Charlize Theron ‘Didn’t Feel Safe’ Working With Tom Hardy On ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Set

Co-stars Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy butted heads over differing acting methods and Hardy’s repeated tardiness on set, according to an excerpt released by Vanity Fair from the new book Blood, Sweat & Chrome, a sweeping account of the production of the 2015 film Mad Max: Fury Road.

They have referenced this strained relationship before, but in what the book’s author, New York Times journalist Kyle Buchanan, called a “clash of the titans,” these tensions apparently boiled over in an on-set screaming match during one hard production day. Theron said the fight “got to a place where it was kind of out of hand,” and “I didn’t feel safe.”

According to crew members who participated in the oral history for the book, the confrontation began because Theron was angered when Hardy didn’t show up to set on time despite them making “a special request for him to be there on time.” Another crew member, assistant camera Ricky Schamburg speculated that it “felt deliberately provocative. If you ask me, he kind of knew that it was really pissing Charlize off, because she’s professional and she turns up really early.”

Theron apparently waited three hours on set, in costume on top of that, refusing bathroom breaks before Hardy showed up. Once Hardy arrived, camera operator Mark Goellnicht said that Theron started “swearing her head off at him, saying, ‘Fine the f––king c–nt a hundred thousand dollars for every minute that he’s held up this crew!'”

After Theron’s rant, Hardy apparently “charged up to her and went, ‘What did you say to me?'” The ensuing fight apparently left Theron feeling unsafe on later shoot days, and said she thought that “sending a woman producer down could maybe equalize some of it.”

You can read Theron and the crew’s perspective around the on-set clash in Buchanan’s tweet below.

In the wake of the confrontation, Theron said she felt slightly disappointed by the film’s director, George Miller, for failing to mediate the two actors properly. She added that there were parts of production when she “still felt pretty naked and alone,” even when she got the protection she requested. Miller told Buchanan, “Looking back, if I had to do it again, I would probably be more mindful.”

Hardy said for the book, “I was in over my head in many ways,” while playing Fury Road‘s title character, and admitted fault by saying, “What she needed was a better, more experienced partner in me. That’s something that can’t be faked.”