Anya Taylor-Joy continues to make herself known in Hollywood as one of the most high-profile actresses in recent years. Having recently wrapped production on the post-apocalyptic action film Furiosa, the actress spoke about her experience filming the project in the Outback, which she noted was unlike anything she had ever done before.
The film, directed by the iconic George Miller, is intended to be a spinoff of 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road. The project will see Taylor-Joy step into the role of Imperator Furiosa, the tough-as-nails, gritty war captain originally portrayed by Charlize Theron in the 2015 film. In a new interview with IndieWire, Taylor-Joy talked about the creative process behind the film, which was shot in the Australian desert throughout 2022. “I’ve been on a different planet for the last seven months," Taylor-Joy said. “I think I need to sit down and attempt to try and digest what’s happened over the last seven months. But I’m incredibly, incredibly proud of it, and so proud of all of the people I got to work with, and just the amount of love and effort and work that went into it, I’m excited to see it.”
The 26-year-old actress also spoke about the less glamorous side of filmmaking, and noted that creating Furiosa was “the dirtiest and the bloodiest I have ever been, which is saying something, genuinely saying something." Taylor-Joy added, “Any time I get to be dirty or bloody and not perfectly prim and pretty, I’m just having a ball, that’s where I feel most comfortable. So yeah, Furiosa was definitely right up my street.”
Another key aspect of the Mad Max universe is the iconic vehicles and cars that are used to transport people in the post-apocalyptic world. Furiosa is known as one of the most skilled drivers in the wasteland, but for Taylor-Joy, she was notably a fish out of water when it came to the driving. “I don’t actually have a license, so I can’t drive. I can’t on a highway, I can’t parallel park, but if you need me to do a juicy 180 in a truck, I can do that and not hit the camera people, which is great,” Taylor-Joy said. "If a driving instructor gets in a car with me, all I know how to do is crazy stunt driving."
While George Miller's project will not be released for over another year, anticipation remains sky-high, especially given that Fury Road is often considered one of the best action films of the 2010s. While plot details on Furiosa remain a closely guarded secret, the film is reportedly the most expensive ever made in Australia, and both Miller and Taylor-Joy have promised a similar experience to Fury Road.
Beyond being toplined by Taylor-Joy, Furiosa also stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, Nathan Jones, and Angus Sampson, with more cast likely to be announced. The screenplay was written by Miller and Nico Lathouris, and the film was produced by Miller and Doug Mitchell through production companies Village Roadshow Pictures and Kennedy Miller Mitchell.
Furiosa will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures on May 24, 2024.