Mad Max: Fury Road crew recall Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy on-set fights
A new oral history book, Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild And True Story Of Mad Max: Fury Road, dives into the on-set drama between the co-stars
Aux News Tom Hardy
Kyle Buchanan’s new oral history book, Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild And True Story Of Mad Max: Fury Road, delves into the, at times, excruciating work in front of and behind the camera needed to bring George Miller’s vision to life. However, the book also details some of the tense relationships between members of the cast—including the strained relationship between Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.
When it comes to the duo’s dynamic during filming, Theron describes it as having “two parents in the front of the car.”
“We were either fighting or we were icing each other—I don’t know which one is worse—and (our co-stars) had to deal with it in the back. It was horrible! It was not a conducive working environment. I apologize profusely,” Theron says.
In particular, the book pinpoints one confrontation between Mad Max stars which made for an ugly day on set.
“I remember vividly the day,” camera operator Mark Goellnicht says. “The call on set was eight o’clock. Charlize got there right at eight o’clock, sat in the War Rig, knowing that Tom’s never going to be there at eight even though they made a special request for him to be there on time. He was notorious for never being on time in the morning. If the call time was in the morning, forget it—he didn’t show up.”
First assistant camera Ricky Schamburg notes, “Whether that was some kind of power play or not, I don’t know, but it felt deliberately provocative. If you ask me, he kind of knew that it was really pissing Charlize off, because she’s professional and she turns up really early.”
When Hardy did finally arrive on set—three hours late—Theron let him have it.
“She jumps out of the War Rig, and she starts swearing her head off at him, saying, ‘Fine the fucking cunt a hundred thousand dollars for every minute that he’s held up this crew,’ and ‘How disrespectful you are!’” Goellnicht recalls. “She was right. Full rant. She screams it out. It’s so loud, it’s so windy—he might’ve heard some of it, but he charged up to her and went, ‘What did you say to me?’”
Following the fiery conflict, Theron asked for a woman producer to be on set with her at all times for “protection.”
“It got to a place where it was kind of out of hand, and there was a sense that maybe sending a woman producer down could maybe equalize some of it,” Theron says. “A lot of what I felt was coming my way from Doug (Mitchell, a producer) was… I’ll just say it. It was a man forgiving another man for really bad behavior, and I didn’t feel safe.”
Theron and Hardy eventually reached an understanding and continued working on the film as a team. Seven years later, Hardy now reflects on the ways he could have helped made the set a better environment.
“In hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways,” Hardy said about the confrontation. “The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times. What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me… I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.”
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This is somewhat worse than I thought regarding Tom Hardy’s unprofessionalism & George Miller enabling it. Charlize Theron if anything is somewhat generous about this in an interview on the Fury Road blu ray, saying that while she usually “isn’t very method” some days shooting when their characters were supposed to be at odds, it was easier just to hate Hardy. But she said she respected him & George Miller & was happy with how the movie turned out & would work with them again. Not totally sure they deserve that
But the extent of this doesn’t seem to be someone who is berating staff or making unreasonable demands. This is an actor showing up late. While obviously that’s disrespectful, it seems like a stretch to say it’s ‘unsafe’, to paraphrase Ms. Theron. She’s the one attacking her co-star by her own account.
I suspect that the person on the receiving end of whatever he said/did is probably in a better position to judge their safety than any of us are.
I think you’re taking a pretty big leap to assume an aggregated article on an excerpt of a book is really giving you the “extent” of the working relationship.
She’s pretty clear that his response, running up to her to ask what she said (a common way to start a physical fight), was what made her feel unsafe.
She’s pretty clear that his response, running up to her to ask what she said (a common way to start a physical fight), was what made her feel unsafe.I mean…in response to her calling a coworker a cunt. She was provoking him. Seems like a bit of alpha dog bullshit all around.
If Hardy was three hours late on set even though he knew full well what time he was supposed to be there he deserved to be called that and more.
Fair. I can’t imagine showing up late to *that* set. After all the effort the massive crew had to put in. Such shit. It really is a miracle that film came together as well as it did. Without anyone dying.
Yeah, but he dessrved that and the only thing out of his mouth should have been an apology.
He’s British. Being called a cunt for showing up massively late is the least insulting way she could have berated him.Now, if she’d called him a Tory cunt he’d have a reason to be upset.
You cad! These are indeed fighting words!
“You cunt!”“Yeah, yeah…”“You … Thatcherite!”“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU CALL ME?”
So when a woman calls a man a cunt, the woman deserves to feel unsafe?Thanks for clearing that up, CUNT.
Theron obviously could have handled the situation a bit more tactfully, but a woman is more likely to feel physically threatened by a muscley, screaming man getting in her face than he would be by her getting in his face.
Cunt is only an extra bad word in the US.
When you act like a massive cunt, folks tend to point that out. And I suspect it was being silently echoed by the majority of hot, sweaty, sandy folks there.
She specifically asked for a woman to protect her from Tom Hardy?
No, she wanted a woman producer to back her up, as Tom Hardy had the male producer backing him up, excusing his bad behavior and helping to create a disruptive and unsafe work environment.
It sounds more like she felt that Miller was overlooking and forgiving Tom Hardy for aggressive behavior (though the only example she gives is him running up to her and asking what she said, after she verbally laid into him), so she wanted a female producer to be a witness for anything that happened, since she didn’t think that Miller would actually take any action or support her if things went wrong.Then again, maybe the female producer moonlights as an MMA fighter on the side, we don’t really know!
It sounds more like she felt that Miller was overlooking and forgiving Tom Hardy for aggressive behavior (though the only example she gives is him running up to her and asking what she said, after she verbally laid into him), so she wanted a female producer to be a witness for anything that happened, since she didn’t think that Miller would actually take any action or support her if things went wrong.Then again, maybe the female producer moonlights as an MMA fighter on the side, we don’t really know!
There’s another bit in the interview where Hardy mentions that Theron wanted someone there for protection, and his response was basically saying he thought it was odd because Theron could kick the shit out of him.
There’s another bit in the interview where Hardy mentions that Theron wanted someone there for protection, and his response was basically saying he thought it was odd because Theron could kick the shit out of him.She didn’t want a woman producer there for physical protection but for professional protection. She was being bullied and the boss onsite was just shrugging his shoulders and saying “boys will be boys” “A lot of what I felt was coming my way from Doug (Mitchell, a producer) was… I’ll just say it. It was a man forgiving another man for really bad behavior, and I didn’t feel safe.”
Probably also a sounding board. Most of us have been gaslit about whether we’re unreasonable about feeling threatened – another woman was in a position to say “Yes, most women would feel threatened by that” or vice versa.
Also, a producer has some clout.
Tom Hardy was playing a young Marlon Brando in Mad Max Fury Road the entire movie is from the film clip in a documentary of a young Marlon Brando sexually harassing a beautiful young black woman on the street I say sexually harassing rather than flirting with or coming on to or trying to pick up because Marlon Brando “ooh wasn’t he beautiful then” – Jezebel commenters no no he fucking wasn’t he was a Hollywood pretty boy who was predatory and menacing and didn’t like women at all now who’s the first contemporary young Hollywood actor that comes to mind when you read that description I know who I’m thinking of you should look at the location in the film clip the buildings the lighting that’s a street somewhere in contemporary New York maybe Harlem beautiful young black woman
The protection person wasn’t there for protection. They were a witness. If Theron did kick his ass, she would want someone there to justify WHY she did it. Because if there was no witness we’d see headlines like “OMG Charlize is so mean to poor, sad Tom. He didn’t deserve that! She’s a mean bitch to work with.”It’s actually a smart move on her part. She didn’t request a security guard, she requested an unbiased witness.
I’m assuming it was less about physical protection and more about the fact that there seemed to be a bit of a boys club developing and if push came to shove she needed someone that wouldn’t just excuse his bad behaviour and could be a witness against him.
If you’re a woman on a set dominated by men, and you feel like your concerns are being dismissed by these men, then yes, you might request a woman in a position of power on the set. That woman can amplify your voice and your concerns to the men in a way that you perhaps cannot. (Basically, the idea is this: one woman can be easily dismissed, but two are harder to shrug off or ignore). So it’s less about protecting her physically and more about making sure that there was someone on set who would be receptive to her concerns and able to advocate effectively for her. This amplification is a core concept adopted by a lot of women in their workplaces. Even the women in the Obama administration found they needed to turn to amplification to make sure their voices were heard and taken seriously by the men in the room: https://www.vox.com/2016/9/14/12914370/white-house-obama-women-gender-bias-amplification
I the word safe is what is confusing to me here. I didn’t feel respected sounds more like what you’re describing. When she says she didn’t feel safe, that sounds much different and more serious than what you’re describing and is presented in this article. I’m curious if there were also issues of safety he was causing. Like, was he hungover and not doing his job correctly too?
Safe has more meanings beyond a threat to physical safety, particularly in discussions surrounding workplace environments. It may be helpful to think of safe as opposed to hostile in this context. In a safe space, you feel free to speak and—in an artistic sense—take risks. If you do not feel safe in a space, if you do not feel that you can voice your concerns, or you feel that those concerns, be they about physical safety or artistic expression or professionalism, will not be taken seriously. If you do not feel like you have agency, like you have the ability to be heard, then a space can feel inherently unsafe, even if everyone is outwardly respectful of you. This is a dynamic many women experience in the workplace.
That makes sense. It’s not the word I would have used (due to the denotation of the word), but if that’s what she meant by it, then I get it. Thanks for the reply.
Because the guy who should have been the head adult on set was a man who was allowing Hardy to get away with threatening behavior (Doug Mitchell, whom she names above). She felt like a woman producer would have interceded on her behalf, where Mitchell or possibly another man might not have. What do you think?
It sounds like Theron thought the male producer on set had decided that he was going to bro down with Hardy by appeasing him in every way possible and letting Theron fend for herself. Theron thought that a woman would be more likely to take action against Hardy if need be (and to realize that a female star might feel threatened by a screaming man).
Because a woman wouldn’t have to ask what’s so threatening about Tom Hardy coming at you with that “What did you say about me”-spiel, I guess.
I would say holding up an entire production crew for three hours (despite specific requests to please not do so yet again) is just as disrespectful as berating staff. I’d rather someone yell at me than repeatedly show up hours late and not give a shit about my time and my craft. Obviously everyone has their own individual stance on that, however.As for Theron feeling unsafe, Hardy charged up to her after she yelled about and at him, so that’s at least one aspect to think about. And if the director isn’t doing anything about Hardy’s behavior, implying he can get away with whatever he wants, that sounds like more than enough reason to generally feel unsafe in that environment.
Yea, but I feel the context is pretty clear that the showing up late anecdote it just one example of several aggressions and confrontations. It was also clear to everyone there he was showing up late consistently on purpose, which is an expensive and total dick move in that industry.If he acts like that outwardly, it’s not hard to imagine there’s a PA or two out there under tight NDA’s who probably have some stories to tell that weren’t witnessed by the whole crew.
Given the scope of this production, just showing up late is a massive fuck you to all involved. It wasn’t a bunch of people hanging on a sound stage, it was hundreds out in the desert shooting insanely precise scenes. He comes off as nothing more than a massive prick all around. I’m generally a fan, so this is disappointing.
Hardy sounds like a real jackass here, but what’s the point of being a movie star if you have to get up at 6 in the morning? I think Miller has to take some of the blame for setting a call time that he knew his star wasn’t going to make.
It’s hot in the desert. You want to get up early and not do rigging, or setting up props in 90 degree heat. Set up early, start filming before mid day sun and be done quicker.
“I think Miller has to take some of the blame for setting a call time that he knew his star wasn’t going to make.”Man this is dumb. If Hardy really didn’t want to get up early, he could have put it in his contract.
Hardy sounds like a real jackass here, but what’s the point of being a movie star if you have to get up at 6 in the morning?Not sure if sarcasm, but many actors do wake up early and work hard at their jobs. Tom Hanks, Will Smith, RDJ, Hugh Jackman, to name just a quick few, are all very dedicated and professional actors on set.As for Miller being to blame, there’s a lot more than goes into making a movie than the star’s ego. Other organizations schedules, labor laws, and times of permitted use if filming in a public area can be a real nightmare to navigate and get moved or adjusted. Other things, like proper lighting for the right shots, can’t be adjusted at all. And for the reported $25-$30 million he was paid, I think setting an alarm is a fair trade.
Movie stars have crazy early and late call times all the time. It’s sort of the job. When you’re working on location or outside, you don’t always get a say in when you shoot–nature does that. If you have scenes that need morning light, you’ve got to get there early. Or if you’re shooting in, you know, the fucking desert you might not want to be shooting in the middle of the goddamn day and have your entire crew pass out from heat stroke.
this is absolutely the funniest take anyone could possibly have.
People will say anything to defend white men lol
Morning light is morning light.
Ding Ding Ding, being late is fine if it was about you but a whole project that requires you to be there and on time is a fuck you to the other people working on that set because you are what is holding them back and wasting their time.
I agree with you. Showing up three hours late? As you said, this is on location out in the desert, not a sound stage that he could take a cab to.I’ve never understood this kind of work ethic (or lack thereof).
Exactly. An actor showing up hours late is basically forcing the entire crew (who are not getting paid anywhere near what the actor is getting) to work hours overtime that is completely unnecessary. It both hurts the production budget and the crew members minds and bodies, and they are already working 12 plus hour days to begin with, and like you said, on a film like this they are doing it out in the elements which is definitely nothing like being in a studio lot soundstage. It’s blatant disrespect and unprofessional, no matter how much pressure you may be under, you don’t do that to others.
Consistently showing up 3,4 hours late for a professional film is more than disrespectful. As the #1 on the call sheet, it actively wastes hours of the crew’s time, contributes to a horrible set atmosphere and morale, and costs the production millions of dollars. Insane that was allowed
When it first said he would consistently show up late to set I was thinking like maybe 30 minutes since that would be rude but could still be accidental for early shoots if not an early riser. 3 hours every time though is doing it on purpose and just awful to everyone involved in the shoot.
Fuck off, you piece of shit. We have all the information given out there now and you think she is at fault, we know what kinda of piece of shit you are.Also, being late is a Fuck you to a production crew who have their own lives to do and not just them two, you can fuck off again with your stupid little dick bullshit.
.
Most of the in-movie stunts were live. Tired, over-worked people = dangerous conditions.
Christ, did you read what she said?
Since she was asking for a female producer to even out the dynamic, not security or something, it doesn’t seem like she meant “unsafe” literally.
Fuck off, Hardy fanboy.
I thought Miller’s enabling of this behavior was notable by its absence. He’s the director, I know he probably has a ton on his plate, but go knock on Hardy’s door and get him the fuck out of bed, I can’t imagine how much it cost a production like that to be standing around for 3 fucking hours.
If she had made honest in the interview for the Blu-Ray, they wouldn’t have included it. Everything on the disk is pure marketing.An actor can only be honest about set conditions and other actors when the movie is well behind them and they’re a large enough star to weather the “difficult” and/or “not a team player” label. Just ask Ray Fisher.
I’m sure Miller has been in the business long enough to know there is no solution to this kind of Movie Star acting like a dickhead thing. The result of any attempt at discipline or criticism towards Hardy likely would have made him act like more of a dickhead to the point of sabotaging the movie.
“Now that I’m older, MAYBE I could rise to the level of showing up for work on time.”Way to go, Tom!
The Axl Rose Method.
and uglier.
Dear Tom Hardy:You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.
Andy Serkis (Mr. Gollum and Ceasar himself) said he was thrown for a loop when Hardy didn’t want to do performance capture for Venom 2 and instead left it to the all CGI guys like he did on the first movie. Probably one reason was that he had to work less on set. I thought it turned out great anyway without performance capture the animation on Venom is pretty tip top.
“Then again, I’m at the point in my life where I’ve never owned more comfortable bedding.”
its interesting, I found them to have zero chemistry in the film.It definitely works in the context of the film. The characters are kinda forced into a situation they need to work together to complete regardless of their personal feelings towards one another.
either way i hope this isnt the focus of this book, because ‘actor was unprofessional and late which upset the other main actor’ isnt much of a story
“I found them to have zero chemistry in the film.”That’s a good thing, given their roles. There’s no way Theron would have wailed on Hardy as hard as she did during their fight scene if they’d had “zero chemistry”.
The War Rig?
Its the big tanker truck she drives in the movie.
I was imagining one of those 2001 VW Beetles that had a little holder for a flower.
That was actually what the script originally called for, but they opted for what you see in the photo at the last minute. Also, Hardy sounds like a lazy cunt.
“Gentlemen! You can’t fight in here! This is the War Rig!”
LMFAO! Why you fucking with people?
See the movie before commenting.
This sounds like a non-story. Someone got really mad and the other reacted poorly so she responded in a hyped up way. And then it got resolved. No one wins here. They were adult enough to get over it so who the hell cares?
Theron’s description of the events paired with her apology (because of course she’s apologizing) sets you up for typical “actors being fussy dickheads with each other” nonsense, but it really does seem like Tom Hardy was a completely inconsiderate asshole who revelled in disrespecting the cast and crew by wasting their time. Yet somehow he escaped the difficult diva label. Funny, that.
Yeah, 10-15 minutes late is one thing, shit happens, but 3 hours? That’s “I don’t give a damn” late.
And that’s after a special request to be on time… like WTF.
Agreed (see what I did there?). Hardy was an adult at the time. 8:00 is not an unreasonable time to be up and at work. Good for Theron calling him on that bullshit.
Well, it’s either “I don’t give a damn” late or its “I’m dealing with severe issues relating to the pressure I’m under” late.Don’t mistake me, even in the latter case it’s on him because, if that were the case, not addressing the problem is affecting the mental state and performance of everyone else on set. And I’m definitely in the “Theron did nothing wrong” camp here.But I do worry about going “the only explanation for these problems is that the person’s a complete dickhead”. Sometimes situations can just be complicated, ya know?
Yeah, actually I was recalling that he’s had some substance issues in the past, so it could have been a relapse.
You can argue that someone was in the wrong but still be empathetic to what they might have been going through. Which is what you’ve done, and I wish more people would do.
Absolutely. The fundamental attribution error is one of the most useful concepts in social science. It’s amazing how frequently people of all types are hostile to the idea.
I brought up the same. Good catch.
Are you old enough to get a job without your parents permission? If you are, then you know that is how things work. Got a problem that will effect you getting to work on time, what do you do (again, I’m guessing you are old enough to not need a permission slip)? You call in. Got it now?
Hi, please read my post in full next time, where I explicitly state that he’s still outright in the wrong because, even if there was some issue getting in the way of him appearing on time, he was still in the wrong for not addressing the issues, so that you don’t come off like a petty little asshole.
So you don’t hang around Reddit often?
I’m going to come to his defense. I’ve stood at that door, expected at a public event for a speech. Fear, anxiety, trauma. I’m in politics but it must be worse for actors and celebrities.
I mean .. . . if you have stage fright, acting is not the profession for you. I hate being on camera or having people look at me, and I would never choose a job that has those two things as its defining feature.I like Tom Hardy – I think he’s super talented, but if it was genuinely anxiety of having to appear on set in front of people, than acting is not the job for him.
Interesting. What you describe is the “misattribution of error” fallacy. That guy’s a dick but my mom has excuse. It’s rather thoughtful. Thanks for reminding us.
“I’m dealing with severe issues relating to the pressure I’m under” Yeah I dunno. I suppose if he has some fairly severe physical or mental health issues … But then he shouldn’t have that job. Being three hours late to work adds another issue…I don’t have any patience for people who are late, even 10-15 minutes late. This, to me, is the most offensive social faux pas. I realize “shit happens” but you pretty much know who the chronically late are so it’s easy to forgive “shit happens” when it’s someone who’s never late.
Yeah, but the movie turned out fine, so who fucking cares? Oh, I forget that generation pussy outrage has the mic and we always have to find something to be outraged about, right? I fucking hate you cunts.
“Chevy Chase” late?
Worse still “Snoop Dogg” late.
Gen X rock fans refer to it as ‘Axl Rose’ late
Exactly. Like, what else is there to do in that area of Australia?
Reading about this situation makes my chronically 10-15 minutes late self feel better.
Same here! It’s completely unintentional but always happens somehow. I’ve whittled it down to about 5 minutes with a lot of effort.
That’s Axl Rose primadonna late.
Diva late fo sho.
Yeah, it seems like Charlize was trying to use whatever power she had as a lead actor to stand up for the cast and crew. Yelling may not be professional, but it’s understandable in this case.
Yeah it’s like that time Christian Bale blew up on that DP on the set of Terminator. From what I’ve heard the DP was causing general fuckery on set and Bale was basically the only one with enough clout to check him… so he did haha
It also puts me in mind of the “Tom Cruise yells at crew who aren’t adhering to Covid protocols on set, because they are endangering the future of all film production” smackdown. I didn’t know about the DP’s behaviour before that day, but Bale’s rant was always most notable for the fact that the whole thing seemed to be in character as John Connor, right down to maintaining the accent.
He does that on most sets he’s on. If he’s playing an American, he’ll keep the accent going throughout the entire shoot.
Yeah, reading this was somewhat staggering as now I honestly can’t understad, while completely getting it, how both of them were labeled as troublesome to work with during that shoot.Like Jesus Christ, Hardy.
The one with the penis wins. Next.
Yeah, a more accurate headline might be “New reports detail how Tom Hardy was kind of an asshole on the Fury Road set.” At worst, it sounds like Theron didn’t handle a shitty coworker as magnanimously as she could have, a pretty minor sin by comparison.
I think it’s obvious that Hardy had a lot of issues and maybe now he’s starting to make a real effort to be better.
Yeah, I love Tom Hardy, but…in over your head? I mean, what does that have to do with showing up on time? That’s literally the easiest part. Just wake your ass up and get there, and he was a big enough star at the time that he could have had assistants and drivers to get him places on time. Not doing so was nothing less than intentional. At 8am is a normal time to be expected to be at work. It’s not like it was a 4:30a call time.
Does anyone know if this changed the content of the film, i.e., is this why it felt so odd how little the title character actually gets to do in the first half hour and is muzzled for most of it?
The headline of this article should be “Mad Max: Fury Road crew recall how unprofessional Tom Hardy was on set”
They were fuckin.
Unlikely, then they would have both been on time. You know Charlize isn’t gonna let you sleep in.
True, true. Don’t fuck with Charlize’s money!
If your job is to be on time, fucking a profession and be on time and Theron apologizing but being on time is better standing that whatever the fuck is happening with Hardy.Jesus fuck, sort your fucking life out if you can’t even do a job properly and on time.
I’d have kicked off and called Hardy a “fucking cunt” as well if he was that late for a job I was working on.
Maybe not if he was 15 minutes late. But 3 hours? After he was very specifically told that he needed to be there on time? Somebody had better be telling him that’s not acceptable.
Theron is a badass queen and whatever energy was pumping through that set at least it was channeled into the best movie of the 10s
I’ve always thought Tom Hardy was an overrated and smug actor with none of the gravitas of a fellow shithead human like say Vincent Gallo, so I’m glad I was right in my intuition.
How does him being unprofessional somehow prove he’s overrated?BTW, good job making this about you.
Are you fucking serious about this comparison?I just…. What?!?Vincent Gallo is a fucking clown.
What has Tom Hardy ever done that’s even close to Vincent Gallo’s performance in Buffalo 66?
No one is as fearlessly or proudly repulsive as VG. He may be a total shithead, but he never pretended to be decent in the first place.
The gravitas of having your girlfriend blow you onscreen
Soooo, Tom Hardy couldn’t handle the pressure of waking up for an 8:00 shoot? Boy he’s a real douchebag. Maybe that’s why he does so well when he’s playing douchebags.
To be fair, I had the hardest time getting out of bed when I was 22. Wait, he was 38 years old? Get out of bed you fucking twat.
To be fair, pretending to be a regular guy isn’t that hard for regular guys.
While Hardy was without a doubt unprofessional, correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t the burden be on the production budget and not on the cast and crew who would be paid for their time regardless? While Charlize Theron was paid $23 million, and others in the cast made between 2 and 5 million each, I’d think the crew would want the extra hours, while the cast has every desire for everyone to show up and get the work done as soon as possible.Wish we knew what was up with Hardy in the first place. I know a shooting day can last as long as 20 hours, and as the main character, he’d have the most scenes, and that would take a toll on anyone, enough to sleep through any alarm. But he seems to suggest that he’s more capable of being what he needed to be today than then, so who knows.
I can tell you from experience as a crewmember: No. No, we would not want that. We already work enough long ass hours and being forced to do so even more is not worth the overtime that we may not even get anyway.
And since I recall most of it is outdoors – so the light is going to change all during the day…
I don’t know, when you are in the middle of a desert waiting for someone to just get to work, for me the allure of the extra hours would start waning pretty fast.
I’m not sure I’d automatically think the crew would want extra hours. Wasn’t IATSE demanding limited or at least more reasonable work hours? As others have pointed out, working on a movie in a hot desert might not present the best working conditions and might necessitate more reasonable hours, despite premium wages the crew could be earning.
If an early morning shoot was unusual, then I think it was necessary for the lighting conditions, which would either postpone that scene until sunset or another day.Some people are commenting about how it’s a hot desert, but they filmed between July and December 2012, which was winter and spring for the southern hemisphere’s Namibia, with reshoots from November through December 2013. According to climatestotravel.com, it must have been very cold most of the time.
Good call on the weather side.
A key cast member showing up late creates a lot of problems for the crew and production, and if that cast member is significantly late numerous times the issues are huge. Even a production as large as Mad Max has a finite budget and a finite schedule, so the crew may be forced to do more work in less time. That’s bad on a short shoot (I’ve been crew and/or production on films, videos and commercials), but its absolute torture on long, back to back days. Add in the facts that each member of the crew is there for a specific tenure — often scheduled to go directly to some other production — and that they are doing major dangerous stunts on what was already likely an exhausting schedule, and the situation becomes abusive and risky.Getting a few days of overtime pay is certainly not unusual for a production, but having constant (unplanned) late starts due to one individual is a burden on everyone.
July to December isn’t just Winter to Spring, it’s a fair chunk of Summer too and I can tell you from first hand experience of working throughout the year in similar conditions in North Western Australia’s Pilbara region it’s no picnic – even in Winter.
Heat stress is still a massive risk – the glare from the sun reflecting off the surrounding landscape is almost blinding and the UV index is so high that going out unprotected (i.e SPF 50+, Hat, Shirt etc.) will guarantee you a serious case of sun-burn. Again that further increases your risk of heatstress/heatstroke which can -and does- have fatal consequences, especially if your work-day involves you standing outside for hours on end. Additionally where they were filming (Namib-Naukluft national park) was a largely sandy desert and as we all know it’s a very coarse and rough and irritating material that gets everywhere!
I love Nambia in the winter.
One thing I always try and tell people from the Northern Hemisphere is that the summer is just Different here. And the glare is the main reason why. We’ve been under that hole in the ozone layer for decades now and we just get that UV coming straight at us. It hurts just to look around on bright summer days. And sunburn happens quickly, within minutes, and you can feel your skin cells roasting.
Dude, what are you even arguing here?
You are probabaly gonna take some crap for bringing out the chart, but I want you to know I love you.That being said: “extra hours” is not necessarily a good thing for people who work for months, with a few truly “off” hours a week.
Dude I work in film. Everything you are saying is insane and wrong.
Everything you are saying is insane and wrong – The AV Club
I’m not saying that climatetotravel.com doesn’t sound like the most convincingly accurate weather record for Namibia, but you did literally choose the table for the central coast region as opposed to the desert region that looks a lot more like this:-And those are average max temperatures, individual daily temps would get higher than that.
IATSE isn’t in Australia or New Zealand
IATSE isn’t in Australia or New Zealand
I’d think the crew would want the extra hoursWhy? Have you ever worked on a film? Upon what are you basing this assumption?I don’t work on movies and I never have, but if my workday is extended by 3 hours because one asshole can’t be bothered to show up on time, that’s not a “gift” of OT. That’s a long-ass workday.
The crew already gets plenty of hours — often too many — when production runs smoothly. A 3-hour delay like that can snowball and mean they have to work later, get less sleep, and potentially take an extra day or 2 just to get the shot.That impacts the overall schedule, so production runs longer, meaning they have to stay on location beyond what was planned, all of which negatively affects their quality of life, not to mention morale.Having to compensate for production running behind by working longer hours is a common gripe among film crews, and demands to limit the practice tend to be featured prominently in collective bargaining agreements.
While Charlize Theron was paid $23 million, and others in the cast made between 2 and 5 million each, I’d think the crew would want the extra hours, while the cast has every desire for everyone to show up and get the work done as soon as possible.The Scriptnotes Podcast touched on this in a couple of episodes, and delays just mean longer and more grueling days – they were filming in a desert so delays would have pushed filming in to the hotter part of the day and I’m sure the crew wanted to get the day’s work over and done with as soon as possible.Wish we knew what was up with Hardy in the first place. I know a shooting day can last as long as 20 hours, and as the main character, he’d have the most scenes, and that would take a toll on anyone, enough to sleep through any alarm. But he seems to suggest that he’s more capable of being what he needed to be today than then, so who knows.That seems more than a little generous in giving Tom Hardy the benefit of the doubt. He’s a professional and should be held to a standard which does not include being three hours late for shooting, impacting tens or maybe even hundreds of other people. Charlize Theron was probably in almost as many scenes as Hardy and seemed to be able to make it on time. Plus you’ve got the whole crew – cameramen, lighting, makeup, etc. – who are working long hours as well.
The problem with extra hours on a film set is that you still have to be there on time the next day. For the crew, a shoot day typically starts around 5am -and by 5am I mean 4:45 am at the latest. You don’t get to sleep in a couple of hours because you worked late the night before.
Killing three hours when you feel fresh, knowing you’ll have to make up that time when you’re tired, is a hard way to live, even if you’re getting paid appropriately for the extra time. It’s harder when those delays happen repeatedly. And when the crew’s job includes keeping people safe while doing stunts on moving vehicles with pyrotechnics in the desert, it’s not good for anyone to needlessly extend working hours. It was probably exhausting for Hardy to spend those long hours on-set, but Theron’s role is just about as big as his, and she managed to do her job. He also got paid more money for his time than most people make in their entire lives, and part of that is coping with the difficulties of the job.
I’d think the crew would want the extra hours
Have you ever been forced to work overtime because of someone else’s negligence or apathy? The extra money only does so much when you just want to get home.
As someone who was volunteered by leadership of my own department to help another department for extra pay, I can say that no, sometimes even the promise of extra compensation is not worth it. It was not something I really wanted to do. I had been planning to use some vacation days during the time I was going to have to help out. I didn’t want more money. I wanted less work.Really, what this does is engender a bad work environment. Everyone on set is going to be resentful towards Hardy and think of him as an asshole they don’t want to have to work with, even if it does mean overtime. No one wants a coworker who is unreliable.
Fuck no, the crew (nor the talent for that matter) wants “extra hours” added to an already grueling shooting day. That goes double for a location shoot. That goes triple for a location in the fucking desert. Every missed hour is an hour that has to be made up later somehow, which means even longer days down the line. The shooting schedule usually doesn’t get lengthened. The crew just has to work longer days. Being three hours late is mind boggling. Depending on the complexity of the setup that could ruin an entire day’s shoot.
I make pretty good money and I just had the same convo with my boss. At my 44th hour, my productivity falls off dramatically. And if you can pay me 10 hrs of overtime a week without batting an eye, I need more money.
I once worked nightfill at a supermarket. One time, due to some screw-up with the shipment, it didn’t get there until about two or three hours after we clocked in, which meant going into overtime to complete the job — which meant staying at until about 2 or 3am. So that meant about two-three hours of general deckchair-rearranging dicking around and pointless busy-work (because, you know, we can’t really do anything without the actual reason for us being there, but they can’t just send us home for the evening either) followed by a standard work shift going into ridiculous hours in the morning, by which point we were all exhausted and stressed out. I mean, sure, I’m getting two or three hours time and a half or something, but that was also some pretty cold comfort because I also wasn’t getting any sleep. Now, that’s not really the same as a film shoot, granted, but at the same time I was feeling pretty damn disgruntled and pissed at my job and the asshole who fucked up the shipment without the added burden of being in the middle of a goddamn desert somewhere. So I can feel pretty safe in suggesting that, overtime or not, Hardy was fucking things up for everyone.
People will say anything to defend white men lol
“I’d think the crew would want the extra hours”Nah, some people like to enjoy a work-life balance.
I have never worked a job where working 20 hours + 3 hours so some lazy asshole could fuck off or whatever, would make it worth the overtime.
When I did art department crew work decades ago, I swear I used to get paid a flat rate per day, regardless of the hours, and sometimes a per diem. I was half starving at the time, so craft services was my main food source. Really, breaking it down, it was decent pay. Did I want extra hours? Part of my job was returning things to stores that had been used as props. Thousands of dollars worth of stuff. That was not glamorous Hollywood. I didn’t care for that part of the job.
It’s been seven fucking years?!?
That’s 11% of some people’s lives.
I want to hear from the Doof Warrior!
“I didn’t see a thing.”
That’sBrilliant
Charlize Theron put up with all this unprofessional shit & is still trying to be nice about it, and then George Miller drops HER from the fucking Furiosa prequel. Infuriating.
He didn’t “drop her” so much as he “cast someone age appropriate for playing the younger version of a character she she played in a movie nearly a decade ago”, stupid.Were you unreasonably pissed that David Prowse didn’t play Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace, too?
Eh, it makes sense to use a different actor for the prequel. It’s not like she was Ian McDiarmid caked in old-age makeup. And Fury Road itself had already replaced the most iconic actor associated with the franchise.
I mean it’s not like Charlize Theron looks like an old crone
Not an old crone, but definitely a full-grown adult well past the point of “origin story” territory. ATJ herself was straining the bounds of plausibility as in her orphanage scenes (claiming to be 15 after someone says she’s 13) in Queen’s Gambit.
She also doesn’t look 20.
I mean, I’d be perfectly happy to do the Better Call Saul thing and just ask us all to suspend our disbelief but I can see why some filmmakers might not want to do that.
It’s almost as if she’s not right for the story he wants to tell.
Why not
Three hours late? Those are Axl Rose numbers! Nobody wants to be in Rose territory.
You never go full Axl. On a related note, I just got done listening to a long interview with Slash and he is the nicest, most humble, chill, normal dude you’d ever want to meet. I don’t know how he put up with Rose for all those years.
$$$
“You never go full Axl.”In any facet of life.
Axl is always full.
Hate to be blunt, but lots of drugs and booze. It’s very telling that Izzy getting sober coincided with him deciding to leave the band. According to Slash’s book, Axl refused to take the stage before one show and it almost caused a riot. Izzy didn’t appreciate power plays like that and decided he’d had enough.
It took a bit longer for Slash (until the recording of “Sympathy for the Devil”), but eventually drugs and booze couldn’t numb how dissatisfied he was either.
I think Rihanna kept audiences waiting almost that long – for shit-talking, auto-tune and a few dance steps.
*ms. lauryn hill has entered the chat*
Deserves more stars
How much acting did that movie even have? Hardy barely talked, theron’s lines were nothing special…it was all about the setting, the cars, and the one dude who was chasing them, then on their side…he had the only really ‘good’ role.
“Acting” entails a lot more than just saying lines.
I’ve heard some people suggest a lot of it is to do with “re”-acting.
I’m just imagining you watching Holly Hunter win the Oscar for The Piano and throwing your remote in disgust.
Was her character the piano and she just spoke in notes? I may not have seen that film.
I have never heard the movie described that way. Cool.
But if we cancel Tom Hardy, where will we find another beefy white guy to brood in front of the camera? WHO WILL BROOD
Logan Marshall-Green is right there.
People have genuinely thought Upgrade was a Tom Hardy film.In a truly bizarre occurrence, at the UK premiere of Prometheus, where Logan Marshall-Green was already being mistaken for Tom Hardy by the crowd, Tom Hardy actually did turn up. For a film he is not in. Said he was there to support friends. As a side note, Charlize Theron was in this film too.Then tbere’s Logan’s fraternal twin brother Taylor and they look more alike than some identical twins too.
“I want Tom Hardy.”“We have Tom Hardy at home.”
Well, except Logan Marshall-Green was in by far the best Venom movie of 2018.
Holeee shit.
This dude looks so much like Tom Hardy its frightening. Roll another off the assembly line!
Give me fifty bucks and as many sandwiches as I can carry away with me, and I’ll do it.
Who the fuck cares? That’s their problem and there are avenues for them to solve it. It was a good movie. That’s all the fucks I’m prepared to give to the off screen working relationship between a couple of people I don’t care about.
I love both of them but if I were to bet on which of them was was an absolute pain in the fucking ass to work with, my money is on Tom Hardy.
Why is this in the news again?It was well know this happend. Theron was getting the vision of the movie and was putting the work in. Hardy was a dick, did not get the movie. And did not want to be there.They should have fired him and got Jai courtney , not as great of a actor. But most of it was just grunts and stares anyway. Think it could have worked as well.
Because there’s a new book coming out about it. The book only came out two days ago, so there’ll be tidbits excerpted in media for maybe a week or two, depending if there’s anything really good in there.
Jai Courtney can actually act when he gets to use his normal (Aussie) accent.
Well, I didn’t know about it as I don’t follow celebrity news, so it’s news to me (and maybe some other folks).
the movie’s arduous production, which lasted for nine months in the
Namibian desert and South Africa before reshoots. The cast recalls
feeling extremely isolated and at times frustrated with Miller’s
methods: They would often shoot without scripts and only for a few
seconds at a time, meaning that actors rarely got to play out a scene in
full. Sometimes, they might shoot for 14 hours and only end up with 30
seconds of usable footage for the day.george miller is a mess here too and tom hardy being often late is inexcusable.Hardy and Theron also butted heads over their antithetical
acting styles: him, experimental and wanting justification for every
piece of choreography; and her, straightforward and wishing to get
everybody home as soon as possible. charlize, a professional who doesn’t want to burn out the cast and crew any more than they already are and then there’s tom trying to be an “artist.”Hardy, for his part, insists in the book that he couldn’t have bullied Theron. “Charlize
is an intense woman. Very intense, actually. In a good way,” Hardy
said. “I mean, look at her in ‘Monster’ – that’s not somebody walking in
the park. You don’t just summon up that kind of authenticity without
bringing a tremendous wealth of artistic ability. She’s a very serious
actor. So, I don’t see why she would ever be intimidated by me or in any
way feel frightened. I think that was more bollocks.”“how could i possibly intimidate someone who played a serial killer?” what?https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2022/02/22/charlize-theron-tom-hardy-mad-max-fury-road-book/6892728001
(Reads article, looks at picture, makes seventeenth note to self to not fuck with Charlize Theron).
Also probably not a good idea to fuck with her mum:https://people.com/movies/charlize-theron-details-night-mom-killed-dad-self-defense/
That’s an extremely awkward take to have about something that can really only read as utterly traumatic.
MM:FR—truly one of the more overrated, shit-tastic movies ever made—just a long boring-ass chase. Such a turd flick.
>Following the fiery conflict, Theron asked for a woman producer to be on set with her at all times for “protection.”So she charges up, gets in his face, starts swearing at him in a loud, threatening, aggressive manner and because he refuses to kowtow to her and back down *she* needs protection?
That is some sexist, self-entitled, Karen bullshit right there. Sure, Hardy was being an ass by being late all the time. But you do not respond to that by yelling and screaming in someone’s face. Imagine if you did that at your work. Bob is late for his meeting again, so your boss humiliates him in front of everyone, screaming that Bob is a useless piece of shit and a fucking cunt. Everyone would recognize that while Bob was wrong, the boss is a toxic asshole who is creating a dangerous and toxic work environment and should be punished by the company if not fired.Giving Theron a pass for the exact same kind of behavior is nonsense. Her behavior was abusive, toxic, and created a dangerous, unhealthy work environment.
Except she wasn’t the one who got in his face
She literally came out of her trailer screaming at him at the top of her lungs.>“She jumps out of the War Rig, and she starts swearing her head off at him, saying, ‘Fine the fucking cunt a hundred thousand dollars for every minute that he’s held up this crew,’ and ‘How disrespectful you are!’” Goellnicht recalls. “She was right. Full rant. She screams it out.”Like a damn psychopath. And then she gets scared because he stands up to her instead of backing down? Nonsense. Just because he closed the distance before she did means nothing. If a guy came out of his house, screaming full tilt at you aggressively, in an abusive manner, when you aren’t anywhere near him, haven’t even said anything to him, you would think he is about to attack you.
She came out of the War Rig, a film prop she’d been waiting in for hours while Hardy was still in bed. She yelled but he’s the one who charged up to her. You don’t get to be the victim when you make people wait hours for your prima donna ass.
>You don’t get to be the victimMaking people wait doesn’t make them a victim. It might make you an ass, but you haven’t threatened them in any way or done any harm to them. On the other hand, when someone charges out of a building, yelling and screaming at you at the top of their lungs, shouting insults and degrading remarks about you where everyone can hear it, that *is* aggressive and threatening behavior. Anyone in such circumstances would think that they’re under threat and think they would have to defend themselves.Theron tried to act like she was big and bad until he wouldn’t back down like she wanted him to and then tried to play the victim when her actions backfired and Hardy stepped up instead of bein cowed. Stop apologizing for her toxic and abusive behavior.
Stop apologizing for his toxic and abusive behavior
I’m not. Go back and read my comments. I’ve repeatedly called him an ass. The only one seeking to justify toxic and abusive behavior are those trying to say Theron’s actions were justified. Her actions are the very definition of White Karen Privilege and those saying she was right are only enabling that type of abusive (and dangerous) personality.
Fucking hell I don’t care anymore
I’m so glad they fought on set because it made for one kick-ass movie that is one of the best action films ever made. Who gives a shit if they got along, they were great on camera and that’s all that matters. What a great fucking film.
What is it about method actors that makes such a larger-than-you-would-statistically-expect segment of them into jerks?
Theater kids are mostly assholes in the first place
“Yes, but unlike little league coaches, they are assholes with likeability!”
Honestly, I suspect it’s less that method acting makes people into jerks and more that method acting just attracts a statistically larger amount of jerks than the regular population because they can basically try and use it as a get-out-of-jail-free card for acting like jerks to the people around them: “It’s not me, it’s the character! I have to act like a massive twat, because they would. Nothing I can do about it, take it up with Stanislavski.” See also: Leto, Jared.
well if anything the method worked cuz everyone looks pissed off in Fury Road.
Problematic bitch calling out problematic bitch. What’s new in Hollywood?
Whilst we’re (deservedly) ragging on Tom Hardy, he apparently tells people that after he “trained” with the SAS they said he was so good they could call on him if they needed help.Twat.
I just checked and he’s 5’9″. He certainly comes across as bigger in some of those roles (Taboo for example). Reminds me of an undisciplined pit bull.
I haven’t been able to take the SAS seriously since watching this sketch:
Tom Hardy is a huge douche. I can’t get into details but a friend acted with him in a huge film. He insulted this friend’s performance at the premiere in front of his children and walked away. Which is weird cause Tom Hardy is horrible in the film.
He probably thinks he’s being helpful. He was sitting in on an audition a friend was doing for some project he was attached in the BeforeTimes, and proceeded to “helpfully” shred every thing she did. What a swell guy.
The guy wrote a TV show for himself that involved incest… and he wrote it with his dad. I don’t think he’s necessarily living in the same world as the rest of us.
I haven’t seen all of Hardy’s work but a lot of his roles have called for some pretty offensive behavior. I get his parts confused because they all seem like versions of the same angry guy. He sounds utterly precious and difficult and we know what happens to actresses who behave like this. It sounds like his lateness wasn’t the only issue although, even after a quick internet search, apparently Hardy shows up late (or not at all) for interviews as well. Idk, maybe his fans like this kind of passive aggression.
General consensus seems that Tom Hardy was not a great person to take the role – considering how minor Max was to the movie in the end (he certainly wasn’t the main protagonist) I feel it’s a pity that they didn’t get Mel Gibson to return.
*Hardy arrives on set late, is aggressive, loud and unpleasant*George Miller, wiping away a tear: “It’s like Mel’s still here in spirit!”
I just knew all the dudes (and gals) with a hard-on for Tom Hardy is going to retcon this into “No, actually Charlize Theron is just as bad or worse” in the comments, and this is despite Hardy admitting he wished he could have been a better person then as he is now.
arrogant insecure cis male
cunt like Hardy make REAL men look bad
The media framing of a fight BETWEEN Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron is bizarre. By all accounts from these excerpts, Hardy was a complete nightmare and Theron was the one stuck dealing with it.
I really like Tom Hardy, but he comes off as a gigantic douchebag here. 8 in the morning is too early for you? Are you fucking kidding me?
Man, in what other line of work do they have to put in a “special request” for you to show up on time? “I wouldn’t normally ask, Tom – you know that by now. But on this particular day, the time that we said is the time that we actually need you to really be at work. Pretty please?”
Quit asking politely, i say. Just get yourself a Ray Donovan and send him to Actor Boy’s AirBnB. It may only take one time of arriving onset in the trunk of the limousine to change dude’s mindset.
Hardy was an a-hole and producers enabled it.
No surprise that Theron was a professional and spoke up when it was warranted. Too bad she had to.
When you know that Charlize Theron got discovered by wilding out at a bank employee at a location across from the Sunset 5 for refusing to cash her check, you have to know how explosive that confrontation was and how crazy that it still didn’t move the needle for them to say “hey maybe we should give this lady who shows up on time a hand?”