Mad Max: Fury Road Director George Miller Reveals Eminem Was Approached To Play Mad Max

George Miller introduced the world to Mad Max on the big screen back in 1979 and followed it up with The Road Warrior (1981) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), all of which starred Mel Gibson. In 2015, Miller continued the Mad Max journey with the Oscar-winning Mad Mad: Fury Road, which saw Tom Hardy stepping into the titular role. Now, fans are waiting on the Fury Road spin-off, Furiosa, which is set to star Anya Taylor-Joy in the role originated by Charlize Theron. In the meantime, Miller is sharing some interesting facts about a Mad Max that never came to be. The director recently had a chat with Vulture alongside some other important names in the Mad Max universe, including lead storyboard artist, Mark Sexton, who revealed that there was a time when Miller wanted rapper Eminem to play the titular role.

“This is something I don’t hear about very much and that George never admits, but I have a very, very, very strong memory of George talking about Eminem for Max,” Sexton revealed. “That is true,” production and development executive, Petrina Hull, replied. “See, that’s one of those wild-card things: There were always these people that George would see in popular culture, and he’d want to know more about this person.”

Miller explained, “He’d done 8 Mile, and I found that really interesting – I thought, He’s got that quality. We’d done the first Happy Feet with the late Brittany Murphy, and she had done 8 Mile, so I asked her what he was like and would this be something really interesting for him? She had no reservations about saying what a wonderful talent he is.” 

Sexton added, “I’m kind of glad it didn’t happen. Eminem, really? Whole different bent there. And the feminist story behind Mad Max: Fury Road might have taken a bit of a hammering if he’d played the role.” 

As for Furiosa, it was revealed back in September that the movie had been pushed back. Production on Furiosa is set to begin in South Wales in 2022, and it will reportedly be the biggest production in the history of Australia. In addition to Taylor-Joy, the new movie is also expected to feature Marvel Cinematic Universe star, Chris Hemsworth.

Are you surprised Eminem was once considered to play Mad Max? Tell us in the comments!