It’s always hard when two co-workers in the office have a feud; it can put everyone else in a tough position. But it’s likely even more complicated and difficult when those two co-workers happen to be the stars of a huge movie. And according to a stunt double, this sounded like the case on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road, where Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy were feuding.
At the time of Mad Max: Fury Road’s release, we heard news of the tense feud between Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron, but only recently has more light been shed on the topic. Charlize Theron’s stunt double, Dayna Grant, was put right in the middle of the spat and spoke a bit about how it affected life on set. Here’s what she told Metro:
It was hard. It was really hard. It was hard because it was, obviously, I had to spend time with both of them and both of them didn’t want to be together. I had to do everything with [Tom] – so usually Charlize would come in and they’d do scenes together but they didn’t want to do scenes together so I was put in her spot to always be with Tom. Tom’s double was always put with Charlize so we actually worked with the opposite characters.
This sounds rough. Hollywood feuds are nothing new, but it stinks if you’re somehow caught in the middle. In this case, it forced production to use the stunt doubles more than usual. Even so, it’s impressive that you couldn’t tell, as they concealed the stunt doubles well in Mad Max: Fury Road.
Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy’s feud, of course, is about as infamous as Mad Max: Fury Road now. Back in 2016, Charlize Theron shared a bit about butting heads with her co-star. She seemed to argue though that their real-life tension helped make the movie better, which makes a lot of sense, as their two characters aren’t supposed to be best friends on screen.
And the unbearable conditions on set likely didn't help things, either. The cast and crew were stuck in a hot desert for six months. Zoe Kravitz said everyone was tired, homesick, and confused. On top of all that, director George Miller didn’t use a script during production and just went off of storyboards, something that could probably make any actor go a little crazy.
But the two stars seemed to have buried the hatchet. Earlier this year, Tom Hardy said he regretted the way he behaved on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road. During the production, he felt in over his head and thought Charlize Theron deserved a more experienced partner. Likewise, Charlize Theron said she should have had more empathy for what Tom Hardy was facing since he was stepping into Mel Gibson’s shoes.
