Chris Hemsworth embraced his villain era and Anya Taylor-Joy looked every bit the blockbuster hero as the stars walked the red carpet of Sydney’s State Theatre on Thursday for the Australian premiere of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.
The Aussie actor spent time greeting fans and taking selfies, rocking a grey checked suit with a black silk shirt next to his glamorous wife and fellow actor, Elsa Pataky, while Taylor-Joy wowed onlookers in a finely detailed gold gown spiked from the waist down, paired with a fiercely spiked head piece.
Pro surfer Owen Wright, a good mate of Hemsworth’s, also walked the red carpet, along with former supermodel Megan Gale.
The film is rumoured to be the most expensive ever made Down Under, with a budget in the hundreds of millions of dollars, and Hemsworth told The West Australian the scale and legendary nature of the franchise brought its own challenges.
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“As an Australian, having grown up on these films, to be a part of something that’s … so iconically Australian was equally sort of overwhelming and nerve-wracking as it was exciting,” the Thor star said.
Hundreds of fans and more than 1000 invited guests were on hand to celebrate the launch of visionary director George Miller’s latest effort, which comes 45 years after he released the first Mad Max movie.
That movie catapulted a young Mel Gibson to international fame, and, though Taylor-Joy has already achieved that from acclaimed performances in The Queen’s Gambit and The Menu, Furiosa establishes her as a bona fide action hero.
Speaking to The West Australian before the premiere, Taylor-Joy said she spent a year training for the film, which including learning stunt driving – as someone who doesn’t even hold a driver’s licence.
“And, then, just being able to be physically strong enough, you know, I’m not Chris, I haven’t come from this world where I was just doing stunts continuously,” Taylor-Joy admitted.
“I do miss my Furiosa muscles, I’m not gonna lie to you.”
The movie sees Taylor-Joy play a younger version of Charlize Theron’s character in Miller’s 2015 smash hit, Mad Mad: Fury Road, which set a high bar, winning six Oscars and earning $581 million at the global box office.
A number of Fury Road characters also appear in the prequel, such as Angus Simpson’s Organic Mechanic and the People Eater, played by Aussie screen legend John Howard.
The memorable villain of the piece, Immortan Joe, also returns, however the role is now filled by Lachy Hulme after the death of Mad Max veteran Hugh Keays-Byrne in 2020.
Hulme, Ayla Browne (who plays an even younger version of Furiosa) and top model turned actor Charlee Fraser (who plays Furiosa’s mum) were among the cast attending the premiere.
But all eyes were on Taylor-Joy and Hemsworth, with the latter excited to unveil his transformation from superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to cruel warlord Dementus.
“Fury Road stands out as one of my sort of top five cinema-going experiences … and I hope people have the same feeling (watching Furiosa),” Hemsworth said.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is in cinemas May 23.