Mad Max - actors, characters and roles

All actors and their roles in the film "Mad Max"
Mad Max (1979)
Timing: 1:31 (91 min)
Mad Max - TMDB rating
6.676/10
4900
Mad Max - Kinopoisk rating
6.874/10
68592
Mad Max - IMDB rating
6.8/10
244000

Actors and characters

Photo Mel Gibson #18932Photo Mel Gibson #18933Photo Mel Gibson #18934Photo Mel Gibson #18935

Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson
Character Max Rockatansky
Photo Joanne Samuel #56298

Joanne Samuel

Joanne Samuel
Character Jessie Rockatansky
Photo Hugh Keays-Byrne #9302Photo Hugh Keays-Byrne #9303

Hugh Keays-Byrne

Hugh Keays-Byrne
Character Toecutter
Photo Steve Bisley #40793

Steve Bisley

Steve Bisley
Character Jim Goose
Photo Tim Burns #221701Photo Tim Burns #221702Photo Tim Burns #221703
Tim Burns
Character Johnny the Boy
Photo Roger Ward #94718Photo Roger Ward #94719

Roger Ward

Roger Ward
Character Fifi
Photo Vincent Gil #78751
Vincent Gil
Character Nightrider
Lulu Pinkus
Character Nightrider's Girl
Photo Lisa Aldenhoven #221704Photo Lisa Aldenhoven #221705Photo Lisa Aldenhoven #221706
Lisa Aldenhoven
Character Nurse
Photo David Bracks #92835
David Bracks
Character Mudguts
Bertrand Cadart
Character Clunk
Photo David Cameron #221707Photo David Cameron #221708Photo David Cameron #221709

David Cameron

David Cameron
Character Underground Mechanic
Robina Chaffey
Character Singer
Stephen Clark
Character Sarse
Mathew Constantine
Character Toddler
Jerry Day
Character Ziggy
Photo Reg Evans #124153

Reg Evans

Reg Evans
Character Station Master
Howard Eynon
Character Diabando
Max Fairchild
Character Benno
John Farndale
Character Grinner
Peter Felmingham
Character Senior Doctor
Photo Sheila Florance #221710Photo Sheila Florance #221711Photo Sheila Florance #221712

Sheila Florance

Sheila Florance
Character May Swaisey
Nic Gazzana
Character Starbuck
Hunter Gibb
Character Lair
Andrew Gilmore
Character Silvertongue
Photo Jonathan Hardy #113716

Jonathan Hardy

Jonathan Hardy
Character Labatouche
Brendan Heath
Character Sprog
Photo Paul Johnstone #221713Photo Paul Johnstone #221714Photo Paul Johnstone #221715
Paul Johnstone
Character Cundalini
Photo Nick Lathouris #9409

Nick Lathouris

Nick Lathouris
Character Grease Rat
John Ley
Character Charlie
Steve Millichamp
Character Roop
Phil Motherwell
Character Junior Doctor
George Novak
Character Scuttle

Geoff Parry

Geoff Parry
Character Bubba Zanetti
Neil Thompson
Character TV Newsreader
Billy Tisdall
Character Midge

Gil Tucker

Gil Tucker
Character People's Observer
Kim Sullivan
Character Girl in Chevvy
John Arnold
Character Man Selling Dog
Tom Broadbridge
Character Fat Nancy's Customer
Peter Culpan
Character Caravan Driver
Photo Peter Ford #124156
Peter Ford
Character Arguing Couple
Photo Clive Hearne #291048Photo Clive Hearne #334692

Clive Hearne

Clive Hearne
Character Tow Truck Driver in Diner
Photo Telford Jackson #306041

Telford Jackson

Telford Jackson
Character Tow Truck Driver in Diner

Christine Kaman

Christine Kaman
Character Arguing Couple
Photo Joan Letch #221716Photo Joan Letch #221717Photo Joan Letch #221718Photo Joan Letch #334693

Joan Letch

Joan Letch
Character Fat Nancy's Waitress
Kerry Miller
Character Gumchewer
Di Trelour
Character Caravan Driver's Wife
Vernon Weaver
Character Fat Nancy's Customer
Paul Young
Character Fat Nancy's Customer
Photo Brendan Young #221719Photo Brendan Young #221720Photo Brendan Young #221721
Brendan Young
Character Kid Outside Halls of Justice
Photo Amanda Muggleton #221722Photo Amanda Muggleton #221723Photo Amanda Muggleton #221724Photo Amanda Muggleton #221725
Amanda Muggleton
Character Biker's Moll (uncredited)

James McCausland

James McCausland
Character Bearded Man in Apron (uncredited)
Lisa Dombroski
Character Moll on Beach
Malcolm Bruce
Character Kid Outside Halls of Justice (uncredited)
Photo Katy Brinson #314324

Katy Brinson

Katy Brinson
Character Moll on Beach (uncredited)

What's left behind the scenes

  • Mel Gibson didn't intentionally audition for the film. He went to the audition with a friend. Having been in a bar fight the previous night, his face was bruised and incredibly swollen. Mel was told he could return in three weeks to audition for the roles of various outcasts present in the film. He returned three weeks later, no one recognized him, but he was offered to audition for the lead role.
  • Max's car is a 'Ford XB Falcon Coupe.' This model was sold in Australia from December 1973 to August 1976.
  • The Night Rider's car at the beginning of the film is an "HQ Holden Monaro," sold in Australia in the early 1970s in various configurations. The police cars in the film are "XB" sedan versions.
  • Goose's motorcycle is a "1977 Kawasaki KZ 1000."
  • Several cars used as police vehicles were repainted for filming in other scenes.
  • Several phrases that the Night Rider says on the radio repeat lyrics from the song "Rocker" by "AC/DC."
  • The van that is wrecked at the beginning of the film belonged to George Miller.
  • Approximately 20% of the planned car chases were never filmed due to a lack of funds.
  • Max's personal police number is 4073, Jim Goose's is 2241, and Charlie's is 3840 or 3842.
  • Since he was relatively unknown at the time of the film's release, Mel Gibson was barely featured in the various trailers, with all attention focused on the car chases and crashes.
  • Due to the limited budget, decommissioned police cars were used in the film. Only Mel Gibson wore clothing made of genuine leather. All other police officers wore clothing made of vinyl.
  • “Mad Max” was the first Australian film shot in widescreen anamorphic format.
  • The yellow 'Interceptor' of Max appears in the game Carmageddon TDR 2000 under the name 'Sheriff' or, in another translation, 'Crusher', acting as a police car in one of the locations. The 'Special Pursuer' also appears in the game, named 'SXE Black Luke'.
  • The biker gang is entirely equipped with Kawasaki KZ-1000 and Honda CB750/CB900 motorcycles, which were provided for filming free of charge.
  • The car that the gang wrecked with axes was a '57 Chevy Impala, which was in very poor condition and only painted. The pipes above the engine were decorative.
  • The motorcycle with a sidecar and a glass dome-sphere that stopped Gus was a trike powered by a Honda CB750 engine.
  • The car fleetingly seen in the film belonging to Fifie (Max's boss) is a 1974 or 1976 Buick Riviera.
  • The wreck on which Gus transported his motorcycle after the accident was an EJ Holden.
  • While working at the Melbourne hospital, Dr. George Miller met Byron Kennedy, an aspiring cinematographer and producer, at the film school in 1971. Four years later, the pair conceived of making a feature film. George Miller worked in the hospital's emergency room and, during his time there, witnessed numerous injuries and deaths, which were reflected in the film. However, Miller was primarily inspired by articles by journalist James McCosland, dedicated to Australian car culture and the problems of the global fuel industry.
  • McCosland had a more anthropological view of motorists in Australia. Initially, Miller simply wanted to address the issue of road accidents in the script, due to the government allowing the sale of high-speed cars to ordinary citizens while most roads were not suitable for such speeds and took no steps to rectify this. McCosland, however, saw in the young speedsters a kind of frenzied racers, for whom their vehicle was the only meaning in life, in his opinion, especially during the 'oil embargo' of 1973, when gasoline at gas stations became catastrophically scarce and prices rose sharply. Australian drivers often began to fight in lines for the right to fill their tanks, something McCosland had not witnessed in the US. He was also a proponent of the peak oil theory, developed by American geologist and geophysicist Marion King Hubbert.
  • Miller and Kennedy came up with several plot options: the first was a youth drama about traffic police and those same young speedsters in sports cars on the most dangerous country roads, due to which the protagonist lost loved ones; the second was an action film about the confrontation between traffic police and bikers avenging a comrade killed during a chase; the third option featured one of the speedsters as the protagonist. Miller also had the idea of a film set in the near future, when the planet's oil reserves were almost completely depleted, the world had collapsed, and drivers were now killing each other in road wars for the remaining gasoline. McCosland believed that all of this should be combined into a single plot, with the protagonist being both a speedster and a law enforcement officer. Shifting the action to the near future was also relevant because it allowed them to showcase universal cars and motorcycles, as well as unusual weapons. They decided that James would write all the dialogue and create the backstories of all the characters, and then George and Byron would refine the chases and stunt scenes. But in the end, the resulting script, which consisted of 214 pages, had to be significantly reworked due to cuts caused by a lack of funds.
  • The script development, creation of core artistic decisions, and search for funding took a total of 14 months.
  • The film was shot in twelve weeks, with filming taking place from October 24, 1977, to January 1978, in the vicinity of Melbourne. In May 1978, the scene of the Night Rider's death was reshot. Post-production of the film lasted exactly one year.
  • Due to the low budget, the final editing and sound operations were completed at the Miller's house: George edited the film in the kitchen, and Byron Kennedy edited the sound in the living room.
  • Filming took place in the western suburbs of Melbourne, in Melbourne itself, and in the state of Victoria.
  • The supercharger installed on Max's car is a dummy. After filming, it was removed to allow the car to be operated on public roads, although its unchanged appearance was still used at film screenings for some time.
  • Local bikers from the Australian state of Victoria were cast as the bandits.
  • When the film was first released in the United States, the entire soundtrack (including Mel Gibson's voice) was redubbed at the request of distributor American International Pictures, who feared that American audiences would not understand actors with Australian accents and wanted to add an American accent to the voices. The only exception was the singer from the Sugartown cabaret, played by Robin Chaffey. The original Australian soundtrack was eventually released in 2000 in a limited re-release by Metro Goldwin Mayer.
  • Only two original 'Interceptor' models were used in the Mad Max trilogy. The car used in the first film was modified for the filming of the second film (all shots inside the car and external close-ups of the vehicle). After filming of the second part was completed, this car was bought and restored by Bob Forcenko. The vehicle was then located at the 'Cars of the Stars Motor Museum' in England. The second car was used only for car chase scenes in the second film. As in the film, the car was smashed to pieces.
  • The Puretone music video for 'Addicted to Bass' recreates the opening chase scene from the film, but this time the fugitives manage to escape.
  • Only two original 'Interceptor' vehicles were used in the Mad Max trilogy. The vehicle used in the first film was modified for the filming of the second (all shots inside the vehicle and external close-ups of the car). After filming of the second part was completed, this vehicle was bought and restored by Bob Forcenko. The car was then located at the 'Cars of the Stars Motor Museum' in England. The second vehicle was used only for car chase scenes in the second film. As in the movie, the car was smashed to pieces.
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