Tom Hardy’s filmography is such that it barely requires any speculation and yet always manages to surprise and delight. The British actor is famous for portraying troubled characters who are often morally dubious and yet heroic in the final act. The niche genre that the Inception actor has carved out for himself in Hollywood not only makes him one of the best of this generation but also severely underappreciated for his otherwise selective film choices.
Tom Hardy’s Limited Roles and Their Impact
Tom Hardy has a keen sense of what roles favor him the best and what he can bring out in front of the director’s lens. Over the years, the actor bagged fine projects that may not be many in number but are refined enough to be enjoyed several times over. And as such, quality over quantity becomes the defining motto of what the actor has brought to the masses.
Also read: Venom: 5 Reasons Why Tom Hardy Is The Best Eddie Brock
Zak Eames, i.e. Hardy’s role in Inception (2010) is infamously based on his acute observation of the director Christopher Nolan himself. Later, his reunion with the director on the set of The Dark Knight Rises (2012) proved a turning point in cinematic history. The actor went on to reveal the drastic and unhealthy physical transformation that he had undergone to mold into the profile of Bane, and what a performance it was to parallel and often overshadow even Christian Bale‘s onscreen presence.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) dragged out the disturbing chaos and the distinct mastery of Tom Hardy to dominate his prescribed role even with him bound and gagged in front of a raging truck blazing through a wasteland populated by raving barbaric savages.
Tom Hardy’s Contribution to Marvel & What He Got Paid
Tom Hardy’s sophisticated and famously illegible acting seemed an unlikely fit for a Marvel appearance, let alone an antiheroic sideshow like that of Venom. But yet again the actor defied understanding and logic to become what was asked of him. His over-the-top caricature-like acting would have fallen short of grace in the hands of any other, but Hardy somehow made the Eddie Brock x Venom bromance one to be shipped canonically by Marvel and Spider-Man fans.
Following the immensely enjoyable success of Venom (2018), Hardy earned $7 million for his role as the journalist and alien symbiote host. The follow-up sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), although not as widely acclaimed as its predecessor, earned him somewhere between $17-20 million for his reprisal of the role of Eddie Brock aka Venom in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe.
Source: Variety
