Tom Hardy interviewed by GQ Brazil! (I know there are at least two Portuguese speaking fans out there, please do help and correct the translation! :)) I for one would LOVE to see him do more comedy (just look at this, if you don’t think he’s capable). And I would have loved to see The Other (written with Brett C Leonard, I believe).
“What I like about Brazil? Jiu Jitsu and Capoeira! It’s great! “ the British actor Tom Hardy, 34 years, says to GQ Brazil, before lighting a cigarette. “Brazilian women aren’t half bad either…”, he adds after the first puff. Today, he’d make any woman shiver with such a comment - and for more than one reason. It is just Bane the great villain of The Dark Knight Rises saying that he “likes” Brazilians. Will he set off a device and sink the sidewalk of Ipanema?
“Bane is brutal. He’s a big guy and cynical. His style is heavy and even nasty. He’s not just interested in fighting, but in carnage. He’s horrible,” says Hardy, without the harsh voice of the character - for our comfort. Women may shiver, then, for other reasons. The actor has never visited the country, but his friend, French actor Vincent Cassel, has a house in Brazil and keeps inviting him. So maybe one day … If he arrives, there’s no way he will be recognised as Bane. Even with the mask over his mouth, his gaze …
It was a difficult mission to be the villain after Heath Ledger as the Joker in 2008. He does well, despite the size of its characters and the pacing of the film being different to others. “I know. It was a big responsibility. I thought about it much, but I knew I had a job to do and it was inspiring to have the opportunity to follow the work of Heath,” he explains. Baggage … Everything comes down to this and we’ll explain more soon.
Hardy is a strong name in Hollywood and is currently “eating at the edges.” He has a striking presence if the role is good and it is well directed. Back in 2002, he made the villain of the film franchise Star Trek, in the movie Nemesis. But it took almost 10 years to earn roles with the same emphasis, violence, like the most famous prisoner in the United Kingdom, Bronson (2008), or MMA fighter in Warrior (2011).
Way back in 2002, he was slight. Now, as Bane, he seems huge. “I’m not a big guy. This is the movies. ” OK, we believe it. But what slowed down his climb to success? Well … We know. The crack and alcohol. In England everyone knows his past and remember him in 2003 when he was found passed out in Soho in London after an overdose of crack. “I don’t have to look elsewhere to get a feel for some of the characters because I can draw from my own story. I was lucky not to have contracted HIV or hepatitis from those crazy days. But I stopped when I was 25 years old,” explains the actor without that veneer of those in Hollywood who need to prevent certain issues from coming to the table. He’s been clean for nine years.
In his conversation with GQ Brazil, Hardy seems slimmer than usual. He must have a the diet of a mesomorph who can increase or decrease his weight anytime he wants. The mini ponytail helps us to not be even a little afraid of the real life version of the villain Bane. He could work with a Brazilian director, in a good and realistic movie with violence, we think …
“Immediately if possible (laughs). I’ve seen ‘Bus 174’ and ‘City of Men’. These films reminded me a lot of the work style of the 70s. Very manly and energetic. It is an energy very similar to French productions and South African,” he says. “I like the passion of living that Brazil has. You have capoeira, dance and people. In fact I love capoeira, but I’m terrible at it,” he confesses. Hardy says he would like to make an old school movie in Brazil, a 60’s style of espionage. “James Bond in Brazil, perhaps! They already did, right? So I would do it again!” he says, remembering 007 Against the Death Rocket, shot in 1979 in Brazil. And yes, Tom Hardy is British, looks like a younger Daniel Craig and the franchise is notorious for choosing his actors when they are about to turn 40. It’s possible …
“The violent roles appeal to me,” he says. He does not quite know why, you might think it’s because of his passion and energy, for speaking his mind, for getting hurt and having to cross obstacles. “I’m not afraid of getting typecast in Hollywood. These are the characters that are offered to me at the moment, but of course I’d love to do something different, like a romantic comedy with Jennifer Aninston, you know,” he says. A recent film of this sort,This Means War With Reese Witherspoon, was only moderately successful.
“All my characters are funny in some way. Bronson had some humor. Handsome Bob in RocknRolla, and Eames in Inception too. And Max, the next Mad Max, will also need some respite. There won’t be jokes, but it’ll end up being funny because of the situation.”
Yes, there will be more of this in his curriculum, starting with the new Mad Max franchise, alongside Charlize Theron. He would like to do a role like Hugh Grant in About a Boy but honestly, we would like him to continue with the violence. “They’re not asking me for that right now, either, so I have to wait. They don’t know what I would do for free. The day they know … I’m looking for funny movies!” he he looks at his agent for agreement, in terms, as a hint. Of course he will not even give the ball to Hardy.
“I was writing a movie some time ago, called The Other, something totally different than I’ve done before. I was going to become a woman. I’m prepared to cut off my penis (laughs). Actually I was going to have a double with an incredible body and my head would be placed on it. But the project did not happen.” Thank God for the agents not offering certain jobs to certain actors - of course we only think it, since we ultimately don’t want to face someone who gains 12 pounds (of muscle) to interpret playing villains like Bane.
(Source: gq.globo.com)
