“I wanted to be put in a situation in extremis”— Anya Taylor-Joy discusses the making of her challenging ‘Furiosa’ character

Anya Taylor-Joy opened up about the challenges and difficulties that she took up during the filming of the upcoming Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in which the actress donned the title role of Furiosa.

In a New York Times profile on Taylor-Joy published on Sunday, May 12, the actress revealed that she had never been more alone than during the making of this film.

"I wanted to be put in a situation in extremis where I would have no choice but to grow. And I got it," she said.

Anya Taylor-Joy even opened up about how she would even go months on set without a single line of dialogue and have to advocate for three months, just for a fiery scream.

Anya Taylor-Joy is all set for her version of Furiosa to grace theaters worldwide (Image via Instagram/@anyataylorjoy)

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"I’ve never been more alone than making that movie" —Anya Taylor-Joy on filming Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

Anya Taylor-Joy is all set to portray Furiosa in the next Mad Max installment, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a role that was made iconic by Charlize Theron's performance in 2015's critically acclaimed Mad Max: Fury Road. Just like the 2015 hit, the production and shooting of the upcoming movie are not easy.

In an interview with The New York Times, Anya Taylor-Joy revealed a lot of trials and tribulations she had to go through to bring Furiosa to life. She told the publication:

"I’ve never been more alone than making that movie."

"I don’t want to go too deep into it, but everything that I thought was going to be easy was hard," the actress elaborated.

When she was asked to elaborate further on what those particular difficulties were, Anya Taylor-Joy contemplated for a bit and asked the interviewer to move on to the next question before telling the interviewer to talk to her in 20 years.

The Mad Max films are known for their impressive stunt work, and Anya Taylor-Joy did not want to slouch on that part at all. She talked about how she did not want to get the action choreography "almost right" or "kind of right," but instead she wanted to get it just right "every single time." The actress told the publication:

"When my analytical brain is firing in that way, I just feel so alive and purposeful."

However, there were still a few things that Taylor-Joy had to get used to. The actress complimented director George Miller and said that she loved him, but she also added that she went for "months" without saying a single line of dialogue. Anya Taylor-Joy told the publication:

"He (George Miller) had a very, very strict idea of what Furiosa’s war face looked like, and that only allowed me my eyes for a large portion of the movie. It was very much ‘mouth closed, no emotion, speak with your eyes.’ That’s it, that’s all you have."

The actress understood Miller's vision, but being a prominent "advocate of female rage," she still felt like there would be a point where people simply broke. Therefore, she advocated for three months to receive one particular scream in the movie.

Despite starring in the film, Anya had still only just watched a rough black-and-white cut of the movie, during which she started crying. The actress was curious if she would ever be able to watch the film more than once. Anya Taylor-Joy stated that she would never "regret" the experience and pointed out that this was a "particular story" to have. She said —

"There’s not everyone in the world that has made a ‘Mad Max’ movie, and I swear to God, everyone that I’ve met that has, there’s a look in our eyes: We know. There’s an immediate kinship of like, ‘OK, hey, I see you.’"

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George Miller's Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is all set for a premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2024. It will hit theaters across the United States later, on May 24, 2024.