Charlize Theron Replaced by Younger Actress in Furiosa Prequel and We Are Not OK With It (Badassery Knows No Age Limits)

Age is just a number. But try telling that to Hollywood. To wit: Charlize Theron has been ousted as Furiosa in the forthcoming prequel about the character. In her place, filmmaker George Miller has reportedly cast a 20-something actress.

Theron has built a solid reputation as an action star in films like Mad Max: Fury Road, Atomic Blonde, and The Old Guard despite the fact that “it’s not a very forgiving genre when it comes to women,” as she told The Hollywood Reporter.

Hearing that she wouldn’t be reprising her role as Furiosa was “a tough one to swallow,” she admitted. “It’s a little heartbreaking, for sure. I really love that character, and I’m so grateful that I had a small part in creating her. She will forever be someone I think of and reflect on fondly.”

What we want to know is: if Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci could all get “de-aged” for The Irishman, why couldn’t Theron get the same treatment to play a young Furiosa? The 44-year-old (who doesn’t look a day over 30) barely even needs to be de-aged anyway, and certainly not at the same intensity those guys did. Shunning Theron is cinematic sexism and ageism at their worst.

When it comes to male action stars, we don’t seem to mind a few wrinkles if they’re men. Just look at Keanu Reeves; he gets to continue to play John Wick even as he gets more and more grizzled. And he can also revert to playing Ted in the Bill & Ted franchise over 30 years after the original film’s release without audiences so much as blinking an eye! (Then again, he’s Keanu, aka the internet’s new Jesus. He can come as he is whenever, wherever, and fans will fall over him.)

We’re bummed we won’t see Theron embody the ruthless war captain on the silver screen again. The filmmaking establishment may think she’s past her prime, but we know that badassery has no age limit.

Cover Photo: Warner Bros.

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