'Every Australian actor's dream': Chris Hemsworth relishes opportunity to star in Mad Max film

“The Americans have Star Wars, the British have Harry Potter and the Australians have Mad Max.”

Quoting his co-star David Collins, it's clear that Chris Hemsworth values ​​appearing in a Mad Max movie.

The Australian outback epic is back with a bang in Furiosa: A Mad Max Story, which serves as a prequel to 2015's Fury Road.

“It's every Australian actor's dream,” he told ABC News Breakfast of his chance to star in the classic series, which has now spanned five films and 45 years.

And this one is very recent, with director George Miller confirming that final cuts of Furiosa were completed just a week ago.

Hemsworth stars alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, who plays the title character and admits that her real-life driving skills took an interesting turn after starring in the high-octane film.

“I still don't have my license, I don't know how to parallel park normally! But if you want me to do it in style I can take you there,” Taylor-Joy told News Breakfast with a laugh .

“A 180? She's got it broken!” Hemsworth responded.

Take the road

The film follows the origin story of Furiosa, kidnapped from her home, one of the few green places left in the film's desert, and taken to the wasteland of a horde of bikers led by Hemsworth's character, Dementus .

“I loved him so much,” Taylor-Joy said of the experience she had playing her character.

“It’s almost like having a child that you want to protect, and you know that you can’t protect them from this world, that fueled me throughout filming.”

Meanwhile, Hemsworth plays the role of a tyrannical warlord.

“She's not the prettiest individual! It was a fun process finding the look,” he said.

“George [Miller] I wanted to give it this sort of emperor stature, this proud attempt to present something omnipresent and divine to a massive horde of nomadic bikers.

The Australian star is almost unrecognizable in some scenes, with his long, stringy hair and thick beard obscuring the face viewers would be familiar with.

Sure enough, though, his three children kept him grounded because they still considered the man in the desert-kissed suit to be just plain old dad.

“[They saw me and said] oh, yuck! Yuck, Dad! My kids kept holding their noses,” he said.

“It's like, 'It's going to fall! Don't do that, buddy, it took three hours to put in!'”

Australia on the big screen

Furiosa was filmed in New South Wales, following the long path taken by each of the other Mad Max films (except Fury Road) of filming in Australia.

The crew returned to Broken Hill, filming in some of the same locations as Mel Gibson's original epic.

The film also features many Australian cast and crew members, including strong First Nations representation.

And Quaden Bayles makes an appearance, marking the second time he's worked with director George Miller.

“He was so lovely, so dedicated, and wonderful to work with,” Taylor-Joy said of the young actor.

“The film is definitely set in central Australia,” Miller said, speaking about the importance to him of filming here.

“I'm really proud of the work, the most important thing is that everyone speaks with an Australian accent. No one said 'oh, why is it with an Australian accent?'”

“Not a single person from the studio said 'oh, we can't understand the accents,' unlike in Mad Max where they said we had to change the accents, which is what they did in America.”

Having lived in Australia for the past ten years, Hemsworth welcomed the opportunity to work here again.

“It would have seemed strange to have filmed it anywhere else. It's so iconic of Australia,” he said.

“Being able to come back home and collaborate is a dream come true.”