Anya Taylor-Joy Says the Shocking Way Furiosa Loses Her Arm 'Made a Lot of Sense to Me'

Anya Taylor-Joy’s ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’ is an origin story for Charlize Theron’s one-armed character in ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’

NOTE: This article contains spoilers for Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in theaters now.

Anya Taylor-Joy is shedding light on a burning question for Mad Max: Fury Road fans: Why does Furiosa have only one arm?

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is writer-director George Miller’s origin story for the character first played by Charlize Theron in the Oscar-winning 2015 installment of the franchise.

Imperator Furiosa was introduced to audiences with several distinct characteristics — a mechanical arm, shaved head and take-no-prisoners attitude — that the fast-paced action flick didn’t stop to explain.

"The loss of the arm and the loss of the hair actually both were important steps that we had to take if we were going to be able to chart the journey of how this little girl became a character that now we all know and love," Taylor-Joy, 28, told Entertainment Weekly as part of the outlet’s cover story.

Related: Furiosa Stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth Present Together at Oscars 2024

The actress shared her initial reaction to reading, in Miller’s script, the scene in which the title character in Furiosa goes from two arms to one — a moment she said “made a lot of sense to me."

After a young Furiosa (played by Alyla Browne) is kidnapped from the fertile Green Place to the desolate Wasteland thanks to biker warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth), she hides amid the Citadel of Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme).

Years later when she and oil rig driver Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke) attempt to escape to Furiosa’s home and run afoul of Dementus’ violent gang, her arm is pinned by car wheels and mangled.

Then, as Dementus’ men subject Jack to a tortuously slow death, the warlord forces Furiosa to watch, hanging from a chain wrapped around her injured arm. Hours pass, the sun sets and Dementus emerges from his rest — to discover Furiosa long gone, leaving behind her bloody severed arm dangling.

"It made sense to me because I think what's incredible about this character is she just refuses to die — really, she refuses," Taylor-Joy told EW. "It made sense to me that she would lose her arm in the pursuit of something that she thought was bigger than herself.”

Related: Anya Taylor-Joy Says Her Secret Elopement with Musician Malcolm McRae in April 2022 'Was for Us'

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Miller, 79, mapped out three follow-ups to the Mad Max films that began with 1979’s Mel Gibson-starring original, with Fury Road serving as a launching point for two prequels: Furiosa’s life story, then another focused on Tom Hardy’s Max.

"In doing what we did in the preparation of Mad Max: Fury Road, we also wrote what happened to Max in the year before we encounter him in [that film],” Miller revealed to EW.

Soon after Furiosa escapes Dementus’ clutches, barely alive after having removed her own arm, it’s implied that Max brings her back to the Citadel's safety. Briefly glimpsed from behind and not played by Hardy, the character is “lurking around somewhere,” as Miller said, because “the writers know what happened to Mad Max in that year before, and we have a whole story of that, which I would like to do sometime if I get the chance.”

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is in theaters now.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.