Why Furiosa Director George Miller Decided Against De-Aging Charlize Theron

Has it really been nine years since "Mad Max: Fury Road" barreled into theaters, reestablished George Miller as (arguably) the greatest action filmmaker on the planet, and made a blessedly clean break with the franchise's highly problematic (to put it lightly) star? Almost a decade later, everything about the film feels not just present, but prescient. Thematically, aesthetically, and politically, it was the perfect film for an uncertain time — and, in terms of judiciously utilizing CG to enhance practical, large-scale stunt work, no one has come close to matching it.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" loses none of its high-octane impact on rewatch, but when you begin analyzing it on a purely technical level you can't help but wonder how in the heck Miller pulled it together without going, well, mad. No less a filmmaker than Steven Soderbergh has expressed total bewilderment (in a good way) over Miller's achievement. So when he announced his plan to dive back into the saga with a Furiosa prequel, we once again questioned his sanity.

We'll have to wait until May to find out if Miller has equaled or, dare to dream, surpassed the greatness of "Mad Max: Fury Road" with "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga," but when it comes to his use of CG, we know there's one in-fashion technique that he won't be employing. Because if he did, he would've cast a different actor.

When Miller announced four years ago that Charlize Theron wouldn't be returning as Furiosa in the prequel, it was both a bummer and a relief. On one hand, it was almost impossible to imagine anyone other than Theron as this indelible character; however, knowing that this would be a prequel that would take Furiosa from her teens into her twenties, Miller's decision made sense. Because the other option was to de-age Theron, and that's a bit of digital trickery that the filmmaker isn't ready to embrace.

Miller elaborated on this decision in a recent print interview with Empire, and confessed that it wasn't easy to move on from Theron. After all, on the first day of shooting "Fury Road," Theron jokingly asked Miller if they could tell Furiosa's backstory first, because she knew as well as her director that Furiosa was a hero whose journey — past, present, and future — was packed with potential.

According to Miller, if he'd made "Furiosa" first, Theron would've absolutely starred in the film. He didn't move on from her easily, but he simply couldn't go the de-aging route. As he told Empire:

"As time went on, I began thinking, 'Oh, maybe we could do de-ageing. Then I watched really masterful filmmakers like Ang Lee and Martin Scorsese, doing 'Gemini Man' and 'The Irishman,' and I saw that it hadn't been licked. All you'd be watching is, 'Look how well the technology works.' It would not have been persuasive."

While we'll miss Theron as Furiosa, Anya Taylor-Joy is hardly a step down. She's a remarkably talented actor who'll probably win an Oscar of her own one of these days. But why did Miller settle on her as the younger Furiosa?

Game recognizes game, as they say, so when Edgar Wright, who was directing Taylor-Joy in "Last Night in Soho," recommended her to Miller, the veteran filmmaker took his immensely talented peer's advice. "He said, 'If you're thinking of casting her, whatever it is, DO IT!'," recalls Miller.

Taylor-Joy told Empire that, aside from Wright's enthusiasm, she wasn't entirely sure why Miller thought she could do Furiosa justice. Per Miller:

"Ultimately, it's an intuitive response. There's an innately resolute quality in her. She's a very determined and rigorous person. She has a mystique about her. And she'd been trained young as a ballet dancer. Charlize trained young as a ballet dancer. There's a precision to them that was needed."

Once Taylor-Joy got the part, she faced the challenge of becoming Furiosa without mimicking Theron's iconic turn. If you're thinking she might've been tempted to work a smidgen of Theron into her performance, forget it. As she told Empire:

"I think that would have really tripped me up if I did. She's been so classy and kind in letting me go and do it. But I feel very lucky that, from the second I read the script, I just knew this person. I felt so fiercely protective over Furiosa, and fiercely protective of her interests."

So there you have it: No de-aging, no imitating, just straight-up acting. What a novel concept in this age of pandering fan service and AI hackery. I have no idea how I'll wind up feeling about "Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" as a movie, but Miller and Taylor-Joy's approach to this art form is as vital to our addled moment as "Mad Max: Fury Road." Authenticity shouldn't feel this refreshing, but, lamentably, here we are.

"Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga" hits theaters on May 24, 2024.