Gal Gadot reveals she and Tom Hiddleston had a four-hour audition for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

Gal Gadot is revealing that she once came surprisingly close to joining the cast of Mad Max: Fury Road, with Tom Hiddleston by her side during an intense four-hour screen test.

The Wonder Woman star shared the previously unknown casting story during an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, revealing that she auditioned for George Miller’s 2015 blockbuster alongside Hiddleston, who was also being considered for a role in the film. Neither actor ultimately made it into the finished movie.

“It was crazy. I did my match test with Tom Hiddleston. We were in London,” Gadot recalled, describing the screen-testing process for the movie.

The audition lasted around four hours and took place inside a home in London that had been turned into an office. Gadot remembered arriving bundled up because of the cold winter weather, only to leave wearing a tank top after the physically intense audition.

“I came there with all layers; it was a cold winter day in London. I came out in a tank top,” she said, adding that the work they did during the session was “so intense” and that they filmed a substantial amount of material.

Gadot was auditioning for the role of Imperator Furiosa, the fierce warrior who ultimately became one of Charlize Theron’s most acclaimed performances. Theron was eventually cast opposite Tom Hardy in the film.

Looking back, Gadot admitted she was surprised when she did not get the role because she had felt confident about the audition.

“I felt good about the work that we did,” she said.

She also had high praise for Hiddleston, whom she had never met before the audition. At the time, she said, he was primarily known as a major theatre actor in England.

“Hiddleston is such an incredible actor,” Gadot said, recalling that their screen test had felt particularly strong.

Despite the positive experience, Gadot said Miller ultimately had a specific vision for the movie that did not include either her or Hiddleston.

The decision turned out to be part of the casting process behind one of the most acclaimed action films of the decade. Mad Max: Fury Road went on to receive 10 Oscar nominations and win six awards at the 2016 Academy Awards, including Best Film Editing, Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.

Gadot’s career nevertheless took a major turn shortly afterwards. She was cast as Wonder Woman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and went on to headline her own Wonder Woman film in 2017.

As for Hiddleston, he had already become internationally known as Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but Gadot said she has never seen him again since their Fury Road audition.

The revelation offers a fascinating glimpse at how differently Mad Max: Fury Road could have looked, with Gadot and Hiddleston spending hours testing together for a film that would ultimately star Theron and Hardy.