Josh Helman

As Slit in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), Josh Helman makes physical menace his contribution to a crowded film. He commits to the aggression, and George Miller gives it a place within a desert chase that remains readable at speed. We were exhilarated by that chase because we could follow the action even at its most frantic. Helman suits this filmmaking: he establishes a dangerous supporting presence without needing the story to stop for him. We would still have welcomed more attention to the supporting characters.

Jeb Oliver in Jack Reacher (2012) marked his first major studio film role. His breakthrough came as William Stryker in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), a role he reprised in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016). Military men and antagonists have become regular work, usually in supporting parts. Nicholas Hoult is a recurring colleague in the X-Men films and Fury Road. For us, though, Miller provides the strongest reason to keep watching Helman, because his action filmmaking gives that physical commitment a clear purpose.

Miller brought him back in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (2024), this time as Scrotus rather than Slit. It is a second part in the same series, and another assignment that suits his forcefulness. We prefer Fury Road: Furiosa spends too much effort explaining its heroine, though its inventive middle hour is worth the wait. The digital sand and excessive talk make it a less satisfying action film. These parts confirm Helman’s usefulness to Miller without telling us how he might sustain a film of his own.

Helman has spoken about needing to understand even the terrible people he plays. That is a sound starting point, though a supporting part can leave little time to make that understanding visible. The brooding work in Flesh and Bone (2015) offers a reason to be interested in him beyond the action antagonists. Start with Fury Road; we would welcome more parts that ask him to do something other than threaten.