Some fans of the original Mad Max trilogy, the elitist, devout, somewhat rabid fans, have criticized rising star, British actor Tom Hardy's casting in the upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road, in which he replaces original star Mel Gibson in the title role of Max Rockatansky. Some have even commented upon the lack of Australianism in the forthcoming film, or the lack of mention of the franchises Australian roots. While it may be true that the original movie played an important role within Australian cinema, and pop culture worldwide this new instalment has been realised free from those pressures of limited budget and geo-political motifs; Mad Max: Fury Road is the vision Mad Max writer and director George Miller had always intended to make.
Purists can relax, as it turns out Tom Hardy had no intentions of accepting the role unless he got Mel Gibsons blessing. To that end the star of Dark Knight Rises and Bronson met with the original Mad Max over lunch, even going so far as to give Gibson a gift; a bracelet made from military paracord (Tom Hardy wears one similar in the movie, because of this meeting). After the meeting Gibson rang Hardy's agent saying "I think you may have possibly found someone madder than I am."
“That’s a compliment, right?” replied Hardy who admits to being a little bit intimidated before meeting the star of the Lethal Weapon movies. And if any devout Mad Max fans are still on the fence over Tom Hardy's casting maybe the actors inflections about the character will put their worries at ease, “Who wouldn’t want to play Max? Out of all the characters that there are, with all the superheroes knocking about, here’s a guy who’s got an iconic superhero suit, in a way, but he’s not a superhero. And he’s in a very epic world of his own.”
Heres a video where Mel Gibson mentions the movie and meeting Tom Hardy...
