Anya Taylor-Joy says filming Mad Max prequel was ‘life-changing’: ‘It’ll take me two years to digest what happened’

Anya Taylor-Joy has spoken about her experience shooting the forthcoming Mad Max spinoff, calling it “life-changing”.

The Queen’s Gambit star recently wrapped filming on the 2024 prequel film, Furiosa, in which she takes over for Charlize Theron as war captain Imperator Furiosa, opposite Chris Hemsworth.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly shortly after closing on production, Taylor-Joy admitted: “It will probably take me two years before it comes out to be able to digest what happened.

“I just finished it, so it’s a bit: wow. Life-changing. Longest shoot I’ve ever done, for sure, but with the most unbelievable crew, and I mean, what a character. I had her. We had each other.”

When asked if her The Menu co-star Nicholas Hoult – who starred in the franchise’s latest film, Mad Max: Fury Road – offered any helpful tips before she made her way into the desert to film, Taylor-Joy said: “He was just incredibly supportive of me.”

“We’re such good friends, and I think he deliberately didn’t tell me too much, but his overall theme was: You’ve got this, you’re going to be okay, and you’ve definitely got it in you to handle it. It’s going to be wild but you can do it. It’s just nice to have support from a friend like that.”

Theron originated the role of Imperator Furiosa in the film series’ fourth instalment, which she will reprise in next year’s Mad Max: The Wasteland, expected to release on 23 June 2023.

However, director George Miller announced in October 2020 that he would be recasting Theron’s lead role with an actor in her twenties, as the prequel will feature a young version of the character.

Earlier this year, in an excerpt from New York Times reporter Kyle Buchanan’s book Blood, Sweat, and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, Theron spoke candidly about her feud with co-star Tom Hardy and ultimately feeling “scared s***less” on set.

Hardy later addressed Theron’s claims, acknowledging that “in hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways. The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times”.

“What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me,” he added. “I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.”