Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga director George Miller has explained why he decided to recast Charlize Theron instead of using de-aging technology for the prequel movie.

Theron, who starred as Furiosa in 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, was heartbroken when Miller didn’t bring her back for the prequel, but in a recent interview with Empire magazine, Miller said he had his reasons for recasting the role with Anya Taylor-Joy rather than de-aging Theron to play a younger version of the character.

“It definitely would have been Charlize [had Furiosa been filmed before Fury Road],” Miller explained. “I began thinking, ‘Oh, maybe we could do de-aging.’ Then I watched really masterful filmmakers like Ang Lee and Martin Scorsese, doing Gemini Man and The Irishman, and I saw that it hadn’t been licked. All you’d be watching is, ‘Look how well the technology works?’ It would not have been persuasive.”

Miller found a younger Furiosa in Taylor-Joy, who snagged the role after getting the director’s attention. Miller praised Taylor-Joy’s talent and expressed his excitement about working with her on the upcoming film.