Charlize Theron Isn’t Mad That Anya Taylor-Joy Didn’t Ask for ‘Furiosa’ Advice

“Mad Max: Fury Road” is widely regarded as one of the best action films of the 21st century, and is frequently credited with both breathing new life into the long-dormant “Mad Max” franchise and reminding audiences that Charlize Theron is a formidable action star.

Many fans were understandably disappointed George Miller opted not to include Theron in his “Fury Road” followup “Furiosa,” choosing instead to cast Anya Taylor-Joy as a younger version of the titular character.

But Theron understands. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Oscar winner was asked about her involvement with the “Mad Max” franchise. Though the actress says she would have loved to play Furiosa again, she doesn’t blame Miller or Taylor-Joy for the different direction.

“Listen, I’m not mad about [Miller doing a prequel instead of a sequel],” Theron said. “One of the greatest fucking actresse is picking up something that I only imagined.”

When asked if Taylor-Joy had reached out to her to discuss the character of Furiosa, Theron said that they haven’t spoken. The actress isn’t bitter about that either, and nots she may have handled things similarly if the roles were reversed.

“No, but I get that,” Theron said. “It’s always tricky. Who wants to pick up the phone and say, like, ‘Hey, we’re going to go do this without you.’ No one wants to do that. So, I totally get that. And I love George. I know I’ll talk to him again. I think it was just too hard.”

From the way Theron described the grueling “Fury Road” shoot, it sounds like missing the opportunity to make another one might not be the worst thing in the world.

“Listen, I know I said, ‘Oh, as an actor, you want to be challenged,’ but you don’t want it to be that bad,” she said. “It was a long, long shoot. I have never done anything that needed that kind of endurance, and I don’t think I ever will [again]. I don’t know what production on the prequel was like, but I want to believe it was less. And I hate saying this because I don’t ever want to encourage young actors or storytellers to believe that they need trauma or sacrifice because I really, really don’t believe you do, but there’s a little bit about the circumstances around that movie that I think gave it the magic. It doesn’t mean it has to always be that, but I do think somehow the lightning in a bottle that you’re always trying to catch happened on that movie. But, man, it was fucking tough.”