Poor Tom Hardy. First the actor is forced to grow an unwieldy beard as prep for his starring role in the upcoming “Mad Max” reboot, only to have the start date pushed back countless times. Then, while in Cannes this week helping to promote John Hillcoat's “Lawless,” Hardy confessed he still had no clue when shooting began. However, it seems Hardy was either off trimming his beard when news struck, or co-star Charlize Theron is just more aware of these things, because the actress today revealed the film is set to shoot very soon, as in next week.
In an interview with MTV promoting the upcoming “Snow White and the Huntsman,” Theron confirmed, for her part at least, production on “Mad Max: Fury Road” will start June 2nd, but considering Hardy is playing the (newly interpreted) title character and all, his call time can't be too far behind. “We've had a lot of time to talk about it, and we've also had some rehearsal,” Theron said, only slightly understating the three-year hiatus. “I think you have to find the positive out of something like that, waiting that long to do a film.” While Theron is obviously being amicable about the delays, she's right to accentuate the positive, since she originally had to turn down parts in “Young Adult” and “Prometheus” to make room for the past “Mad Max 4” schedule. But those came right back on her plate as the delay proved longer than anticipated.
Director George Miller first cast Hardy and Theron during pre-production back in 2009, putting the film on track to shoot in 2010, but heavy flooding in the originally planned outback location of Australia postponed production shortly afterward. The project then changed locations to Namibia, where another start date of April went unmet, but if Theron's seemingly confident words can be believed, 'Fury Road' should get underway shortly. Either way, things do seem to be moving along on the long-awaited sequel. Just yesterday, the Daily Telegraph British model-turned-actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley ("Transformers: Dark Of The Moon") was spotted flying in to meet Miller with all signs pointing to 'Fury Road.'
The film's story reportedly features a convoy of girls known as the "Five Wives" who are pursued by the villains with names previously linked to those roles including Teresa Palmer, Zoe Kravitz, Adelaide Clemens, Riley Keough and, most recently, fellow supermodel Abbey Lee Kershaw. Who knows which of those actresses are still on board after these length delays but could Huntington-Whiteley be in line to join as part of the quintet?
Now if someone would kindly tap Hardy and his beard on the shoulder and tell him he's needed on set?
