In case you haven't heard, Mad Max: Fury Road is phenomenal, and the positive buzz that's surging through Hollywood currently seems unstoppable. Positive reviews keep flying in from critics everywhere, praising the movie's brilliant style and meaningful storytelling. But you know what's a sign that it's really good? Tom Hardy himself was so impressed that he actually apologized to director George Miller for not better understanding the filmmaker's vision on set and being frustrated with his process.
Both Tom Hardy and George Miller took part in a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival earlier today, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, it was this venue that the actor decided was perfect to say that he was sorry to his director. Discussing his feelings after first getting to see the film, Hardy noted that his immediate reaction was to think, "Oh, my God, I owe George an apology." He then turned to Miller and expressed his regrets:
I have to apologize to you, because I got frustrated [during the movie’s shoot]. There was no way that George could have explained what he had conceived.
When you consider some of the details of the production, it's pretty easy to understand why Tom Hardy may have found himself getting frustrated with George Miller. The trade report cites that all-in-all there was 450 hours of footage for the editors to sort through - and given that he was playing the title character, it's not super hard to imagine that Hardy is featured in a ton of it, and therefore forced to work quite a bit. Also, shooting that much may have given the impression that Miller didn't know exactly what he wanted, and one can understand why an assumed lack of vision would irk someone in Hardy's position.
It's also hard not to discount the environmental conditions, which were clearly pretty harsh and probably didn't create the best work environment. Shooting hours and hours of footage is not super fun when a harsh sun is beating down on you and sand is constantly blowing in your face.
What's really kind of nice about this story, though, is the fact that we often hear the complete opposite of this story, with actors or filmmakers years removed from a project that went wrong complaining about how much they hated the experience. Mark Wahlberg notably did it a few years ago while talking about M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, and Tom Hardy himself actually did it late last year while discussing his "miserable" time making McG's This Means War.
Hardy feeling the necessity to apologize to Miller about his behavior is a clear sign of his appreciation for the finished product - and he's hardly the only one showing it in advance of Mad Max: Fury Road's release. With over 151 reviews counted, the film currently has a 99 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, and I'm definitely happy to have my opinion represented in that number. Everyone should see it when it hits theaters tomorrow, May 15th.
