‘Snow White’ Star Gal Gadot Just Revealed the Wild Four-Hour ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Audition She Almost Booked with Tom Hiddleston

Long before Gal Gadot became synonymous with the Lasso of Truth, she was just another actress in the mix for one of the most physically demanding blockbusters of the past two decades. George Miller’s ‘Mad Max: Fury Road‘ famously put dozens of actors through an intense, unconventional casting process before landing on its final ensemble, and it turns out Gadot was much closer to a completely different career path than most fans realized.

That revelation comes as Gadot has been making the media rounds promoting her upcoming film ‘The Runner,’ which debuts on Prime Video on September 2. During one of those promotional stops, she opened up about a long-buried Hollywood audition story that’s since taken the internet by surprise.

Speaking on the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast with host Josh Horowitz, Gadot revealed that she once auditioned for the role of Furiosa alongside Tom Hiddleston, in a session that stretched on for a staggering four hours. Describing the audition, Gadot recalled traveling to London and walking into what she described as a beautiful home-turned-office, where she and Hiddleston spent hours working through material for Miller directly.

The physical intensity of the process left an impression on Gadot even years later. “We came to London, and I remember walking into this beautiful home in London, into this office, and we stayed there for four hours,” she said during the podcast conversation. She added that she arrived bundled up in multiple layers for the cold London weather, only to leave in just a tank top after the exhausting session, calling the work “so intensive” given how much material they filmed together.

Gadot didn’t hold back praising her scene partner during that long-ago audition either, calling Hiddleston “such an incredible actor” and noting she hadn’t known much about him at the time beyond his background as a respected theater performer in England. Despite how strong she felt the audition went, the role ultimately went to Charlize Theron, who starred opposite Tom Hardy’s Max Rockatansky in the finished 2015 film.

Reflecting on losing the part, Gadot acknowledged that Miller simply had a specific vision that didn’t ultimately include either her or Hiddleston, explaining that the director “really knew” what he wanted for the role. She also revealed she hadn’t been aware at the time that Jeremy Renner had been through a similar audition process for the film as well, underscoring just how expansive Miller’s search for the right Furiosa and Max actually was.

The story adds to a growing pile of behind-the-scenes casting tales from ‘Fury Road’s’ notoriously rigorous audition process. Michael Fassbender has previously described his own audition for the film as one of the worst experiences of his career, recalling an excruciating session after arriving late and working with Miller’s demanding acting coach.

Interestingly, while Hiddleston never ended up in the ‘Mad Max’ universe, his former Marvel co-star Chris Hemsworth eventually did, taking on the role of villain Dementus in the 2024 prequel ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.’ That connection has added a strange bit of symmetry to Gadot’s story, even if the specific pairing she and Hiddleston tested for never made it to screen.

With ‘The Runner’ now rolling out on Prime Video, Gadot’s candid trip down memory lane offers fans a rare glimpse into just how differently her career, and the ‘Mad Max’ franchise itself, could have unfolded had Miller’s vision landed elsewhere.

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