Here’s the two words of advice Fury Road star Nicholas Hoult gave Anya Taylor-Joy for the Mad Max prequel

Starring in the newest installment to a beloved franchise over 45 years in the making can be a bit daunting, which is why Furiosa star Anya Taylor-Joy says she went to her friend and Mad Max: Fury Road star Nicholas Hoult for some advice.

“These movies are big, colossal beasts, and it’s a type of filmmaking where it’s all stitched together so surgically that you can feel a bit lost in it,” Taylor-Joy tells Total Film in our new issue out on Thursday April 25, which features Furiosa on the cover. So, she went to her The Menu co-star for some insight, and his advice was simple: “trust George”, referring to George Miller, the film’s director and creator of the Mad Max franchise.

Furiosa acts as a prequel to Fury Road, telling the origin story of the female warrior, and revealing how Furiosa was captured by the villainous Warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) from The Green Place to The Citadel under Immortan Joe’s rule. Later in the interview, Taylor-Joy spoke more about how she prepared for the role by studying the 2015 flick. “I would watch the first 10 minutes of Fury Road over and over again,” adds the Last Night in Soho star, “just to understand how all of it worked.”

Furiosa was previously played by Charlize Theron who portrayed the character as an adult, Taylor-Joy will embody the character’s younger years, filling in the gaps about the mysterious warrior. Earlier in the interview, Taylor-Joy highlighted how important it was to show the character’s journey and growth, particularly through long action scenes. “You see an accumulation of skills over the course of a battle,” said the star, “and that’s very important for understanding how resourceful Furiosa is, but also her grit.”

However, despite Furiosa being released almost 10 years after Fury Road, the two movies are very much linked, in fact, Miller revealed to Total Film that he has had the prequel ready to go for a long while now. “We had finished the script of Furiosa before we shot Fury Road,” said the filmmaker of the prequel, which was originally intended to be an anime series.

Pre-order the Furiosa issue of Total Film

Furiosa is released on May 24. And you can read more about it and a whole lot else besides in the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves and digital newsstands on Thursday, April 25.

Check out the covers below:

(Image credit: Total Film/Warner Bros)

Pre-order the issue here to bag your copy, or click here to subscribe to Total Film and never miss another exclusive. You’ll get every issue before it’s in stores, and you’ll get subscriber-exclusive covers. 

(Image credit: Total Film/Warner Bros/Universal/Amazon)