Every Actor & Character In Multiple Mad Max Movies

May 24, 2024, 5:50 p.m.

Movies

Every Actor & Character In Multiple Mad Max Movies

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Summary There are only a few actors or characters who have appeared in more than one of the five Mad Max movies.

The most overlap occurs between Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa, with actors including Angus Sampson and Nathan Jones reprising their roles.

Other actors have appeared in multiple Mad Max movies as different characters, including Bruce Spence and Hugh Keays-Byrne.

The Mad Max franchise has featured several recurring actors and characters. The action-packed post-apocalyptic series of movies kicked off with George Miller's original low-budget classic in 1979. Miller has so far returned to helm every movie in the franchise, co-directing the third installment with George Ogilvie. The franchise became an international sensation with the second installment, The Road Warrior, which was followed by Beyond Thunderdome and - many years later - by the Oscar-winning Fury Road and its direct prequel Furiosa.

Especially between the original and The Road Warrior and then Fury Road and Furiosa, there tends to be quite a bit of behind-the-scenes overlap in terms of the crew and the stunt team of the Mad Max movies. However, there are only a few actors across the entire franchise who have been credited in named roles in more than one installment. By the same token, beyond the title characters of the franchise, there are only a few characters who reappear, largely because each movie before Furiosa saw Max continuing to wander the desert and stumble into brand-new adventures.

Related Mad Max Movies In Order There are multiple Mad Max movies that span several decades, and that creates different viewing options based on release and chronological orders.

1 Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson First Appeared In Mad Max

Mel Gibson's Mad Max Roles Movie Character Mad Max (1979) Max Rockatansky The Road Warrior (1981) Max Rockatansky Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) Max Rockatansky

Mel Gibson was the originator of the Mad Max character. The 1979 movie was one of the future star's first feature film roles, and he would go on to reprise the role throughout the original trilogy, which ended with 1985's Beyond Thunderdome. By that point, Gibson had appeared in further internationally recognized roles in projects including Gallipoli and The Year of Living Dangerously, though his next breakout franchise wouldn't kick off until 1987 with Lethal Weapon.

Although the character Max Rockatansky appeared in both Fury Road and Furiosa, Gibson did not return to reprise the role in either project. This may have partially been the case because of the actor's many controversies throughout the 2000s, which were widely publicized in tabloids at the time. However, Miller has also revealed that he so far has no intention to tell stories about a version of Max who is in his 60s.

Related Lethal Weapon 5's Biggest Challenge Is Its Biggest Star The biggest challenge preventing the success of Lethal Weapon 5, the finale of the buddy cop franchise, is also its biggest star, and director.

2 Bruce Spence

Bruce Spence First Appeared In The Road Warrior

Bruce Spence's Mad Max Roles Movie Character The Road Warrior (1981) The Gyro Captain Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) Jedediah

Spence, who would later go on to hold roles in sci-fi and fantasy franchises including Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, was an important figure in the original Mad Max trilogy. He first appeared in the franchise playing the Gyro Captain in Mad Max 2, also known as The Road Warrior. The character, whose flying machine proved useful to Max, had seemingly shifty motivations but ultimately proved to be an ally to Max.

Spence returned to the franchise playing a similar role in Beyond Thunderdome. In the third movie, his character Jedediah is a pilot who first attempts to thwart Max before helping him rescue a group of children later on. Although fan theories have suggested that he is the same character as the Gyro Captain, Miller has confirmed that this is not the case.

3 Hugh Keays-Byrne

Hugh Keays-Byrne First Appeared In Mad Max

Hugh Keays-Byrne's Mad Max Roles Movie Character Mad Max (1979) Toecutter Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Immortan Joe

Hugh Keays-Byrne, who passed away in 2020, is one of the Mad Max franchise's most iconic performers outside Mel Gibson. He similarly made his debut in the original 1979 movie, playing the villain Toecutter. Toecutter was the leader of a rebellious motorcycle gang that was responsible for the deaths of Max's wife and child, kicking off the action-packed revenge mission that takes place in the second half of the movie.

Much like Spence, Keays-Byrne played a similar role the next time he appeared in the franchise, though the two characters are unrelated. In his case, he played the now-iconic villain Immortan Joe in Mad Max: Fury Road. Immortan Joe was a much more operatic and stylized character than Toecutter with his pale skin, open sores, and an oxygen mask designed to look like a skeletal smile.

4 Tim Burns

Tim Burns First Appeared In Mad Max

Tim Burns' Mad Max Appearances Movie Character Mad Max (1979) Johnny the Boy Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Hungry Eyes

Tim Burns is an Australian actor who has held two supporting roles in the Mad Max movies. He first appeared in the 1979 movie as Johnny the Boy, one of Toecutter's gang members. He is given one of Max's harshest punishments in the movie when he is handcuffed to a wrecked car and given a hacksaw with which it is suggested that he cut off his foot in order to survive.

Although he didn't appear in any other Mad Max movies in the interim, Burns played the role of Hungry Eyes in Furiosa. This gives the actor the record for the longest hiatus between appearances in the franchise. This may eventually be broken by another performer, but for the time being there is no official confirmation that another movie is on its way, though Miller has teased that he already has a story for the next installment.

5 Josh Helman

Josh Helman First Appeared In Mad Max: Fury Road

Josh Helman's Mad Max Appearances Movie Character Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Slit Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Scrotus

Although continuity is much tighter between Fury Road and Furiosa than any other two installments in the franchise, Josh Helman nevertheless continues a Mad Max tradition by playing two different characters. The actor, who is also known for playing Stryker in X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse, first appeared in Fury Road as Slit. The character, who is named for his self-inflicted scars, is one of the War Boys chasing after Furiosa in the movie.

He would later follow that with a role in the prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga as Scrotus. The character, who is the Lord of Gastown in the 2015 tie-in video game Mad Max, was originally voiced by Travis Willingham. However, for this live-action cameo from a younger version of Scrotus, Helman stepped into the role in Willingham's place.

6 Angus Sampson As Organic Mechanic

Angus Sampson First Appeared In Mad Max: Fury Road

Angus Sampson's Mad Max Appearances Movie Character Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Organic Mechanic Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Organic Mechanic

Angus Sampson is one of several actors to reprise their roles in the modern incarnation of the Mad Max franchise. The actor, who is perhaps best known for his roles as Tucker in the Insidious franchise and Cisco in Netflix's The Lincoln Lawyer, first appeared in Fury Road as Organic Mechanic. The character's rhyming name refers to the fact that he is the medic who services Immortan Joe's Citadel.

Although Furiosa takes place earlier in the Mad Max timeline, Sampson returns to play a younger version of Organic Mechanic in the new movie. He was originally in the service of Chris Hemsworth's new villainous character Dementus, but he was sold to Immortan Joe at around the same time as a young Furiosa. He is one of the few characters in Immortan Joe's camp to not have died onscreen by the end of Fury Road.

7 Nathan Jones As Rictus Erectus

Nathan Jones First Appeared In Mad Max: Fury Road

Nathan Jones' Mad Max Appearances Movie Character Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Rictus Erectus Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Rictus Erectus

Nathan Jones is another of the cadre of actors to appear in both Fury Road and Furiosa. The actor and powerlifter is best known for playing burly, intimidating characters in projects including Mortal Kombat, Conan the Barbarian, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, and Ricky Stanicky, and his role in Mad Max is no different. Rictus Erectus is the youngest son of Immortan Joe whose bravado outweighs his common sense, making him a particularly dangerous enemy.

Jones returned to play the muscular and imposing character alongside Angus Sampson's Organic Mechanic as part of a younger Immortan Joe's entourage in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The role allowed him to reunite with Chris Hemsworth, with whom he co-starred in the 2022 thriller Spiderhead. However, it remains to be seen if he makes any further experiences, as Rictus Erectus dies during the timeline of Fury Road.

8 John Howard As The People Eater

John Howard First Appeared In Mad Max: Fury Road

John Howard's Mad Max Appearances Movie Character Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) The People Eater Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) The People Eater

John Howard plays the relatively minor role of The People Eater in the Mad Max saga, and is likely better known for his long-running television roles on shows including SeaChange, All Saints, and The Girl from Tomorrow. However, despite his relatively limited screen time, his Fury Road character makes quite an impression. The People Eater, after all, wears a shiny prosthetic nose like a monocle to cover the fact that his has rotted away, and his costume also features clamps that snake through the chest of his jacket.

Although he doesn't reside in the Citadel, The People Eater is one of Immortan Joe's most important allies. The character is the mayor of Gas Town and, as his name suggests, eats other human beings for sustenance. He meets with Immortan Joe and his other allies in Fury Road shortly after Furiosa escapes, and later plays a similar role in the prequel.

9 Richard Norton As The Prime Imperator

Richard Norton First Appeared In Mad Max: Fury Road

Richard Norton's Mad Max Appearances Movie Character Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) The Prime Imperator Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) The Prime Imperator

Richard Norton plays a supporting role that has now extended to two Mad Max installments thanks to the tighter continuity between the most recent two movies in the franchise. The actor, who has also appeared in Under a Red Moon and City Hunter, plays The Prime Imperator in both Fury Road and Furiosa. As his name suggests, he is one of the leading commanders at Immortan Joe's Citadel.

Furiosa, who also bears the title Imperator, doesn't ultimately have many interactions with the character over the course of her epic movie-long car chase in Fury Road. However, Norton is the fourth star from Fury Road to reprise his role in the Furiosa cast. His part in the prequel, while still relatively minor, fleshes out the character slightly more than the previous movie was able to do.

10 Max "Mad Max" Rockatansky

Mad Max First Appeared In Mad Max

Max's Mad Max Appearances Movie Actor Mad Max (1979) Mel Gibson The Road Warrior (1981) Mel Gibson Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) Mel Gibson Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Tom Hardy Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Jacob Tomuri

Over the years, multiple Mad Max actors have taken over the role after Mel Gibson originated it in the first three movies. This has been allowed to be the case generally because of the loose continuity between entries, especially between Fury Road and anything that came before it. The mythic quality of Mad Max, and the way he wanders the desert reluctantly helping people he meets along the way, allows him to be swapped out in a similar manner to James Bond.

After Gibson's final stint in the role, Tom Hardy took over the title character for his appearance in Mad Max: Fury Road. The Oscar-nominated actor took Gibson's taciturn performance and ran with it, presenting a version of the character who expressed himself much more through physicaality than through dialogue. Tom Hardy's stunt double Jacob Tomuri also played a younger version of the character during a brief cameo in Furiosa.

Related Furiosa’s Mad Max Cameo Explained Mad Max has an interesting cameo in Furiosa, raising questions not only about who plays him but also about his future in the George Miller franchise.

11 Furiosa

Furiosa First Appeared In Mad Max: Fury Road

Furiosa's Mad Max Appearances Movie Actor Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Charlize Theron Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Anya Taylor-Joy, Alyla Browne (Young)

Furiosa is the most important character in the modern incarnation of the Mad Max franchise. Originally played by Oscar winner Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road, she is the co-lead of the movie and a fearless commander who escapes the Citadel along with Immortan Joe's wives, hoping to bring them to a safe place where they can lead better lives. Furiosa's notable attributes include a prosthetic arm, a shaved head, and a tendency to cover her forehead with motor grease.

In the prequel Furiosa, the younger version of the character is portrayed by Anya Taylor-Joy, whose other credits include The Witch, The Queen's Gambit, Split, and The Menu. In that movie, an even younger version of the character is played in flashbacks by Alyla Browne, who previously collaborated with George Miller in his movie Three Thousand Years of Longing.

12 Immortan Joe

Immortan Joe First Appeared In Mad Max: Fury Road

Immortan Joe's Mad Max Appearances Movie Actor Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) Hugh Keays-Byrne Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024) Lachy Hulme

The cruel and tyrannical leader of the Citadel, the villain Immortan Joe hoards the natural resources of his territory in the wasteland to be used for himself, his imprisoned wives, and the children that those wives have borne him. He is opposed by Imperator Furiosa, who attempts to smuggle his wives out of the citadel in Fury Road. Because of the immense prominence he has in Furiosa's life, he also returns in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Immortan Joe is the character with the most unusual crossover in the Mad Max franchise. He was first played by Hugh Keays-Byrne, who previously portrayed the original 1979 villain Toecutter, but when he appeared in Furiosa, he was played by Lachy Hulme. Although the character could very well have been played by an older version of the same actor, given the fact that his illness seems to have prematurely aged him, Keays-Byrne passed away in 2020, necessitating his recasting.