Tom Hardy addresses Charlize Theron’s claim she was ‘scared s***less’ of him on Mad Max: Fury Road set

‘In hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways,’ actor said

Tom Hardy has addressed Charlize Theron’s claim she was “scared s***less” of him on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road.

Theron, who played Imperator Furiosa in George Miller’s 2015 sequel, opened up about her struggles working with the actor in a new book.

Titled Blood, Sweat, and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road, the book reveals a heated encounter between the pair after Hardy showed up to set three hours late.

Hardy, who played the lead role, acknowledged the incident, which Theron says left her feeling unsafe.

He told author Kyle Buchanan: “In hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways. The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times.”

He added: “What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced partner in me. I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.”

According to the film’s camera operator, Mark Goellnicht, Hardy displayed “aggressive” behaviour after Theron repeatedly swore at him in a “full rant”.

He says that Theron shouted: “Fine the f***ing c*** a hundred thousand dollars for every minute that he’s held up this crew.”

“He might’ve heard some of it, but he charged up to her and went, ‘What did you say to me?’” Goellnicht said. “He was quite aggressive. She really felt threatened, and that was the turning point.”

Reflecting on the incident, Theron said: “It got to a place where it was kind of out of hand. I didn’t feel safe.”

Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron came to blows on ’’Mad Max: Fury Road’ set (Getty Images)

First assistant camera Ricky Schamburg shared the opinion that Hardy’s decision to turn up late “felt deliberately provocative”, adding that he thinks “he kind of knew that it was really pissing Charlize off, because she’s professional and she turns up really early”.

Theron requested a woman producer named Denise Di Novi be sent to the film’s set in Namibia. She told Buchanan: “I don’t want to rehash things, but it came out of a really bad moment where things kind of came to blows between me and Tom.”

Mad Max: Fury Road was a huge success, becoming a box office hit and winning six Oscars from 10 nominations. It was also one of the best reviewed films of the year.

Blood, Sweat, and Chrome: The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road will be published on 17 March.