Tina Turner Was In Conversation For Mad Max While The Script Was Still Being Written
There's no such thing as a bad "Mad Max" film, because even the so-called "weakest" film of the franchise still boasts one of the series' best characters. In "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome," Tina Turner plays Aunty Entity, the ruthless, determined ruler of Bartertown. She's the one who forces Max (Mel Gibson) into the Thunderdome for a bit of a gladiator-esque battle and is undoubtedly the strongest part of this admittedly pacing-challenged film. During a 1985 interview with George Miller for Time Out (via Multiglom), he spoke at length about not just the backstory of Aunty Entity, but also the decision to cast Turner in the role.
At one point, it sounds like Miller contemplated making the film without Max Rockatansky at the focus by telling a "Mad Max"-esque origin story about how she came to power. "We wanted to have the sense that before she built Bartertown, she was a genuine hero," he said. "One of the main reasons we cast Tina Turner is that she's perceived as being a fairly positive persona." With her electric dance movies, flashy outfits, and larger-than-life voice, Turner's captivating public presence felt like a celebration.
"You don't think of Tina Turner as someone dark, you think of the core of Tina Turner being basically a positive thing," Miller said. "And that's what we wanted. We felt that she might be more tragic in that sense." Miller also revealed that while he and co-writer Terry Hayes were concocting the character, they kept describing her as "like Tina Turner," without ever imagining that they'd actually be able to get their dream casting. Fortunately, they did, and Turner pulled off a magnetic bit of villainy that has inspired countless apocalyptic women throughout pop culture.
'We wanted someone who was a survivor'
The desire to have a character "like Tina Turner" was not just a reference to her unmatched stage presence as a musician, but also the way Turner held herself as a woman off-stage. "We wanted a woman, we wanted someone whose age was indeterminate, you weren't sure if she was old or young or whatever; we wanted someone who had a lot of power, charisma, someone who would hold a place like that together — or build it in the first place," George Miller said. "And we wanted someone who was a survivor."
Considering Tina Turner's very public history of abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, Ike Turner, she's become synonymous with the word survivor. "You know, you felt about her that no matter what happens she's going to survive it. And then — what we talked about before — someone who basically deep down inside still had a good persona, a good heart."
Luckily for Miller and company, Tina Turner was also on a hot streak, with the song "Private Dancer" climbing up the charts. This meant she was experiencing a resurgence in popularity, which made her a desirable candidate for the film. Turner ended up being the first person the team spoke to about joining the film, and the scheduling planets aligned to make it work.
Turner may have sung "We Don't Need Another Hero," but "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" certainly needed her to save the day ... and she did.