Why Anya Taylor-Joy Was in New Furiosa and Charlize Theron Wasn’t: Explained
Seems like fans will finally get the idea of why the same role went to two actresses.
Summary:
- Furiosa creators got into a huge misunderstanding with fans as they decided to replace Charlize Theron with Anya Taylor-Joy in following films of the franchise.
- The director George Miller finally decided to give an explanation for this casting decision.
- The team never regretted having Anya Taylor-Joy as new Furiosa as the actress seems to bring the same qualities into the character.
Even though Furiosa and all following films were pretty much anticipated in the cinema society, creators still didn’t get away from general misunderstanding.
In the first film the leading role was given to South African and American actress Charlize Theron who managed to show the character just like she had to be shown — a woman with tough destiny and complex story, but always heading for better life while escaping her past and fighting a tyrant, Immortan Joe.
Theron’s play was acclaimed by both critics and viewers as she seemed to start Furiosa’s story on a good note — but suddenly she was replaced by a prominent but younger actress Anya Taylor-Joy.
The creators’ decision left fans bewildered if not infuriated. Now, when this big question was hovering over the production crew literally all the time, George Miller, who directed and generally created all films about Furiosa, finally decided to explain what actually happened.
His answer may seem simple, but also quite reasonable: the team just didn’t want to involve that high level of technology. As Furiosa happened to be a prequel to Fury Road, the film obviously needed a younger actress for the main role.
Miller agrees that his team could, of course, turn to de-aging technologies like many filmmakers do these days, but, as he said in an interview to Empire Magazine, “it wouldn’t have been that persuasive”.
And so Anya Taylor-Joy, who recently appeared in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part 2, was cast as new Furiosa. But the director doesn’t seem to regret his decision anyway — Miller says that Taylor-Joy truly does share some qualities that Charlize Theron put into her character, only a few of them being the actress’ determination, mysteriousness and severity.
Source: Empire Magazine via Collider