram overlap [with the character] to some degree?
Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy.Max Montgomery
How much will it overlap, and what can they bring?'"
As the films main villain, Dementus is loud, brazen, darkly humorous, and completely morally bankrupt.
Like everyone else in theMad Maxuniverse, he is a product of the Wasteland he calls home.
Chris Hemsworth and Anya Taylor-Joy.Max Montgomery
“Have you met Anya?”
You sense it almost immediately.
And I think that’s up there on the screen."
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth.Max Montgomery
It’s safe to say anyone at the March cover shoot would agree.
As a native Australian, Hemsworth had the opposite relationship with the Outback-set series.
This was circa 2010, pre-Marvel.
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth.Max Montgomery
By his own admission, “I just hadn’t done enough to warrant that.”
(The role eventually went toTom Hardy.)
I said, ‘I’ve got to work with this guy, he’s a genius.’
Anya Taylor-Joy.Max Montgomery
And then, the rest is history."
“You have to go on your own journey with it,” Taylor-Joy explains.
The actress felt a responsibility to “tell the story of the person inthisscript.”
Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa in ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’.Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
Though, in something of aMadMaxtradition, that person and that script aren’t exactly verbose.
But she trusted Miller, and pulled from her experience with “very internal characters.”
She’s not able to react the way that she wants to.
Chris Hemsworth as Dementus in ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’.Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
She’s not able to do what she wants.
So I felt for her.
I was like, Damn, sister, that sucks.'"
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth.Max Montgomery
That madea lotof sense to me."
Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
Whats driving Dementus?
Like his costar, Hemsworth felt some trepidation over his role.
Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack in ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’.Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
And I don’t quite have all the confidence that I would normally have walking into this.
“On his director’s advice, Hemsworth spent time journaling as Dementus.
“It was about the why of the character more,” he says.
Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa and Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack in ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’.Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
Of the nose specifically, Hemsworth says Miller wanted Dementus “to be this historic-looking Roman figure.”
And, yes, it also helped make the characternotlook like Chris Hemsworth.
“So, good on you.”
Chris Hemsworth.Max Montgomery
“I was about to say it was nice not to wear a cape, but…
I did have a cape in this film.
And it’s red or it becomes red eventually, as well.
Chris Hemsworth, George Shevtsov, Angus Sampson, and director George Miller on the set of ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’.Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
“Hemsworth says he brought up this similarity to Miller, who had not put the two together.
And it was the real attraction.
“There’s a whole lot of rules that you have to stick to [with that].
Nathan Jones as Rictus Erectus, Josh Helman as Scrotus, and Lachy Hulme as Immortan Joe in ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’.Jasin Boland/Warner Bros.
With this, I could throw that out the window, which was nice.
Without skipping a beat, Hemsworth replies, “Hate ‘em.
I’d be inside an old, rusted-up, converted, pimped-up washing machine or something.”
I will do this forever,” he adds of the experience.
“This is heaven.
“I think I was surprised.
And I have a soft spot in my heart for Australia forever now.
Hemsworth, too, says the project was worth spinning his wheels over.
“I’ve heard people talk about how you want to choose the roles that scare you.
And, yeah, it’s sort of an actor-y thing to say.
But I think it was a good thing.
I think it forces you to dig that bit deeper.
And the challenges, the adversity that’s where the growth occurs.
Clearly, he persisted.
“Why did the Japanese respond to it as a Samurai movie?
Why did the French call it a Western on Wheels?
Why did the Scandinavians see it as a lone Viking [film], and so on.
And I realized that, inadvertently, we’d tapped into some sort of archetype.
Directed by Alison Wild & Kristen Harding
