"The Americans have Star Wars, the Brits have Harry Potter, and Australians have Mad Max."
Quoting co-star David Collins, it's clear to see the value Chris Hemsworth places on featuring in a Mad Max film.
The Australian outback epic is back with a vengeance in Furiosa: A Mad Max Story, serving as a prequel to 2015's Fury Road.
"It's every Australian actor's dream," he told ABC News Breakfast about getting the chance to star in the classic series, which now spans five films and 45 years.
"It is iconic, epic, and a dream come true."
And this one is very fresh, with director George Miller confirming Furiosa's final edits were completed just a week ago.
Hemsworth stars alongside Anya Taylor-Joy, who takes the role of the title character — and confesses her real-life driving skills have taken 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 with style, I can get you there," Taylor-Joy told News Breakfast through laughter.
"A 180? She has it down!" Hemsworth replied.
Hitting the road
The film follows Furiosa's origin story, kidnapped from her home – one of the few green places left in the film's wasteland – and taken into the desolate lands of a biker horde led by Hemsworth's character, Dementus.
"I loved her so much," Taylor-Joy said of the experience playing her character.
"It's almost akin to having a child that you want to protect, and you know that you're not going to be able to protect them from this world… it just fuelled me for the entirety of the shoot."
Meanwhile, Hemsworth plays the role of a tyrannical warlord.
"He's not the prettiest of individuals! It was a fun process finding the look," he said.
"George [Miller] wanted this emperor-esque sort of stature to him, this proud attempt at presenting something omnipresent and godlike to a massive horde of nomadic bikers."
The Australian star is almost unrecognisable in some scenes, with the long stringy hair and thick beard obscuring the face viewers would be familiar with.
Sure enough, though, his three kids kept him grounded as they still saw the man in the desert-kissed costume as plain old dad.
"[They saw me and said] oh, yuck! Yuck, dad! My kids just kept on kind of squeezing the nose," he said.
"It's like, 'it'll fall off! Don't do that, mate, took three hours to put on!'"
Australia on the big screen
Furiosa was shot in New South Wales, following the long road travelled by each of the other Mad Max films (except Fury Road) of filming in Australia.
The crew went back to Broken Hill, shooting in some of the same locations as the original Mel Gibson epic.
The film also boasts plenty of Australian supporting actors 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… he was so dedicated, and it was wonderful to work with him," Taylor-Joy said of the young actor.
"The film is unmistakably set in the centre of Australia," Miller said, speaking about how meaningful it is for him to film here.
"I'm really proud of the work… the biggest thing is that everyone is speaking in an Australian accent. Not one person has said – 'oh, why is it in an Australian accent?'"
"Not one person from the studio said 'oh, we can't understand the accents', unlike way back in Mad Max when they said that we have to change the accents – which they did in America."
"It's a genuinely home-grown thing."
Having now lived back in Australia for the last ten years, Hemsworth relished in the opportunity to work here once again.
"It would have felt odd to have shot it anywhere else. It's so iconically Australian," he said.
"To be able to come back home and collaborate is a dream come true."
