www.madmaxmovies.com

Even though Edgerton praises his co-star as “an exceptional actor” and “a shape-shifter,” Hardy needs a lot of reassurance, as he reveals when he talks about getting the part of ‘Mad’ Max Rockatansky. ”I thought, ‘No one will ever choose me to play a part like this so why am I even reading it?’ How jaded is that?” Now, though, the role is waiting for him. ”I don’t know what I’m allowed to say,” he says. ”It looks incredible, what I’ve seen of it; it’s a very big, epic, exciting, human and massively constructed visit to a character that George [Miller] has very close to his heart. I know he wouldn’t go back to it unless there was somethign to be reinvented or rediscovered. He’s a very diligent and sensitive man.”

Is Mad Max going to be full-on action?
TH: I think so, yeah. Now, we’re working on the Mad Max body, which is going to be stripped down and become more feral and dog-like.

Mel Gibson in those days wasn’t really beefed up.
TH: No, no, he wasn’t. He’s a legend man, but he didn’t do half the shit that we’re going to be doing in this one – you can fit the entire fucking trilogy in the first 20 minutes of this one. He’s a legend and I’ve got his shoes to fill and that’s going to be difficult enough, but the entire Mad Max trilogy is kind of over in the first 20 minutes. It’s epic, it’s ridiculous.

Why did George Miller want to do it?
TH: That’s a good question, which I’ll find out more about.

Because he’s gone to do all kinds of different things…
TH: Babe, Happy Feet… I love that about him.

I never met him, he looks like an old dandy.
TH: He’s very analytical; he’s a psychiatrist as well. He’s very analysis-based and caring and sensitive, and due dilligence is his process. He articulates himself in a multitude of sensual and sensitive ways, and he’s just brilliant to be with.

You’re talking about all this action, but with George directing, it’s got to be a character piece too?
TH: He’s got to ground it entirely in a world of humility, sensitivity and vulnerability, that he exudes himself.

Is it obvious from what you’ve seen of the script already?
TH: No. [Laughing.] What you see in the script is just fucking raw carnage! So god knows how he’s going to do it. If it wasn’t for George Miller, I don’t think it’s something I would look at with any seriousness, because it would easily just be something that is an action movie, like any other, which either does well or doesn’t do well.

A lot of those films are essentially the same film, but with different outfits and names?
TH: It can be like that, but this isn’t the case. It’s more like the reinvention of Batman that Christopher Nolan did. This is George Miller, coming with something he created initially anyway and he’s had 30 years to ruminate on and to return back to it.
Pnut: It’s almost like an intimate independent film done on a epic scale. It’s terrifying.

There’s no Tina Turner…
TH: Thank god! I’m not going to lie, Mel was good but Tina wasn’t great, was she? She’s a legend that just didn’t translate to screen [laughing]. She’s still an icon and it’s more than I can say about my career. I’ve got the opportunity, but I’m no legend.

junkers88 wrote:Hardy in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES as Bane...

How did you get the Mad Max role? Was that because of Bronson?
TH: Flew out, had a chat, [laughing] got a job! I happened twice in the same week. [Laughter] Actually, it happened three times, I also did it with Tony Scott as well, with Potsdamer Platz, which is another thing. A cracking week that! There’s no rhyme or reason; I’ve been struggling for ten years to be taken seriously, then suddenly it’s “Wanna have a chat?” Yeah. “Here’s a job!” What?! How dare you! I don’t want it!

What do you put it down to?
TH: Fuck knows.

Instant charisma?
TH: Instant gratification! It felt good. Fuck knows, man. One thought is I have no idea how any of this works. I have no control over anything that’s going on. It ain’t that different from how I approach my work anyway. It’s a question of God’s time. With Mad Max, it’s interesting timing. I’ve met a woman I want to marry and settle down with, and I have my beautiful son I want to live with. I want to be at home and I need to be at home, but instead, it’s off you go on the biggest adventure you’ve ever done – knowing full well how these thing can bomb. It’s hard – you’ve got to go up against Mel Gibson and it’s impossible.

And you’re miles away in Australia…
TH: Yes, apart from that, it’s far away in Australia, and bearing in mind I have a problem with isolation, abandonment, and I’ve been an addict. Seven years in being clean, now’s the time to take you right away from your comfort zone again and we promise this will do good things for you … or it won’t. [Laughing] We’ll see what happens.

You see it as your biggest challenge?
TH: It’s the biggest role. I think something like Stuart or Broson were both massively complicated roles, this is massively complicated, but it’s the star vehicle as well. It’s make or break – can you recreate a second time round what Mad Max did? I don’t know if I can. In that way it’s a challenge.

You have to disassociate yourself from that side of the expectation, because it’s not real…
TH: Yeah. What would you do with it? That’s where I’m at, It’s not that I don’t have a skill set, it’s a question of what are the right tools? So I get out the basics and approach it like anything… How do you eat an elephant? One piece at a time. It’s like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for filmmaking for me. Make plans, god will laugh, this is what will happen.

Then you’ve got to climb down…
TH: Yeah. Take care of the input and the output with take care of itself. If the heaves fall, as is their nature to do so, remember there’s a certain amount of gravity and reality with just having a family. At the end of the day, all roads lead back home.

You can only do your best?
TH: It won’t be because we didn’t fucking try. I’ll bang out anybody, if they fucking tell me my Mad Max isn’t me working my hardest. I’m going to put myself on the line; it’s not the first time. I’ve got fire. I’m also a little bit smarter now, so I know I’m going to fail. So I’m pissed already going out there [to Australia], never mind Mad Max, I’m “Pissed and Angry Max”!

What’s the first step in preparing to do Mad Max?
TH: When I’ve got to stop smoking and start skipping, then I’m going to be really angry. Then’s he going to want to shoot all the lovely stuff. I’ll be like “Where’s that dog that needs fucking?” No, I need you to come over here and sniff flowers

Well, all I can say is good luck
TH: Thank you very much, because I WILL fucking need it.