Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Star Tom Burke Reveals Origin of His Praetorian Jack Character
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga star Tom Burke reveals the origin of his pivotal new character "Praetorian Jack."
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga tells the almost biblical story of how Furiosa went from being a happy child of The Green Place to one of the fiercest Road Warriors of the Mad Max wasteland. In the process of getting to know more about Mad Max: Fury Road's breakout character, we also get to see much more of the dystopian world and its socio-political order – elements that were only hinted at during Fury Road's epic break-neck chase.
(MILD SPOILERS) One of the biggest turns in Furiosa's origin story comes halfway through the film. After being traded to Immortan Joe at a young age, Furiosa escapes his harem of wives and spends her early teen years disguised as a War Boy, learning to build hot rod cars and drive them.
When Furiosa finally thinks she's grown enough, and learned enough, she executes a plan of escape, as a stowaway hiding in one of Immortan Joe's War Rigs. Unfortunately, the plan goes sideways when the War Rig is ambushed by raiders, forcing Furiosa to ally with the Immortan's military commander and War Rig driver, Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke). After that, Jack and Furiosa get... close, paving the way (no pun) for an older "Imperator" Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to forge a bond with "Mad" Max (Tom Hardy) in Fury Road.
Who Is Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga Character Praetorian Jack? Explained
Now that Furiosa is in theaters, Tom Burke is opening up more about his role as Praetorian Jack – arguably the breakout character of Furiosa – much like Furiosa was the fan-favorite breakout of Fury Road. Even though the film doesn't reveal much about Praetorian Jack (beyond his skills as a road warrior), Burke had an entire origin story for the character. As the actor explains, Jack came from a family that came to Immortan Joe's Citadel with idealistic (naive?) ideas of what it could be – only to eventually face the harsh reality of servitude:
"It was filling in the journey of how he and his family got to the Citadel in the first place because there was a connection with the parents and Immortan Joe; and what their expectations of that place would be, and what it was in reality, and who else was with them on the journey," Burke told Total Film Magazine. "...And then there was a realization, once they were there, of where they were, and how things might have got incrementally worse once they were there. And what Joe's journey was in that."
Burke went on to tell Inside Total Film podcast about why Jack took up his role as a road warrior and War Rig driver. Jack apparently became a Praetorian as means of re-tasting the perilous freedom he once had in youth – if only for the time it took him to make runs between The Citadel, Gastown, and The Bullet Farm.
"He likes being on the road, both because it's reminiscent of that time early on before they got there [to the Citadel] – that was a big chunk of his life, fraught with peril – and there's a strange nostalgia for that. So he quite enjoys that triangle [driving between the Citadel, Gas Town and the Bullet Farm]. That's better for him than being stuck in that rather strange rock!"
"You're looking at somebody who's had to keep his head down, and who's had to be kind of small in the world they're in, and discrete, to get on with it," Burke added. "And that's why meeting [Furiosa], and feeling that connection, is such a momentous thing."
Praetorian Jack: A Mad Max Saga?
Burke was asked if he would be willing to carry the torch of the franchise and do a spinoff about Jack with George Miller. "I'm up for it," he said.
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is now playing in theaters and IMAX.
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