Tom Hardy has been fielding comparisons to Marlon Brando since his launch onto the acting scene, not just for his chameleon-like craftsmanship, but for his unique approach to characterization. In the upcoming Jeff Nichols crime saga “The Bikeriders,” this comparison is cemented in cinema lore as his character, Johnny, finds inspiration while watching Brando’s performance as gang leader Johnny Strabler in “The Wild One.” Speaking to Fandango for a recent interview, Hardy said this made it a lot easier for him to draw on Brando for his own performance, but that it needed to go deeper than mimicry.
“It was very important to Jeff [Nichols] that he was focused on that moment,” Hardy said of his character watching Brando on the big screen. “So it would be foolish to not connect the dots that that was somehow an undertow, but certainly that this was a person imitating something that had come from that, that it was important, but then also Johnny’s a real guy in real life as well, so it wouldn’t be right to just parody Marlon Brando.”
Hardy is perhaps most well-known for his unique vocal work, drawing inspiration, again, from Brando, but also voices he’s heard throughout his life and even cartoons. In discussing who he drew on for Johnny, he said, “Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny — I do like to play with accents because I think some people are very phonetically sensitive about accents, like they have to be really specific, and I get that 100%, but I also think that there’s a leeway in transition like in when you’re trying to create a character. It’s not just the voice, it’s the way someone moves, it’s the way that they look, the way that they infer, the way that their face moves, their shadow moves, their ticks, the walk, everything is connected.”
In relation to Brando’s more eccentric habits on and off set, Hardy said he doesn’t really feel a kinship in that area.
“I think the good part of the the gig is to turn it on, then switch it off immediately,” he said to Fandango. “And if you can’t, I get it if you’re having a tough day, I get it if your nerves are there, I totally get it. Sometimes we have to really focus and knuckle down because it’s intimidating or there’s a lot of money at stake or you just can’t get there, that’s fine to be quiet. And I’m respectful of other people that need that, but I don’t need it.”
