Tom Hardy’s 5 Best Performances

His accolades include 1 Oscar nomination, 1 BAFTA win and 1 BAFTA TV nomination

Tom Hardy has grown to become a hard man of the 21st century. Whether he’s playing a real life gangster or a comic book menace, you can be sure to find the grizzled brit on top form.

The question is, which of his performances should be considered his best? We at ScreenHeads have put together our five favourites. Have a look through and see if you agree!

5. Eames in Inception (2010)

Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending epic brought together an ensemble of impressive cast members, with Hardy lucky enough to be included. Hardy portrays Eames, an associate of Leonardo DiCaprio’s Cobb. His main job on the mind heist is as forger. In simpler terms, he can impersonate people whilst in someone’s mind by means of gaining information.

Hardy plays the swerve individual quite well, and even has some of the best lines in the film. We also can’t miss out mention of his continuous back and forth of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s Arthur.

This is Hardy’s first collaboration with Nolan before going on to feature in a number of the director’s other projects, one of which we will mention later.

4. Eddie Brock/Venom in Venom (2018)

Hardy’s second time getting involved in the comic book world. Directed by Ruben Fleischer and adapting the famous Spider-Man villain, the actor portrays journalist Eddie Brock, who happens to come into contact with an alien symbiote named Venom. From there, the duo form an unwanted partnership in order to survive whilst taking on the villainous Carlton Drake and menacing symbiote Riot.

Hardy takes on the dual roles of both Brock and Venom, and does a good job differentiating between the two. His portrayal of Brock is fairly grounded and his Venom can be seen as both dark and also funny at times.

The actor recorded his lines for Venom during pre-production, then wearing an earpiece on set for when Brock was communicating with the symbiote. This made for an easier illusion of an organic conversion.

3. Bane in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Now for Hardy’s first dance with the comic book genre. In his second collaboration with Christopher Nolan, Hardy portrays Bane, a mercenary bent on destroying Gotham City, with only Christian Bale’s Dark Knight able to stand in his way.

Hardy does a good job performing in this role. With his voice and eyes doing most of the work, he creates a formidable foe for this universe’s take on Batman and acts as a brilliant final villain for the Dark Knight trilogy.

Hardy bulked up 30 pounds for this role, and also studied various fighting styles for the battle sequences.

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2. Charles Bronson in Bronson (2008)

Most definitely a stand out performance for this actor. Hardy portrays one of Britains most violent criminals, Michael Peterson, who from 1987 was known as Charles Bronson, named after the actor. The film chronicles his life as a criminal and life in prison, including some of the antics he got up to whilst banged up.

Hardy clearly had a lot of fun with this one. From his character’s monologue’s breaking the fourth wall, to his numerous actions in prison, Hardy is able to make us laugh or be fearful at the flick of a switch.

Action star Jason Statham was originally set to portray Bronson. However, scheduling conflicts got in the way, which paced the way for Hardy to step into the role.

1. Ronnie & Reggie Kray in Legend (2015)

At number one, we have yet another dual role for the actor. Legend features Hardy as twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray, gangsters who were notorious in the 1950s and 60s. The film exaggerates the swarve yet hardened personality of Reggie, whilst also double down in the unhinged and anger-filled Ronnie.

No CGI needed for this one. With just a case of make-up, Hardy is able to pull off this duality perfectly and works to give us an amazing take on the identical twins of The Krays. That confrontation scene between the two just can’t be faulted.

Hardy had 35 days shooting in which he portrayed the two brothers in the same day. He would film as the brother who had the most dialogue that day first, then head back to hair and make-up to be done up as the other brother to finish the other side of the scene(s).

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