Gibson, Ledger and Hardy had ‘animal magnetism’ perfect for ‘Mad Max’, says George Miller

Veteran filmmaker George Miller says the unique combination of accessibility and mystery made Hollywood stars Mel Gibson, Tom Hardy and Heath Ledger a perfect choice for “Mad Max” movies.

Veteran filmmaker George Miller says the unique combination of accessibility and mystery made Hollywood stars Mel Gibson, Tom Hardy and Heath Ledger a perfect choice for “Mad Max” movies. Gibson featured in the first three “Mad Max” films as the title character, before Hardy took over in the 2015's "Fury Road" movie, but Miller has now revealed that he was also considering Ledger to star in the franchise before his death in 2008. “Every time (Ledger would) come to Australia, he’d call in and we’d talk and I always had him in mind. Mel, when I first met him, Heath, when I got to know him, and Tom all have in common the quality of kind of animal magnetism,” the director said in an interview with Josh Horowitz’s “Happy Sad Confused” podcast. Horowitz teamed up with virtual New York Comic Con event Metaverse to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the post-Apocalyptic action movie

Miller said during the making of 1995’s “Babe” and 1997 sequel “Babe: Pig in the City” he experienced the “inner mystery” animals have and felt Gibson, Hardy and Ledger had the same enigma. “When I worked on the ‘Babe’ movies with the animals... there is this wonderful thing that happens when you want to pet them and roll around with them but on the other hand, you are very aware of some inner mystery that goes on. “They are highly accessible as people — I’m talking about the three guys — and on the other hand, they are a mystery, you’ll never get to know them. That’s one of the essences of charisma and the paradox of that. They all have it,” he added. “Mad Max: Fury Road” also featured Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoe Kravitz, Abbey Lee and Courtney Eaton. Recently, Miller has confirmed that his standalone on Imperator Furiosa (Theron) will be a prequel to the 2015 hit.