Tom Hardy Was Cast in ‘Mad Max’ Because He Was Similar to Mel Gibson
Actor Tom Hardy was picked to succeed Mel Gibson as the new Mad Max. Apart from Hardy’s own skills as a performer, he was offered the role because of his strong likeness to the original Mad Max star.
Why George Miller picked Tom Hardy for ‘Mad Max Fury Road’
Hardy’s Max Max Fury Road didn’t hit theaters until 2015. But he’d been attached to the project as early as 2010.
“There were many, many actors that would probably be right for Mad Max and there’s many out there who could probably do an exceptional job to portray him. It’s especially a challenge to step in the shoes of such an iconic character. I’m aware that I’m going to take a certain number of casualties when I go in and play him,” Hardy once told Collider.
Miller, however, thought that Hardy was more than perfect for the role. Mostly because the actor reminded him of a younger Gibson.
”When I first met Mel there was a quality about him, on the one hand you wanted to get to really know him, he’s very lovable, on the other hand there was an element of danger and unpredictability,” Miller once said according to Contact Music. ”There is that quality, that paradoxical thing that gives these actors charisma. It’s always the paradox. The moment I saw Tom and engaged with him, he felt very much like that as an actor. It felt to me like Mel did all those years ago.”
The Warrior star also hoped to provide the same kind of intensity his predecessor did when he was Max Max.
“You can expect the same amount of grit and rawness and authenticity and performance, I hope to deliver. But that’s really the crux of me and George to deliver and all the other actors as the other characters,” Hardy said.
What stopped Mel Gibson from doing ‘Mad Max 4’
Before Mad Max Fury Road, Gibson starred in the original Max trilogy, which ended with Beyond Thunderdome in 1985. Interest and discussion regarding a fourth film occurred off and on for decades after the third movie. Gibson was initially supposed to star in a fourth Mad Max movie in the 2000s. But the film wasn’t made, which Gibson blamed the budget for.
“We talked about this very project like 10 years ago. I actually wanted to do it, but then what happened was, the budget was nuts. It was crazy. I certainly hope they’ve become more realistic about it,” Gibson once told Coming Soon.
After Hardy was tapped to lead the fourth Mad Max movie, Gibson harbored no grudges against Miller for the decision. In a separate interview with Collider, he was still interested in seeing the project. And this was despite the fact that he and Miller couldn’t make their own Mad Max work.
“I’ve talked to George…yeah. We talk all the time anyway. I’m abreast of that. He’s been trying to do this for years – the 4th installment. At one point I was involved and it fell to bits and then this and that…so now it’s probably gone through a lot of changes and I can’t wait to see it cause everything he does is magic. There is a touch of genius about George. Probably any good trick I’ve learned I got from George and Peter Weir,” Gibson said.
Hardy himself was reportedly supposed to star in more Mad Max movies. But it seems those plans might’ve fallen through.
Tom Hardy reminded Mel Gibson of one of his sons
Gibson took a liking to his successor Hardy after meeting the actor for the first time. Like Miller, Gibson saw the similarities between himself and the Bronson actor. So much so Gibson felt that they could’ve been related.
“[Tom Hardy] is a very interesting actor [who] reminds me of one of my sons,” Gibson once told Movable Feast.
Hardy likewise held Gibson in high regard. He even felt the actor was still capable of playing Miller’s Max in Fury Road. Despite Gibson’s older age.
“Mel would be perfect for it but, for some reason, he’s not doing it and I am,” Hardy said.
