“They’re both dealing with their traumas in very different ways,” Taylor-Joy says. “The beauty of the Wasteland is that everything is a question of survival… however they are behaving is in direct relationship to ‘is this going to get me killed or is this going to help me survive?’ So I think for Chris, being charismatic and bombastic keeps [him] at the top of the food chain, and that ensures his safety. For me it’s to disappear for as long as you can and then come back.”
To Hemsworth, the contrast between the characters is the appeal.
“I think the sort of polarity of the two is what was really interesting the first time I read the script,” Hemsworth says. “George wanted them to be polar opposites in their presentation… and I think there needed to be a certain amount of charisma and entertainment [to Dementus]. He was sort of the circus sideshow, a ‘step right up, step right up’ kind of guy that would’ve been able to amass a following or a large group of people who were suffering. He’d say, ‘I have an answer, I have the solution for your problems you’re suffering. Come this way.’ And it needs to be done with enthusiasm and confidence.”
What the stars are describing are essentially two diverging survival tactics, although one with a far more insidious duplicity at play. Dementus is, indeed, the nastiest character Hemsworth has inhabited to date, although he acknowledges that when he is in the character, it doesn’t play that differently from, say, a superhero.
“If you look at the world of extremists and the harsh reality they exist in, it’s kill or be killed, they’ll do anything to survive,” Hemsworth explains. “What I found interesting was how they both responded differently to that adversity. The sort of evil things Dementus does to [SPOILER REDACTED], from his point-of-view is, ‘Well, we’re out here starving and you have access to the Green Place and an abundance of water, and so on. Is it anymore harsh for you to do this and not give us access?’ … As the actor playing the character, you need to find a way in. It doesn’t mean I go home at night and go, ‘He’s a good person, and I would do what he did!’ But between the moment of action and cut, you have to believe it.”
Taylor-Joy can relate. While she plays the laconic hero whose name is on the poster in Furiosa, she’s had at least one role where a character left her desperate for a rinse.
