‘Mad Max’ Director Says ‘There’s No Excuse’ for Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron’s ‘Fury Road’ Set Feud: Tom ‘Had to Be Coaxed Out of His Trailer’

variety.com:

Zack Sharf Digital News Director With his “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel movie “Furiosa” gearing up for both its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and its theatrical release later this month, director George Miller recently spoke to The Telegraph and reflected on the notorious feud that broke out between stars Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron during the grueling “Fury Road” production.

Miller said at the center of the feud was the simple fact that “they were just two very different performers.” “Tom has a damage to him but also a brilliance that comes with it, and whatever was going on with him at the time, he had to be coaxed out of his trailer,” Miller said, more or less confirming reports that Hardy’s tardiness drew a wedge between him and his-costar. “Whereas Charlize was incredibly disciplined – a dancer by training, which told in the precision of her performance – and always the first one on set.” “I’m an optimist, so I saw their behavior as mirroring their characters, where they had to learn to co-operate in order to ensure mutual survival,” Miller added. “There’s no excuse for it, and I think there’s a tendency in this business to use great performances as an excuse for other disruption that could be avoided.” Theron explained in the “Mad Max: Fury Road” oral history book “Blood, Sweat & Chrome” that her relationship with Hardy on the film’s set “was like two parents in the front of the car.

We were either fighting or we were icing each other — I don’t know which one is worse — and they had to deal with it in the back.