U on Sunday: Mad Max Fury Road star ‘trained’ for role at Brisbane's Boggo Road as a prisoner

A PRISONER turned Hollywood actor says Brisbane’s Boggo Road Gaol was the perfect training ground for his latest role in Mad Max Fury Road.

PRISONER turned Hollywood actor Nathan Jones believes Brisbane’s Boggo Road jail provided the perfect training ground for his latest role as a henchman in the fourth Mad Max film — set in a violent and desperate world ruled by ruthless gangs.

Jones, who grew up on the Gold Coast, says that the infamous jail, where he was held in the late 1980s and early 1990s and gained a reputation as one of Australia’s most dangerous prisoners, also became the ideal acting boot camp.

“It was my training ground where I learnt to act,’’ says the 150kg and 213cm (7ft) tall Jones, formerly known as “The Colossus of Boggo Road’’ for his ability to snap handcuffs.

“There were gangs and all sorts of things going on.

“I was known as one of the most dangerous prisoners in Australia which was silly. I’m a big softie at heart but I learnt to act tough because I wouldn’t let anyone get hurt by the gangs or by bullying.

“I got a few enemies. People stabbed me, hit me in the gym with bars but I managed. I might have been in prison but I still had my morals. I couldn’t feel good about myself when I was seeing all the horrible things being done (to other prisoners) and to not do anything about it.’’

Nathan was only 18 when he was sent to Boggo Road for eight armed robberies committed during 1985-87, two of them in Tasmania. He was released when he was 25.

In Mad Max: Fury Road Jones plays Rictus Erectus, the son of Immorten Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) who is one of the war lords in the harsh post-apocalyptic world because he controls the precious commodity of water.

“I’m the muscles for my father, I’m trying to impress my father but he does not see me as being good enough to take his place because he thinks I’m too soft and not ruthless enough,’’ says the 44-year-old.

A high-octane V8-charged chase through the desert occurs when one of Immorten Joe’s leaders Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), who drives a war truck rig, steals away with five women Immorten Joe has impregnated to ensure the future of his bloodline.

Max Rockatansky, who has been taken prisoner by Immorten Joe’s gang of war boys, has only been spared because he is a universal blood donor.

Mad Max (played in the 1979 original by Mel Gibson in a career-making role and now performed by Tom Hardy) is taken along by war boy Nux (Nicholas Hoult) while still hooked up with his blood donation. The events of Mad Max: Fury Road, directed by Queensland-bred George Miller, are set shortly after the series’ third film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985).

“I was about nine years old when I watched the first movie on television with my mother and it scared the hell out of me at the time. At first I was so used to Mel being Mad Max I was a bit like: ‘No, this can’t be right, George must be mad to cast someone else’,’’ says Jones, who was soon convinced by Hardy’s performance.

“Tom Hardy is perfect, he owned the role in every way. I was biased at the beginning having grown up with Mel Gibson but I was quickly impressed.’’

In the ensuring mayhem of the Road War, Max, Nux and Imperator Furiosa find themselves thrown together on the run from Immorten Joe, Rictus Erectus and the rest of his gang.

“Tom was good to (fight with) because most actors are scared to mess me up and get in there ... they just give me love taps but Tom was throwing good clean punches. He was easy to work with,’’ he says.

Jones reveals there were a couple of hairy moments during the nine-month desert shoot in Namibia, in Africa’s southern tip, especially when riding some of the 150 vehicles used in the film. He says one time a fuel line snapped and he was covered in fuel standing above an engine. He says another time an 18-wheel vehicle he was in rolled over.

“I was on top of the vehicle when it jackknifed and we had no brakes and the stunt driver was struggling with the steering wheel and we were near a ravine but luckily we landed in soft sand,’’ he says. “The vehicles are so loud and powerful. You can hear the roar of the engine, you feel the adrenaline rush and you are instantly in the zone.’’

Jones, who was set to play Cyborg in Miller’s version of Justice League when the project collapsed in 2008, discovered the sport of powerlifting while in Boggo Road.

Jones, now based at Bangkok, Thailand, became a professional WWE wrestler on his release and won the 1995 World’s Strongest Man in Scotland — which brought him to the attention of martial arts movie icon Jackie Chan, who flew him to the Gold Coast for an audition for the movie Police Story 4: First Strike.

“Jackie Chan saw me on the Good Morning Australia Show, he saw me pick up the back of a ute and drag it for 30m ... he wanted to see me do a jumping spin kick 8ft in the air,’’ he says. “Being spotted by Jackie Chan, that was my big break.’’

Jones has been making films around the world since including Troy (1994), when he battled Brad Pitt.

“I’ve had a full and eventful life, I’ve seen a broad range of society and I’ve experienced a lot,’’ he says. “I never imagined when I was in Boggo Road prison that one day I would be getting out of there and then feature in a Mad Max movie 20 years down the track. If someone told me that in there I would have thought they were crazy.’’

Mad Max: Fury Road is now showing.