The “Mad Max: Fury Road” book “Blood, Sweat & Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road” hit bookstore shelves on February 22, 2022, and contained multiple firsthand anecdotes about the film’s production. One such recollection came from camera operator Mark Goellnicht, who revisited the day that the Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy feud officially commenced (via Variety).
“The call on set was eight o’clock. Charlize got there right at eight o’clock, sat in the War Rig, knowing that Tom’s never going to be there at eight even though they made a special request for him to be there on time,” he said, explaining that early call times weren’t Hardy’s cup of tea. Although, according to first assistant camera Ricky Schamburg, this occasion felt “deliberately provocative,” as if he wanted to get on Theron’s bad side.
If that was Hardy’s intention, then he certainly succeeded when he arrived on set roughly three hours late. “She jumps out of the War Rig, and she starts swearing her head off at him,” said Goellnicht, stating that Theron referred to her co-star as “disrespectful” and voiced her desire to see him fined for his inability to arrive on time. As one could imagine, Hardy didn’t take kindly to her words, so he immediately approached her and escalated the already tense situation.
Goellnicht notes, “He was quite aggressive. She really felt threatened, and that was the turning point.” Despite this animosity, both Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron managed to stick it out and finish their work on “Mad Max: Fury Road.” According to “Blood, Sweat & Chrome,” they’ve each moved on from the situation and look back on it with regret, seemingly putting an end to this saga.