Could the next Danny Trejo be in “Furiosa”?

Chris Hemsworth says that director George Miller hired actors with criminal backgrounds while casting his "Mad Max" prequel.

Chris Hemsworth is lavishing praise on Mad Max creator George Miller — and he says that the filmmaker turned to unique casting practices when developing the new spin-off Furiosa.

In an interview with Baz Luhrmann at the Red Sea Film Festival, the Thor actor revealed that Miller cast a wide net while assembling the film’s actors. “A lot of the actors… some were ex-criminals, one was a Hell’s Angel, people who came from very colorful and complicated lives,” Hemsworth said.

While the idea of hiring actors might raise some eyebrows, acting and artistry can be an important step in the reformative process, and Hemsworth suggested that the actors’ real-life experiences helped shape their on-screen characters.  “He’d interview them and he wouldn’t get them to read the script, but ask them to tell him a story, tell him about their lives,” Hemsworth said. “All of a sudden there was a truth there, like they were seen for the first time. So on the long days, going into battle, they were there for him.”

Reps for Miller did not immediately respond to EW’s request for comment.

Furiosa’s supposed hiring of actors with criminal history is far from the first time such a practice has been employed on a major movie production. Lenny Montana famously portrayed Corleone enforcer Luca Brasi in The Godfather after working for the real Colombo crime family. Michael Mann used real professional burglars for authenticity’s sake with Thief. Actors with ties to the mob frequented the set of Goodfellas.

And that’s not to mention the actors who rose to fame in spite of criminal records. Mark Wahlberg, Will Smith, and perhaps most famously Danny Trejo all launched successful acting careers after arrests. All that is to say: there’s no telling what great futures may await Furiosa’s cast members.

Furiosa hits theaters May 24, 2024.

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