14 DAY TRIAL // British actor Tom Hardy has, according to some, one of the toughest jobs in the world: make a better villain for Batman than Heath Ledger and his Joker. Luckily, Hardy doesn’t necessarily see it that way, he reveals in a brand new interview.
Shortly after dozens of images from the Pittsburgh set of Chris Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises,” his third and last Batman film, leaked, Hardy is sitting down with Total Film to speak of his role in the threequel.
Fans know that he’s playing Bane, the massive and fierce villain also known as “the man who broke the Bat,” but Hardy isn’t feeling any pressure to rise to certain standards.
One explanation for that is also that he’s confident in Nolan’s writing and directing: he out of all people can deliver a great film that will not disappoint anybody.
This is precisely why he jumped at Nolan’s offer the moment it was presented to him.
“Hang on a minute. You’re asking me to come round the world with you in a Batman movie, playing a villain, and the only downside to it is I have to wear a mask? Hmmm, let me think. I’ll get back to you… No, I’m [expletive]-ing there, man! Anything you need’,” Hardy says of his initial reaction at Nolan’s phone call.
“All I can say is that Chris has a plan up his sleeve that’s not at all disappointing. And that is a definite choice that’s watertight in every respect,” he says of what fans should expect from his character.
Nolan’s Bane (as played by Hardy) will be different, the actor promises. For the time being, he’s doing his best to make the character as believable as possible, while also having fun with it.
“It’s the same with Mad Max and Mel Gibson. I’m not here to engage in a competition with their talent. It’s to play the character that I’ve been given,” he says of comparisons with previous Banes.
“Any time you put something over your face, you’re going to adopt a personality and a physicality that has nothing to do with acting. It allows a performance to be free,” Hardy adds of the villain’s mask.