Charlize Theron Requested On-Set Protection From Tom Hardy While Making ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’: “I Didn’t Feel Safe”

Charlize Theron played warrior Furiosa in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, but she actually did battle with costar Tom Hardy. According to Kyle Buchanan’s new book Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, Theron eventually felt compelled to seek on-set protection from the “aggressive” Hardy.

Speaking to Buchanan, Theron and other crew members alleged that Hardy often acted unprofessionally on the set of George Miller’s blockbuster. At one point, he showed up three hours late to set despite producers making a “special request” for him to arrive on time. The entire time, Theron — who had a new baby at the time — remained in position, ready to film.

Camera operator Mark Goellnicht recalled that wen Hardy arrived, Theron asked Hardy: “How disrespectful are you?” and added that producers should “fine the fucking cunt a hundred thousand dollars for every minute that he’s held up this crew.”

In response, Goellnict claimed that Hardy “was quite aggressive.”

“She felt really threatened, and that was a turning point,” he added.

Eventually, Theron got the sense that sending a woman producer down could equalize some of it, “because I didn’t feel safe.”

“I don’t want to make excuses for bad behavior, but it was a tough shoot,” the actress added. “Now, I have a very clear perspective on what went down. I don’t think I had clarity when we were making the movie. I was in survival mode; I was really scared shitless.”

However, the producer assigned to Theron, Denise Di Novi, was ultimately barred from set by producer Doug Mitchell. Meanwhile, Theron was left feeling “pretty naked and alone” on set.

“You understand the needs of a director who wants to protect his set, but when push comes to shove and things get out of hand, you have to be able to think about that in a bigger sense,” Theron added.

For his part, Hardy said he was “in over my head in so many ways.”

“What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner than me,” he said. “That’s something that can’t be faked. I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I would rise to that occasion.”

Fury Road won six Academy Awards at the 2016 ceremony. A future film exploring Furiosa’s backstory is currently in the works, with Anya Taylor-Joy taking over the role.

Where to watch Mad Max: Fury Road