TheMad Maxfranchise contains some excellent and intense performances. The earlierMad Maxmovies appeared to be more of a gritty and dystopian epic, with more of a focus on stunts and imagery than character, but things have changed. There are fivemovies in theMad Maxsaga, while the Mel GibsonMad Maxmovies became cult hits,Mad Max: Fury Roadchanged the game.Fury Roadsignificantly expanded the wasteland universe ofMad Max, introducing new cultures, characters, and possibilities for the franchise.
Each originalMad Maxmovie took Max to a different place.However, the world ofFury Roadhad so much potential that the most recent two movies have been set in the same area of the wasteland, with finally some sense of continuity.The bestMad Maxvillainshave always been exciting and memorable, even outshining Max at times, but the most recent movies have included some genuinely emotive moments that the first two sequels lacked.
10Bruce Spence
Played The Gyro Captain & Jedediah
Bruce Spence first appeared as the Gyro Captain inMad Max 2: The Road Warrior, and while his character is nameless, he is certainly memorable. The Gyro Captain is a perfect example of one of the eccentric and morally ambiguous characters that characterize theMad Maxfranchise. Bruce Spence brings an excitable demeanor to his character which makes him likable even before he becomes Max’s ally, and he is the first actor to appear in more than oneMad Maxmovie.
George Miller has confirmed that the two are not the same person, but that did not stop fans from creating tributes to the characters as though they were.
Bruce Spence plays Jedediah inMad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, who is a similar character to the Gyro Captain. George Miller has confirmed that the two are not the same person, but that did not stop fans from creating tributes to the characters as though they were.Bruce Spence was so good at embodying the spirit of theMad Maxmovies that he is tributed inFury Roadwhen the Gyro Captain’s helmet appears to decorate a car.
9Vernon Wells
Played Wez
Wez is the main henchman to the villainous Lord Humungus inMad Max 2: The Road Warrior, but he tends to steal any scene that he is in. Wez might not have many lines, but Vernon Wells easily portrays a range of emotions, which is not easy to do with a character who is essentially a violent caricature. When the Golden Youth is killed, Wez’s devastated reaction caused many to speculate on their relationship, though Wells had put so much thought into his character that he had the answers.
Wells explained that the relationship was like a father and son and that Wez had saved the Golden Youth as a child. This was not the only detail that Wells knew about his character’s backstory, as he had created an entire history at George Miller’s request.According to Wells, Wez had been a Vietnam War veteran before the events of theMad Maxmovies, and this experience informed his character’s actions duringMad Max 2.
8Tina Turner
Played Auntie Entity
Tina Turner was at the height of her music career when she played the iconic Auntie Entity inMad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome, and her character was a new challenge for Turner. Turner had played small parts in movies, but Auntie Entity was her biggest character yet. George Miller toldTime Outmagazine thatTurner was cast as Auntie Entity due to her “positive persona” and the fact that both Turner and Entity are survivors, with Turner’s escape from domestic abuse being well documented.
How Every Earlier Mad Max Villain Influenced Immortan Joe and The War Boys
How Aunt Entity, Wez, Toecutter, and Lord Humungus contributed to the shape of Mad Max’s most ferocious foes, Immortan Joe and the War Boys.
Tina Turner contributed a great deal to her character, shaving her head for the wig, wearing a full metal outfit that reportedly weighed around 55 kilograms, and even recording two songs for the movie. The most famous of these is “We Don’t Need Another Hero.“Turner brought all of her stage presence to the role of Auntie Entity, and despite the physical discomfort of the role, she stole the show, becoming one of the most memorableMad Maxvillains of all time.
7Chris Hemsworth
Played Dementus
Furiosa: A Mad Max Sagamight have been a box office flop, but this is generally considered to be due to fake-looking special effects, rather than the acting.Chris Hemsworth’s casting as theMad Maxvillain Dementusraised a few eyebrows, but he is virtually unrecognizable, playing the larger-than-life character with a fake nose and a sense of humor. Hemsworth is having the time of his life, including wearing a teddy bear, huge goggles, and a Thor-esque cape.
Despite Hemsworth’s many noteworthy movies,many reviews ofFuriosa: A Mad Max Sagahave described Chris Hemsworth’s performance as a career-best. Hemsworth’s portrayal of Dementus was one of the best things aboutFuriosaand one of the best villains of the year. ThoughFuriosaincluded some Thor easter eggs with Dementus’s billowing cape, Hemsworth made the character stand out, without his prior role overshadowing his part in the movie.
6Anya Taylor-Joy
Played Furiosa
Charlize Theron’s performance as Furiosa inMad Max: Fury Roadwas going to be hard to beat, and thoughmany viewers had hoped that Theron would reprise her role as Furiosa, it was not to be. When Anya Taylor-Joy was cast, she had a difficult task ahead of her. Taylor-Joy was not a likely candidate for the part, with a history of playing less physical characters. That said, Taylor-Joy made the role her own, which was an impressive feat.
Anya Taylor-Joy’s portrayal of Furiosa impressedaudiences, especially due to her dedication to the role.
She trained for a year so that she could do many of her own stunts for the movie, which included learning to ride a motorcycle though she had no driving license. While her physical transformation did not include shaving her head due to time constraints,Taylor-Joy’s portrayal of Furiosa showed viewers a new side to her, likely opening the door for more action movies in her career.
5Hugh Keays-Byrne
Played Toecutter & Immortan Joe
Hugh Keays-Byrne is one of the fewactors who have appeared in multipleMad Maxmovies, and likely the best-known.He first played the antagonistic biker leader Toecutter in the original 1979Mad Maxand then returned to play an even more imposing character several decades later. Keays-Byrne plays the terrifying warlord Immortan Joe inMad Max: Fury Road. The character was so popular that he had a major role inFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga, though Lachy Hulme played him as Keays-Byrne had passed away.
“Back from Death Itself”: Immortan Joe’s Nickname Origin Proves He’s Mad Max’s Best Villain
Mad Max: Fury Road’s Immortan Joe has his entire backstory revealed in a tie-in comic book, which solidifies him as the franchise’s best villain.
The originalMad Maxmovies had few prosthetics and usually stuck to practical effects, so Toecutter looked like a regular (if disheveled) person. However,by the timeMad Max: Fury Roadwas filmed, there had been great advances in visual effects, and Immortan Joe was barely recognizable as human. It is a challenge for any actor to outshine layers of prosthetics, but Hugh Keays-Byrne not only managed it but made Immortan Joe unforgettable.
4Tom Hardy
Played Max Rockatansky
Despite Max Rockatansky being the antihero of theMad Maxfranchise, he is famously stoic, with very few lines.Max has never had any more than 90 lines of dialogue in any of theMad Maxmovies, which means that the actor playing Max must be compelling without speaking. This requirement was even more of a challenge for Tom Hardy, as he spent most ofMad Max: Fury Roadwearing a muzzle and speaksthe fewest lines in anyMad Maxmoviein which Max is a main character.
As the first actor to play Max since Mel Gibson, Hardy also had to convey the personality and history of the character while making the role his own. Hardy was concerned about being compared to Gibson, but while that was inevitable, the comparison was generally extremely positive.Tom Hardy shone playing Max and even won awards for his portrayal of the legendary Road Warrior, including the Critics' Choice Award for Best Actor.
3Nicholas Hoult
Played Nux
Before the franchise was changed forever withMad Max: Fury Road, theMad Maxmovies were generally more awe-inspiring than tear-jerking.Fury Roadadded a new dimension to Max’s story, with characters that viewers grew to identify with.Nux is one of the most beloved characters in theMad Maxfranchiseand undergoes an extreme transformation. Nicholas Hoult makes Nux’s character arc from being part ofImmortan Joe’s War Boysto a hero fighting for the good side compelling and tragic.
Nux’s death is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the franchise, due to Hoult’s portrayal of the character.
The War Boys' self-sacrificing culture could have been portrayed as even more disturbing, butNicholas Hoult portrays Nux in a surprisingly wholesome way. It is his enthusiasm for the smaller moments in life and desire to make something of his life that makes him extremely relatable, even in the post-apocalyptic wasteland ofMad Max: Fury Road. Nux’s death is one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the franchise, due to Hoult’s portrayal of the character.
2Mel Gibson
The question of who plays Max Rockatansky better is often debated, with both Mel Gibson and Tom Hardy bringing different strengths to the character. That said,without Mel Gibson playing Max in the first three movies, there would be noMad Maxfranchiseat all, making his performance one of the best and most essential out of all theMad Maxmovies. Tom Hardy’s performance might have been more nuanced, but Gibson’s portrayal of Max was the basis for the franchise.
TheMad Maxfranchise changed significantlyafter the first movie, with the original film being much more realistic. Many people think ofMad Max 2: The Road Warrioras the typicalMad Maxmovie. However, this ignores the first movie, which is essential viewing to understand why Mel Gibson’s performance is so great.Gibson shows Max’s change from a more emotionally open and righteously angry person to the closed-off and hopeless antiherothat Max is best remembered as.
1Charlize Theron
Imperator Furiosa is arguably theMad Maxfranchise’s most iconic characterand the best thing about the reboot. Mysterious characters like Furiosa can often be so enigmatic that they become uninteresting, but Charlize Theron was magnetic in the role. She perfectly walked the line between stoicism and emotion, giving the impression that there was a painful backstory to the character, which is hinted at during the powerful scene in which she walks into the desert after discovering that the “Green Place” no longer exists.
Mad Max: Fury Roadis a movie in whichthe title character is not the protagonist, with Furiosa often outshining Max in their scenes together. Theron won multiple awards for her performance as Furiosa and received overwhelmingly positive mentions in critical reviews. Though there are many fascinating characters in theMad Maxsaga, Furiosa was the first (and so far, only) character to have her own spin-off, and this is thanks to Charlize Theron’s performance.
Source:Time Out
Mad Max
Mad Max is an Australian post-apocalyptic franchise created by George Miller and Byron Kennedy. The first three films star Mel Gibson as Max Rockatansky, a former police officer who seeks revenge after his family is murdered. Tom Hardy took over the role for 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, which was followed by Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga starring Anya Taylor-Joy as Furiosa.
