Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron cordially hated each other on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road .
It’s quite refreshing to see that they dared to talk about it openly when the film was released, without tongue in cheek.
Charlize Theron notably told the Wall Street Journal :
“From what I’ve heard, Tom isn’t this annoying in all of his films. He even seems to be pleasant at times! Perhaps the film is successful because of the problems that “We had together. The fact that we didn’t get along probably helped, because our characters were also at loggerheads. If we had been boyfriend-girlfriend, maybe the film would have been ten times worse …”
Note that Charlize Theron accidentally broke Tom Hardy’s nose by elbowing him by mistake (?) during the filming of an action scene in the truck. It certainly didn’t help the relationship when things were already strained.
For his part, Tom Hardy confirmed the bad relationship with Charlize Theron, taking full responsibility. He told the Times :
“I think I was a little overwhelmed by the scale of this shoot and it got on my nerves. Charlize deserved a partner more experienced than me.”
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, who plays one of the young women who escapes in the truck, witnessed these clashes between the two stars of the film:
“I think part of the problem was that they each had very different approaches to acting.”
Zoe Kravitz, another of the young actresses present on the set, says:
“I witnessed outbursts on their part, where they were very angry, but I especially remember Tom’s rants at George Miller [the director]. He took his anger out on him and it was painful to see. At the same time, I can understand his frustration. We asked a lot of him and he didn’t always know what he had to do and what his place was in this great production.”