In a dismal place: a post-apocalyptic desert wasteland, two stunt doubles fell in love. After bashing each other on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road, Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron’s doubles developed emotions for each other and have since married and given birth to a 14-month-old son. Their tale of romance is reminder that love is a strange thing.

Dayna and Dane, who even have similar NAMES they’re so lovely, met in the Namibian desert in 2012, while shooting on Mad Max: Fury Road. Dane was covering Tom Hardy as Max, while Dayna was working as a stunt double for Charlize Theron/Furiosa.

“I saw Dayna straight away – she was the only girl from New Zealand and she stood out like a sore thumb,” he told Stuff.

“I saw her bag with her name on it and my opening line was literally, ‘Hi. I see you’re Dayna. I’m Dane’. That was about it.”

Dane and Dayna Grant fell in love while training to be stunt doubles in the movie Mad Max: Fury Road Courtesy of Dane Grant

But reportedly it was during a particularly close-quarters combat sequence when the couple really connected.

Dane told Stuff.co.nz, “So the two of us were doing this — dare I say — very S&M-type fight, it’s a love/hate mixture between these characters. They’re very close, there’s chains, they’re holding each other in very intimate positions, and the longer we were doing it the more we’re kind of eyeing each other up.”

“We’ve said it before and it’s quite cheesy, but it really was love at first sight,” he continued. “While we were punching each other we were falling for each other — quite rapidly.”

The pair, who describe their encounter as “love at first sight,” married and now live together in their home New Zealand, where they manage a stunt school. Dana gave birth to Ryder, their one-year-old son, last year.

They claim that working in the same area contributes significantly to the strength of their bond. “It helps to have somebody who understands what you’re going through, especially the long hours,” says Dane.

Dayna shared a photo of the pair shot on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road shortly after the film premiered to rave reviews in theaters last month (May).

“We weren’t sure if it was going to be that big. You just never know what it’s going to be like but you hope that every film you do is going to be epic,” Dana said of the film’s success. Dane added: “But I cannot say it enough; the work that Dayna does – that everyone does on this – absolutely shines through in bucket loads. I’m so proud.”