It’s official—Anya Taylor–Joy is your new Furiosa. Earlier this week, it was announced that the actress best known for roles in “The Witch,” “Split,” and “Thoroughbreds” is taking over the role once occupied by Charlize Theron for a new “Mad Max: Fury Road” prequel focused on the breakout badass character. And while the news is still fresh, we already have the actress talking about the role and what she expects to do with it.
Josh Horowitz, host of the Happy. Sad. Confused. podcast is definitely thanking the podcasting gods for having a scheduled interview with Anya Taylor-Joy just hours after it was announced she was taking on the role in the ‘Furiosa’ film. And as any sane person would do, he asked Taylor-Joy about the role, or at least about as much as you can ask an actress about a film that is likely years away from release.
Interestingly, even though Taylor-Joy was rumored for the role for months before the announcement, the pandemic has created a situation where the young actress hasn’t even met writer-director George Miller in person yet.
“We have not met in person yet,” she revealed. “We spent a lot of time on FaceTime and then we had a great conversation. We talked about movies, but we basically just talked about life. I just love his brain. I really feel like I connect with it.”
But the question on everyone’s mind is just how Taylor-Joy expects to step into the shoes of Theron and continue the legacy of being a post-apocalyptic badass. Well, according to the actress, the key is to do something different and not even try to emulate Theron.
“I think that’s the first thing. I fell in love with Furiosa the way Charlize presented her,” said Taylor-Joy. “She did such an incredible job and it was so beautiful. I can’t even think about trying to step into her shoes. It has to be something different because it can’t be done.”
She added, “I’ve already started dreaming about her. She’s coming in pretty strong. And I think I’m just so committed to working as hard as I possibly can because I’ve always said that I wanted a role that I would have to give everything to. It wouldn’t just have to be my mind. It would have to be your body. Like what you’re doing with yourself when you’re not on set. I’m just so excited for that because I hope to push myself past the limits of what my brain once told me was possible. I hope to go there.”
We don’t have a release date or plot synopsis for “Furiosa” yet. However, we do know that it is a prequel that will likely expand on what we already know about the revolutionary figure. The film is also set to co-star Chris Hemsworth and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.