Charlize Theron Says Her 'Max Max: Fury Road' Character Is 'Challenging' And 'Exciting'

Charlize Theron is having a pretty decent month. She's the star of Show White and the Huntsman, which opens Friday, as well as Ridley Scott's Prometheus, which opens next Friday June 8. From there, she's heading to Africa to shoot Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy and directed by George Miller. That's about what you'd expect for an Oscar-winner who is sought after for almost every female role in Hollywood today.

/Film attended the London junket for Prometheus and while Theron spoke plenty about that film (we'll run the full, spoiler-filled, interview next week) she also talked about her excitement at finally getting to shoot Mad Max, a film that has had a tumultuous time making it in front of cameras. She commented on if the script changed in that time, how violent it will be and  how her character is different from anything she's ever done. Read her quotes after the jump.

Here's the excerpts of Theron's interview at the Prometheus press junket:

Question: I'm really looking forward to a certain "Mad Max" movie that is coming up. What can you tell people about that project and when do you begin filming?

Charlize Theron: I leave in like two and a half weeks and we start shooting I think around mid-July in Namibia. I'm f***ing dying, too, it's been three years. It's time to skin this cat already, so yeah, I'm very excited about it.

To follow-up on that project obviously it's been start, stop, start, stop. Is the script that you were given all that time ago exactly what you're still doing?

Yes, exactly the same script. I know. It was more logistics. It was the fact that he had to finish "Happy Feet." Then there was terrible floods in Australia, and the desert just never recovered from it. That sounds horrible. It did recover in a beautiful way, but not in a way that we needed it to, so that was a huge problem for us.

What is it about that project that you're looking forward to taking on?

I think that just like this that's an interesting world. I feel that I have a real interest in this world, and I think people will have an interest in this world because "Alien" kinda set that up for us. I feel like the original "Mad Max" created such a vivid world, that to go back and re-imagine it and kind of replay in that sandbox sounds like fun to me. George really created a female character that I've never read anything like this. I mean, I'm scared shitless, yeah.

What is it he's asking of you? Is it something you've never done?

No, it's a really challenging piece of material. I think for me originally when they were like, "Oh, 'Mad Max.'" I was like, "Uh, I'm not going to play the f***ing girl for 'Mad Max.'" Then I read it and I was like, "Oh, 'Mad Max.' I feel sorry for you." (Laughs) That rarely happens. It's just really, it's two great characters. It's not the original "Mad Max." It's the revamped "Mad Max." It's Tom Hardy, who's incredible. So, the whole thing is just exciting, very, very exciting.

Is [Mad Max] one of those films where it's going to be PG-13, or are you guys pushing for  a hard R? Do you know?

I can't say. I mean, ultimately it's going to be up to George Miller, but it feels like...

I know there's some violence.

Yeah, yeah, there's some bad-ass violence in it. I mean, if we do what the script is, I don't know how you can do, but then I feel like PG-13 is pushing a little bit, too, which is good. It feels like—I don't know. I remember being like, young watching "Alien" and loving it.

We'll run the rest of the interview talking Prometheus next week but, for now, the main take aways here are that it sounds like Theron's character is almost an equal to Mad Max and that he's more sympathetic than usual. Also, she's obviously very excited to finally make the movie.