Kat Dennings once spent six hours auditioning opposite Tom Hardy for Mad Max: Fury Road, left convinced she was not getting the job and then found herself bringing Hardy home to meet her mother.
Dennings revisited the experience in a new social media video, describing a chemistry read that expanded into hours of increasingly unusual acting exercises. She and Hardy switched roles, ran around a corner for the camera and eventually had to perform dialogue without actually saying the written lines, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Hardy seemed considerably more comfortable with the process. Dennings remembered watching him find creative ways through the exercises while she was “dying.” Hardy ultimately landed the role of Max Rockatansky in George Miller’s 2015 film.
Dennings did not get a part, but Hardy made a much better impression after the audition ended. He offered her a ride home, met her mother and was still sitting in the house drinking tea with her several hours later.
The Six Hour Audition Felt Like ‘the Worst Day of Your Life’
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Dennings said the material consisted of only a couple of pages and was fairly vague. The chemistry read then stretched to approximately six hours.
“Basically, what happened was, an acting class, if it was on the worst day of your life,” she said in her Instagram video. At one point, Dennings and Hardy were told to switch roles. Another exercise had them running around a corner while being filmed.
The part Dennings remembered most vividly involved being told to deliver the scene without actually saying the dialogue. The acting coach encouraged the pair to make sounds instead of speaking the written lines.
Dennings said Hardy embraced the exercise. “He was able to be extremely free and come up with really creative ways of doing these lines,” she recalled.
Hardy Drove Dennings Home and Stayed for Tea
After six hours together, Dennings still needed to get home. She did not have a car at the time, and Hardy offered to drive her to the house where she lived with her parents.
Dennings said Hardy was “so lovely” during the ride. Once they arrived, she introduced him to her mother and thanked him before heading to the converted garage where she lived. She changed into pajamas and took a nap. A few hours later, Dennings returned to the main house and discovered that Hardy had never left.
“Tom Hardy is still there, having tea with my mother,” she recalled. “And just chatting it up.”
The unexpected visit left a lasting impression on both of them. Dennings said her mother still talks about Hardy and added, “I will be a fan of his for life. I think he’s a wonderful person.”
Michael Fassbender’s Own ‘Mad Max’ Audition Prompted the Story
Dennings said Michael Fassbender’s account of his own unsuccessful Mad Max: Fury Road audition prompted her to finally tell the story.
Fassbender discussed the experience during a 2025 Happy Sad Confused interview. He arrived nearly an hour late after getting lost on his way to Warner Bros. and said his frustration grew when the audition moved into exercises with Miller’s acting coach.
“It was so excruciating,” Fassbender recalled. His classical training did not mesh with the coach’s approach, and he said he eventually could not wait to leave.
Fassbender did not get the role either. Looking back at the outcome, he had no argument with the actor who did.
“Obviously Tom Hardy got the part,” Fassbender said, “and deservedly so.”