Chris Hemsworth seems to love challenges judging by his new National Geographic series “Limitless”. The actor isn’t one to back down from tackling something difficult in front of him.
That said, the “Thor” star faced a different kind of challenge in the lead-up to George Miller’s long-awaited “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel film “Furiosa”.
Actors Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron have previously talked about the difficulties they faced in regard to the long and arduous production of “Fury Road” as Miller didn’t provide a traditional script for the film – he’s a director famed for shooting the hell out of movies and ‘finding’ them in post-production.
That wasn’t the case here, as Hemsworth had a completed script and plenty of time to work on his villainous character of Warlord Dementus. Though he’s played bad guys before in films like “Bad Times at the El Royale” and “A Perfect Getaway,” the long lead-up to the shoot somewhat rattled Hemsworth.
Appearing on Josh Horowitz’s Happy/Sad/Confused podcast (via EW), Hemsworth talked about how different this experience was from how he usually prepares:
“Often I get a script and I know from the first read, the second read, I know who the character is and I get an instant, sort of, visceral feeling attached to it, like, ‘Alright, I’ve got it.’ This, I had read two years before I started shooting and was in awe of the script. It was the most beautiful thing I’ve read. I love George Miller – but I didn’t know who this character was.”
Hemsworth said it wasn’t until rehearsals were underway that he finally ‘found’ the character:
“We did about four weeks of rehearsals, and we started digging in and diving into it, and things started coming to me. And then, about two weeks prior to shooting, something clicked. I went, ‘Ooh! Ooh. I think that’s who it is. I think that’s how he moves.'”
He indicate he was glad he finally did find it as the actor was awash in feelings of panic, anxiety and self-doubt for up to two full years between first receiving the script and the start of shooting:
“In the buildup, and I’m talking a couple of years, I was scared out of my mind. I’m like, ‘I’m gonna derail one of the most iconic franchises.’ I’m gonna bring down ‘Mad Max.’ It’s gonna be my fault.”
Whilst there was pre-filming nerves, the actual shoot of “Furiosa” seemed to go smoothly for Hemsworth, who dubs it “the best experience of my career” and “something I’m the most proud of, too.”
“Furiosa” is set to hit cinemas on May 24th 2024.
