Charlize Theron shaves her head for Mad Max

CHARLIZE THERON has prepared for the much-anticipated new MAD MAX movie by shaving her head.

The Oscar winner showed off her new buzz cut in Hollywood on Monday (11Jun12).

She'll portray Furiosa in Mad Max 4: Fury Road, which is set to start shooting this summer (12) after a two-year delay.

Theron has been attached to the project since 2009 - and she can't wait to team up with Tom Hardy on the set: "It's been three years. It's time to skin this cat already!"

She tells Us Weekly magazine, "The original Mad Max created such a vivid world, so to go back and re-imagine it and re-play in that sandbox sounds like fun to me. Its a really challenging piece of material... I feel very lucky."