You’ve got to live up to a name like Immortan Joe. And the villain in Mad Max: Fury Road did exactly that, cutting a mercurial, mesmerising, menacing figure in the Wasteland, ruling his War Boys with an iron fist, and barking out put-downs like “Mediocre!” with relish. Now, get ready to ride eternal, shiny and chrome, once more – Immortan Joe is back in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, ready to unleash more vehicular chaos. But until now, it’s been unknown who exactly would be stepping into the plastic-abs bodysuit and fearsome breathing mask this time around – the legendary Hugh Keays-Byrne, who played the role in Fury Road, passed away in 2020.
Empire can confirm that the role in Furiosa will be played by Lachy Hulme – a firm friend of filmmaker George Miller who now pulls double-duty in the prequel. Hulme was first cast as Rizzdale Pell, one of the gang members affiliated with Chris Hemsworth’s warlord Dementus. And while he was preparing to get into the driving seat, he quizzed Miller on the plans for Immortan Joe. “He said, ‘I’ll probably just get a body double,’” Hulme tells Empire. “I said, ‘Well, somebody needs to step up for Hugh. Someone needs to honour this great man. I can do it. I can do the voice. And it’s all in the eyes.’” Hulme’s casting as Immortan Joe came once filming had already begun – on top of his Rizzdale Pell duties. “He said, ‘Do you want to do it?’ I said, ‘What took you so long? You’ve finally figured out that this movie ain’t gonna make dollar one until you’ve got double Lachy Hulme in it!’”
Stepping into the shoes of Immortan Joe on Furiosa brought even more unhinged action for Hulme to throw himself into. The film, he says, is “David Lean, but with motorbikes instead of camels. When you see 4,000 custom-made motorbikes come over a hill, you shit your pants.” Sounds like it’s going to be anything but mediocre.
Read Empire’s world-exclusive Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga cover feature – delving into the guzzoline-fuelled madness of the action-packed shoot, with George Miller, Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth and more – in the May 2024 issue, on sale Thursday 14 March. Pre-order a copy here. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga comes to UK cinemas from 24 May.