Furiosa Will Skip One Aspect of the Charlize Theron Version of the Mad Max Character

Part of Taylor-Joy’s interest in the hairstyle comes from the connection to the character. “I feel very lucky that, from the second I read the script, I just knew this person. I felt so fiercely protective over Furiosa, and fiercely protective of her interests.” That’s an interesting statement, given the fact that the actor steps into a role originated by someone else, Theron.

In fact, Miller wrote what became the Furiosa script while working on Fury Road, much to the excitement of Theron. “She said, ‘Please, George, can we make this first?’” Miller told Empire. “It was the first time I realized that there’s something really strong in this story.” Given Theron’s hopes for the story, one would think that she would hold a grudge over being replaced by a different performer. But Taylor-Joy insists that’s not the case. “She’s been so classy and kind in letting me go and do it,” Taylor-Joy says of Theron.

Theron’s acceptance with he recasting stems, in part, from the necessity of the story. More than a mere prequel, Furiosa takes place over the 15 years leading up to Fury Road. The film finds Furiosa kidnapped from the Green Place of Many Mothers. Forced to participate in the battle between Demenus and Immortan Joe, Furiosa searches for a way to return to her home.

Miller promises a more epic story than any of his previous Mad Max films, one that takes Furiosa all over this post-apocalyptic world. It represents the growth of an orphan into the warrior we will later meet in Fury Road. So even if Taylor-Joy doesn’t get to cut her hair in the way she had hoped, it’s clear that she’ll get to play Furiosa in all her complexity.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga comes to theaters on May 24, 2024.