“I really think about acting in two different parts. There’s convincing and not convincing acting.” – Tom Hardy
Tom Hardy certainly likes variety in his work. Appearances on both the big and small screens have seen him playing opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, and Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road, to taking on the iconic role of Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist. The actor also likes a challenge; such as playing both the infamous Kray twins, in the 2015 movie, Legend. Right now, Hardy is gracing our small screens once more in Taboo, the acclaimed British thriller drama which was produced by Ridley Scott. Hardy takes on the central role, but also serves as Executive Producer alongside Scott, and co-creator with his father, Edward Hardy, and Stephen Knight.
Hardy plays James Delaney, who returns to England in 1814, after being presumed dead. His time in Africa has seen him become a dark, haunted man, hell bent on seeking revenge on The East India Trading Company. He arrives in England with a sack load of diamonds, to find his father dead and his sister about to inherit everything. Of course, his arrival changes all that, and the dark, brooding drama unfolds from there. The show has drawn favorable reviews in the U.K., where it airs on the BBC, and it will play on FX in the U.S. from January 10.
Despite being set in the past, Taboo feels very true to life; people double crossing, cheating, and generally being cruel to other in order to succeed in life. While many have commented on the large amount of cursing, that was actually true to life back then, too. For Hardy, who has experience of period dramas, acting in Taboo didn’t seem to present all that much of a challenge, most likely because the show had been nine years in the making, with Hardy having continual discussions with his dad over how his character should be.
“I really think about acting in two different parts. There’s convincing and not convincing acting. Convincing acting is about hustle and the flow of narrative of what do I want and what am I going to do in order to get it, and the energy transition between two actors or more. And then there’s camouflage, the creation of silhouette and disguise, whether you use putty nose or whether you’re slightly subtler.”
And what did he do to prepare for playing Delaney? Nothing. I’d spent nine years talking about him. I did maybe 5 percent acting on the show, most of it was running around, working with heads of department, marketing. I didn’t have time to do any acting. The hat helps and the scars.”
So there you have it; to play a convincing character, all you need is a hat and some scars!
Via The Telegraph
