Nicholas Hoult says he felt like he ‘made it’ after Charlize Theron spat in his face on Mad Max set

Nicholas Hoult has joked that he finally “made it” in Hollywood after Charlize Theron spat in his face on the Mad Max: Fury Road set.

Hoult was in attendance at a special drive-in screening of the film in Los Angeles on Saturday (1 August). Theron organised the screening, which was followed up by a Q&A in which she and Hoult shared memories of working together.

“I knew I really arrived as an actor when there was a scene when you spat in my face,” Hoult told Theron. “I think I asked politely, ‘Do you mind if I spit back?’”

Hoult portrayed Nux, a volatile acolyte of the film’s villain, in Fury Road. Theron played the heroic Imperator Furiosa.

At the screening, Theron revealed that she was “scared s***less” while making the film. She also said that she was initially shown a four-hour cut by director George Miller, which was cut down by the time the film made it to cinemas.

“I never got bored,” Theron said.

In July, Theron revealed that she experienced sexism on the set of 2003’s The Italian Job as the film’s only female star. While preparing for the role, she learned that she was to receive an additional six weeks of car training compared to her male co-stars.

“It was just so insulting,” Theron said. “But it was also the thing that put a real fire under my ass. And I was like ‘alright, you guys want to play this game? Let’s go’. And I made it a point to out-drive all of those guys.”