Charlize Theron Not to Play Furiosa in Mad Max Prequel

Charlize Theron will unfortunately not return to play Furiosa in the planned prequel spin-off to Mad Max: Fury Road. According to her own words, she’s just as disappointed as we are.

The What Now?

So, good news and bad news. Good news: we’re getting a prequel spin-off film to the best action movie ever: Mad Max Fury Road. We don’t know what the release date is, and we don’t know who will be in it. We don’t even know how far along it is in production, if it even is. All we know so far is that it will be about Furiosa’s past prior to Mad Max: Fury Road, and that George Miller will return to direct it.

Now for the bad news. Apparently, Charlize Theron, who played Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road, will not return to play her. Instead, the role of little Furiosa will be played by Anya Taylor-Joy. Taylor-Joy seems to really like playing horror films, so I’m not certain how this would work in this prequel movie. Then again, Furiosa’s life before the movie wasn’t exactly a bundle of roses, so it could be good as a horror movie. The fact remains though, that Charlize Theron will not be playing this beloved character.

But Why?

Why the change in casting? According to a recent interview Charlize Theron did with The Hollywood Reporter, it seems George Miller thought that the 44-year old Theron was unsuited to play a younger Furiosa. Thus, he recast the role with an actress in 24-year old Taylor-Joy. Yeah, we’re all a bit disappointed in this. Charlize Theron has become linked with Furiosa in the same way Keanu Reeves is linked with John Wick. Having someone else play Furiosa is just…wrong, somehow.

It’s also clear that Theron herself is disappointed by this. In the aforementioned interview, she admitted:

Yeah, it’s a little heartbreaking, for sure. I really love that character, and I’m so grateful that I had a small part in creating her. She will forever be someone I think of and reflect on fondly. Obviously, I would love to see that story continue, and if he feels like he has to go about it this way, then I trust him in that manner. We get so hung up on the smaller details that we forget the thing that we emotionally tap into has nothing to do with that minute thing that we’re focusing on.

Charlize Theron

Conclusion

I feel like I’m on the fence about this particular piece of news. On one hand, I’m excited that we’ll get a Mad Max: Fury Road spin-off movie that’s about little Furiosa to boot. On the other hand, the fact that Charlize Theron will not play her is more than a little disappointing. Her performance as Furiosa in the movie was incredible, and the thought of someone else playing her is just almost sacrilegious in some ways.

Hopefully, Anya Taylor-Joy will be able to live up to Theron’s legacy. At least Theron will be playing another female action hero in The Old Guard, and has parts in other action movies, so we’ll still be seeing her.

Source: JoBlo.com