Tom Hardy has explained the thinking behind his unconventional accent in The Bikeriders.
The London-born actor, 46, stars in the new film from Midnight Special director Jeff Nichols as the leader of a lawless motorcycle gang. Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist and Norman Reedus also appear in the film.
Speaking to Variety, Hardy said he wanted his performance to play against expectations.
“You look straight away at a biker movie and think, ‘Oh, it’s leather. It’s sexy. The music’s great. The hair’s great. The obvious choice is to play to all of these.’ So the obvious choice for somebody like me is to go to the counterpoint of all those. This guy is a tragic clown,” said the Venom star.
He added: “Where’s the pathetic element? Where’s the wretch? Where’s the embarrassing moments? Where’s the weaknesses? I need to flesh this guy out. Why is the voice a little bit creepy? Why is it a little like Bugs Bunny? What can we imbue this stud with that’s so un-studly that I can identify with it? Because I’m not that!”
Hardy went on to say that he’s “not sure that I did nail” the Midwest accent, but that he wasn’t concerned with simply accurately replicating a dialect.
“What’s important to me is that if you’re doing something as an actor, if you’re going to commit, then make the effort to fully commit, even if you fail,” said Hardy. “It doesn’t matter. I’d rather go out swinging, trying something to make the effort, than not make the effort at all, because there doesn’t seem to be any point in playing safe.”
Hardy has previously been noted for his idiosyncratic and sometimes hard-to-understand accents in films like Lawless, The Dark Knight Rises and The Revenant.
“One of the things that I hold myself to, as a principle, is that you’ve got to make an effort to create a vocal silhouette, as well as the physical silhouette,” said Hardy. “Accent work is not about phonetics or being accurate, to me. It’s about conjuring an atmosphere from a place which is authentic.”
“One hundred per cent, Alfie will definitely make an appearance, but I don’t know when,” he said. “And I don’t even know if he will, that’s just me punting.”
