Tom Hardy is one of the most gifted English actors around. Debuting in Ridley Scott's, Black Hawk Down, Hardy has played characters across a wide spectrum of genres since. He is currently starring in the period drama, The Peaky Blinders and the up-and-coming Netflix, action thriller, Havoc. If you need a little nudge of encouragement to appreciate the Londoner’s talent and ability to turn his hand at what seems like any role, then take a look at these nine very different performances.
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John Fitzgerald in The Revenant (2015)
Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), a fur trapper, hunter and trader, is left for dead by his own hunting expedition after being brutally mauled by a bear. Glass begins the arduous challenge of wilderness survival against the elements, beasts, and Native Americans who resent foreigners and want nothing more than their lands to be left alone. Glass’s need for survival becomes one fueled by revenge for John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), the man whose decision it was to leave Glass behind, left for dead.
The Revenant is a Revisionist Western that is inspired by the American settlement of the Great Plains and the proceeding displacement of the Native American peoples. The movie succeeds, where most have failed, at removing the rose-tinted glasses of previous Hollywood movies to highlight anger, disgust and the realistic character-based emotions of the day. Both DiCaprio and Hardy are masterful in their mannerisms, accents, and foreboding portrayal as hunters in a world of the hunted. Realistic, with no clear winners, The Revenant is a brutal dive into a past that needs to be remembered properly. And of course, that appearance by a very angry bear!
Bane in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Eight years in exile as a wanted criminal, Batman (Christian Bale) must face his fears and return to save Gotham City from the clutches of Bane (Tom Hardy), the most dangerous adversary Batman has ever faced. Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) becomes Batman’s only real ally, and it becomes a race against time to stop Bane from detonating a neutron bomb, in his ‘vision’ to free the people of Gotham.
The Dark Knight Rises is regarded as one of the best superhero movies of all time. Made with an edge that superpowers don’t exist and (thankfully) with an absence of comedy and unrealistic action, it stars Christian Bale as the best Batman to date (Robert Pattinson might have something to say about that), alone with his much parodied gravelly voice. Hardy put on the pounds to play the most terrifying villain that never needed unexplainable powers. A masked bruiser whose dominating physique is only matched by Hardy’s exceptional talent to create Bane’s menacing posture and accent. It’s one of the most satisfying conclusions to any movie franchise made.
Eddie Brock/Venom in Venom(2018)
Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is an investigative journalist that loses his job and girlfriend after probing a bio-engineering corporation, Life Foundation, with questions that they are conducting human experiments. Brock breaks into the complex but is possessed by Venom, an alien symbiote that allows Brock to manifest superhuman powers and strength. Venom decides that he and Brock can co-exist as one entity, and must protect the earth from the other symbiotes.
Another accent, and another completely different character for Hardy. He owns the role proving he can play a version of dark comedy comfortably, while playing an anti-hero that awkwardly and reluctantly fights evil. One of the few recent Marvel movies that has grit, Venom could easily have been an unapologetic horror movie. Venom’s first standalone movie has already spawned a sequel, and thanks to Spider-Man: No Way Home, the MCU universe beckons.
Ronald "Ronnie" Kray and Reginald "Reggie" Kray in Legend (2015)
Legend is a biographical crime thriller following the infamous gangsters, the Kray twins, and their rise to power in the East End of London. Set against the backdrop of the swinging sixties, the story tracks their criminal careers from extortion, taking over nightclubs and to publicly executing rival gangsters. And all while Reggie attempts to control his psychopathic brother.
Hardy effortlessly plays both Ronnie and Reggie Kray, two men with completely different voices and gait. Hardy is known for his study and employment of method acting, and this movie is him showcasing what he can do best. However, it does raise the question of how he managed the complexity of portraying two characters that interact with each other so easily, and of course one at a time. Many actors have appeared in dual roles, but Hardy’s Kray twins is a lesson to all on how to do it the correct way.
Michael Gordon Peterson/Charles Bronson in Bronson (2008)
Hardy plays Britain’s most dangerous prisoner, Charles Bronson, another biographical crime film but with a twist. The twist being that the story is told as a surreal journey with vaudeville-style interludes at different points in the plot. The story unfolds with Bronson’s early days of middle-class life, bare-knuckle fighting and ultimately imprisonment — for the rest of his days. Prison becomes his home. He endures three decades of solitary confinement, dishes out unmanageable levels of violence, paints whenever he can, and regularly takes hostages. Welcome to the world of Bronson.
For a classically-trained actor to play a bare-knuckle boxer turned artist in a pseudo-real biopic sounds like a last minute casting decision. However, Hardy gives thought to every second inside the unhinged world of Bronson and the movie’s take on the character’s reality. Any actor that can stand fully naked, in-shot, and convincingly force another actor to cover him in butter while making it comically terrifying but not ridiculous, deserves respect. And then, having a punch-up with a bunch of prison guards, that’s action with a proper angle, and all helped along by Hardy’s maxed out energy level. It’s no surprise that this role became his breakout onto the world’s stage.
Ivan Locke in Locke (2013)
Locke is a psychological drama set almost solely inside a car driven by construction foreman, Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy). Throughout the one and a half hour journey, Locke makes calls, battling to keep his marriage alive, his sons happy, his boss that he can still do his job, and his one-night stand from nine months ago that is about to give birth … some kind of hope.
There are few performances where an actor utilizes every prop and body movement to convey emotion and plot, this being one of the finest examples. Tissues, food, drink, the car’s controls, and of course thirty-six phone calls (yes thirty-six) all used to convey the slow destruction of Ivan Locke’s life. And cleverly contrasted with the creation of a new building as Locke oversees the pouring of cement into its foundations via many phone calls. This movie isn’t for all, but it is definitely for all Tom Hardy fans and those who appreciate how hard it is to keep an audience entertained without leaving their car seat. Not to mention all in a Welsh accent.
Bob Saginowski in The Drop (2014)
Bob Saginowski (Tom Hardy) tends to Cousin Marv's (James Gandolfini) bar. A place used by Chechen mobsters as an illegal money drop. After the bar is robbed, Bob becomes caught in the ongoing investigation. He also gets caught up with an abandoned Pit Bull and a girl and her ex who claims to be a murderer. And to make matters worse he is stuck in a web of mistrust within the criminal underworld where no one is quite who they seem, especially Bob.
The Drop is a beautifully crafted, organic script that cuts down to society’s bone — harsh at times but always honest. Hardy feeds off Gandolfini well, who in turn creates atmospheric support, like only he can. Hardy, throughout the movie, constantly acts like Bob is holding something back. It’s a subtle and well thought through and reserved portrayal that nicely sets up the concluding scenes with greater impact (spoiler free description folks), which ultimately, and at the very end, veers in a very different direction like all good thrillers should.
Eames in Inception (2010)
Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a thief that enters his target’s subconscious to steal information using dream-sharing technology. Cobb has been tasked to do the opposite and plant an idea into the mind of a powerful CEO. However, the place of dreams has many levels, each more dangerous than the last, and Cobb’s past is now ready to catch him when he is at his most vulnerable.
When science fiction meets action under the direction of Christopher Nolan, we know exactly what we are getting into. A mind-bending, grandiose plot where VFX clashes with exceptional, and more often than not, ambiguous storytelling. Eames (Tom Hardy) plays Cobb’s British associate, a type of Special Forces character who provides a lot of the action. With epic dream sequences that blend seamlessly into the proposed reality, it’s a movie that will hold anyone’s attention, not because it’s a ‘blink, and you’ll miss it’ movie, but because it’s as original and inspiring as any great movie out there.
Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road is the fourth installment of the Australian, post-apocalyptic, action movie franchise. Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy) joins forces with a rebellious Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a lieutenant in Immortan Joe’s (Hugh Keays-Byrne) wasteland army. Furiosa’s plan is to rescue Joe’s five wives, but in doing so she unleashes the whole force of the wasteland ruler. Is Max mad enough to risk it all and help them, in what will be the most bloodthirsty road battle of them all?
Directed, produced and co-written by George Miller, the legendary visionary of the Mad Max franchise, sees him revisit the world he created with a fresh and modern eye. With little use of CGI, most of the movie uses real stunts and explosions, giving the action an authentic and brutal feel. Hardy walks perfectly well in Gibson’s footsteps as Max, the drifter that fights himself to do the right thing and hates any praise for the good he does. Along with its sibling, Mad Max: The Road Warrior, it’s regarded as one of the greatest action movies ever made, and one of Hardy’s most exciting and spectacular.
