20 Things You Didn't Know About Mad Max: Fury Road

That sense of unpredictability in Tom Hardy has manifested itself on and off screen. His travails with delinquency and drug addiction in a misspent youth are well documented, while his scuffle with Shia LaBeouf on the set of Lawless is further evidence of Hardy’s mercurial nature.

The actor himself is refreshingly casual about his combative reputation – he has been quoted as saying, “I have a reputation for being difficult… and I am” – but Miller was understandably anxious to ensure that Hardy had the temperament to go with his charisma before offering him the part.

Seeking to better understand what Hardy was like on set, Miller contacted Christopher Nolan, who had already worked with the actor while filming Inception and would do so again by casting him as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Nolan assured Miller that Hardy was thoroughly professional and helped pave the way for the Mad Max creator to confirm in 2010 that he had found his new leading man.

For Miller, however, the problems were just beginning.