Dressed in rags, working 13-hour shifts with her face concealed under five layers of make-up, Danielle Wilson realised she was having the time of her life.
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The Tarrawanna 43-year-old scored roles as an extra on Mad Max: Fury Road and spent much of November 2013 bringing to life the post-apocalyptic characters of director George Miller’s imagination.
With the film set to at last premiere this week, Ms Wilson is looking forward to seeing the results of her labour.
‘‘It was really exhilarating to see the background of how making a film all works,’’ she said.
‘‘And how many chances do you get to talk to a director like George Miller?
‘‘I was just really chuffed to be part of the film so I thanked him and told him how incredible I think his work is.’’
Ms Wilson was cast as one of more than 300 homeless sewer-dwellers, collectively called ‘‘The Wretched’’, and was also one of the ‘‘Treadmill Rats’’, sorry souls whose legs are permanently bandaged and bleeding from their never-ending labour atop two giant steel turbines.
The scenes, shot at Fox Studios in Sydney and on location at Potts Hill, brought Ms Wilson up close and personal with Charlize Theron, as female lead Euriosa, and Max himself, Tom Hardy, who thrillingly bumped past her several times while filming a crowd scene.
Other highlights were a hand-grazing encounter with Zoe Kravitz and scenes involving some of the franchise’s famous automobilia, including Theron’s mighty war rig and the fourth instalment’s ‘‘hero car’’, the Gigahorse.
‘‘It’s a duel V8 vehicle that consists of two Cadillac bodies stuck together,’’ Ms Wilson said.
‘‘It and the rig both had a lot of power that made the whole ground shake.
‘‘There were bits of pieces of junk cars that have been soldered together. It’s all pretty incredible and very apocalyptic.’’