Anya Taylor-Joy Plays An Ace Driver In Furiosa Despite Not Having A License Herself

Director George Miller's "Mad Max: Fury Road" from 2015 stands as a strong example of how to put together a post-apocalyptic blockbuster. It has action, drama, societal commentary, and a stacked cast who went above and beyond to transform themselves to become occupants of the film's desolate wasteland. Alongside Tom Hardy and Nicholas Hoult — who play Max Rockatansky and Nux, respectively — is Charlize Theron, who portrayed Imperator Furiosa: a former captain under the vile Immortal Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) who betrays him and risks life and limb to escort his enslaved "wives" to freedom.

Of all the new characters introduced in "Fury Road," Furiosa swiftly became one of the most popular of the bunch. Much to the delight of those hoping to see more from her at the movies, Miller soon got to work on a spin-off that delves into the character's past and further fleshes out her personality. Initially, Theron was slated to return to the part for the movie, but she ultimately stepped away from it and handed Furiosa off to Anya Taylor-Joy in October 2020 (via Deadline). Filming has since wrapped on "Furiosa," and it seems like Taylor-Joy was a strong choice to portray the lead heroine in her younger years.

For example, despite not having a license, Anya Taylor-Joy more than held her own as an excellent driver throughout the "Furiosa" shoot. In fact, it has her looking toward a future where she's behind the wheel more frequently.

IndieWire caught up with Anya Taylor-Joy on November 16, 2022, and much of the conversation revolved around "Furiosa." She expressed that she had a blast filming the long-gestating prequel and revealed that it's the dirtiest and bloodiest movie she's worked on to date. Taylor-Joy then mentioned that she's not a licensed driver, yet on the "Furiosa" set, she found herself behind the wheel numerous times. "I can't drive. I can't on a highway, I can't parallel park, but if you need me to do a juicy 180 in a truck, I can do that and not hit the camera people, which is great," she said.

Thanks to her extreme "Furiosa" driving experience in some seriously outlandish vehicles, Taylor-Joy has a lot of sympathy for her future driving instructors when she inevitably tries for her road license. Then again, all the over-the-top driving she did for the film will come in handy as she pursues her stunt driving certification. She adds, "I'm planning on getting my stunt driver's certificate...so then I'll be able to do all of my driving in all films, which would be great." Even in that scenario, though, she doesn't envy the professional in the car with her since, as she admits, "gentle, I am not."

We'll have to see how Anya Taylor-Joy did as a relatively new driver when "Furiosa" premieres on May 24, 2024.