‘Furiosa’: Chris Hemsworth Was “Scared Out Of His Mind” & Worried He’d “Derail” The ‘Mad Max’ Saga

You can’t help but be impressed with the work ethic of actor Chris Hemsworth of late. He’s out promoting his new reality series “Limitless” along with wrapping on both “Extraction 2” and the “Mad Max” prequel film “Furiosa.” We don’t often hear about the action star being that frazzled while making his projects, but he has now shared a little bit of nervousness while prepping for his work with director George Miller. 

During his chat with Happy Sad Confused podcast host Josh Horowitz (listen below) on a recent episode, Hemsworth revealed one of the more stressful moments of his acting career, highlighting his recent experience working on Miller’s next installment in the “Mad Max” franchise, “Furiosa.” A highly anticipated prequel focusing on the wasteland warrior played by Charlize Theron in “Fury Road,” since it’s set years earlier, Anya Taylor-Joy stars as her younger version.

READ MORE: ‘Furiosa’: Anya Taylor-Joy Says Upcoming’ Mad Max’ Prequel Is The “Dirtiest And Bloodied I Have Ever Been”

The Aussie actor is set to play a wasteland warlord named Dementus. During the filming lead-up, Hemsworth struggled to figure out who his character was and worried he wouldn’t really understand the character before cameras started rolling.

“I just finished shooting ‘Furiosa’ with George Miller; it’s part of the ‘Mad Max’ saga. Often I’ll get a script, and I’ll know from the first read, the second read, I know who the character is, and they get an instant sort of visceral feeling attached to it. [‘Furiosa’] I had read two years before I started shooting and was in awe of the script. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve read, I love George Miller, but I didn’t know who this character was.”

However, closer to production, Hemsworth finally figured things out, “We did about four weeks of rehearsals, and we started digging and diving into it, and things started coming to me. And then, about two weeks before the shooting, something clicked. But in the build-up, and I’m talking about a couple of years, I was scared out of my mind, like ‘I’m going to derail one of the most iconic franchises.’” 

It’s hard to blame the actor for trying to fill rather large shoes on an established franchise that goes back to the 1970s and how impressive the last movie was. Thankfully, Hemsworth figured things out, and “Furiosa” is now in the post-production stage after multiple production delays; not as drastic as the ones on “Fury Road,” mind you, but I’m sure we’re in store for something very thrilling once the action pic is released on May 24, 2024. Until then, we’ll likely just have to remain patient.

You can listen to that whole conversation with Hemsworth below.