Tom Hardy’s career has been a matter of personal pride for the connoisseurs of film. He is an artist who deals in brilliant brushstrokes, unfaltering in his confidence and unapologetic in his method. The career of the British actor has been marked by singularly great works that are inherently unique in their presentation, simply by his presence. One of those greats is contained within the work of Christopher Nolan, i.e. the Dark Knight trilogy.
The Dark Knight Rises & Tom Hardy’s Role In It
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises was perhaps one of the most influential comic book adaptations of Batman’s narrative. It had political intrigue, otherworldly action, and the real tragedy of an aging and battered-down superhero. And it had Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Gary Oldman, and Tom Hardy. The powerhouse of Nolan’s crew and cast made the film an edifice of pure excellence, magnified only by the composition of Hans Zimmer.
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Part of an already outstanding cast and surrounded by larger-than-life concepts, Tom Hardy stood as a central figure to the unfolding story all around him. His role had a mythical allure to it and Hardy emanated every drop of mystery and death in his portrayal of Bane. But one of the key aspects was the anti-hero’s physicality. Tom Hardy’s transformation was not enviable simply because it was terror-inducing. So much so that months, even years later when people find the actor on the street, they claim they expected him to be bigger.
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Tom Hardy Recalls Living in Bane’s Disappointing Shadow
During the press tour of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe movie, Venom, Tom Hardy recalled his time in the wake of his Bane portrayal in Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises. The actor claimed,
“People would pull up on their motorbikes and lift their lids and go, ‘I always thought you were bigger mate’. Nah man, I was just bald and slightly porky. I was really overweight actually. I ate a lot… It took 3 to 4 months of training and lifting and eating lots of pizza and it wasn’t great for my heart. [Did you feel good?] Not really, no. But that’s not the point is it? The point is to look as big as possible.”
Also read: 5 Ways Bane, Not Joker, Is Batman’s Ultimate Nemesis
The actor could remember the time he spent going through that transformation and the terror of subjecting his body to the extreme weight and calories combined. According to reports, in addition to putting on weight for films like Bronson, Hardy put on 30lbs to mold himself into the role of Bane.
Source: YouTube/ Luke Sherran
