Did You Know Eminem Almost Played This Mad Max: Fury Road Character? Details Inside
Eminem and Rihanna were approached to play the titular role of Max Rockatansky and Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road before Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron were finalized.
Was Eminem to be cast in Mad Max: Fury Road?(Photo Credit –Instagram/Facebook)
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Before the cast of Mad Max: Fury Road was finalized, the creator of the movie, George Miller originally had someone else on his mind. The 2017 hit film chose Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky, a survivor and a drifter in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, though it could have been Eminem.
During an interview with Vulture, the director opened up about the casting for the lead part, and how it eventually boiled down to Hardy, Armie Hammer, and Jeremy Renner. Before that, Michale Fassbender, Joel Kinnaman, Eric Bana, and Heath Ledger were actually in mind for the role. However, the unexpected name that popped up was Eminem.
Reflecting on why he wanted the rapper for the role of Max Rockantansky, Miller said, “He’d done 8 Mile, and I found that really interesting. I thought He’s got that quality. We’d done the first Happy Feet with the late Brittany Murphy, and she had done 8 Mile, so I asked her what he was like, and would this be something really interesting for him? She had no reservations about saying what a wonderful talent he is.”
He further explained that when Eminem was contacted for the role, he was ready to accept it, but under one condition. Miller added, “We did get in touch with him, though that’s as far as it went. Because we were going to shoot it in Australia at that point, and he simply didn’t want to leave home. I think he had the impression that if he could do it out of his home state, then he’d be up for it.”
The role eventually went to Hardy, but before he was confirmed to play the role, Miller explained, “Near the end of the process, Hardy emerged as a front-runner alongside Jeremy Renner and Armie Hammer. Hardy and Hammer even read together as part of their audition, and when Hardy gnashed his teeth and spat at his scene partner, Hammer told Miller that Hardy needed to be Max more than he did.”
In fact, Eminem wasn’t the only musician considered for the movie. Miller also approached Rihanna for the role of Furiosa, which was played by Charlize Theron. Reflecting on this, Miller exclaimed, “Usually, actors turn up dressed very casually, but boy, Rihanna looked spectacular when she walked in. I’m not sure she was even aware of the content of the movie, so she dressed up as Rihanna, which was the right thing to do.”
Mad Max: Fury Road starred Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky and Charlize Theron as Imperator Furiosa alongside Nicholas Hoult, Zoë Kravitz, Hugh Keays-Byrne, and Josh Helman.
