Watch: Tom Hardy's reaction when asked sexist 'Mad Max' question

CANNES, France, May 28 (UPI) -- During a Q&A at Cannes for Mad Max: Fury Road, Tom Hardy was asked a sexist question about the film and shot it down immediately.

Ten minutes into the press conference, Toronto Star reporter Peter Howell asked a question that caught the Inception actor off-guard.

"Tom, I'll preface my remarks by saying that I have five sisters, a wife, a daughter, and a mother so I know what it's like to be outgunned by estrogen. But I just wanted to ask you, as you were reading the script, did you ever think, 'Why are all these women in here? I thought this was supposed to be a man's movie?'" Howell asked.

"No," Hardy replied after a short pause. "Not for one minute."

His co-star, Charlize Theron, could be heard saying, "Good for you."

"That's kind of obvious," the actor responded. In attempt to lighten the mood, he continued, "In reference to having a script, that would have been nice. That was more of a concern to me. That was a luxury we didn't have."

In a statement released on Wednesday, Howell admitted he may have used the wrong words for his question and praised the actor for his willingness to share the screen with a female co-star.

"My question to Tom Hardy was intended as the opposite of sexism. I was congratulating him for his willingness to share the screen with so many strong women in a franchise and genre more inclined to celebrate the male over the female. He was also willing to be in a co-lead role with Charlize Theron, in a movie called Mad Max, no less. I think a lot of male stars might have objected to this, but Hardy is of a special breed," he told Buzzfeed.