Beyond Venom: 10 Tom Hardy performances you don’t want to miss

A star-making role for Hardy, and another role that trades on his imposing physicality. Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson sees Hardy take the lead role as notorious British criminal Charles Bronson. It’s a film that’s at turns psychedelic and at others gory and disturbing. Hardy gives it his all, and seems ready to jump straight out the screen to snap your neck in the film’s many straight-to-camera shots.

A more reserved role for Hardy, but perhaps his most demanding, with Locke being a one-man show, taking place entirely on a car ride. Here Hardy plays a construction manager wrestling with the consequences of a one-night stand, with the layers of his dilemma revealed only through phone calls he makes during his drive. It sounds slow, but Hardy is a gripping watch, offering a complex character study in a highly-restrictive set up.

Hardy’s turn as the back-breaking terrorist Bane in Dark Knight Rises came under fire when first released. Hardy’s penchant for giving his characters unusual voices ran headfirst into Bane’s breathing apparatus, making his lines very difficult to understand and forcing a remix of the audio early into the film’s theatrical run. History’s been kind to Bane though, with his zealotry and physicality a refreshing Batman foil for following Heath Ledger’s wiry and anarchistic Joker.

A gruelling desert shoot. A recast main character. Inter-cast rivalries and death defying stunts. That Fury Road ever managed to get made is one thing — that it turned out to be one of the best action films of all time is incredible. Hardy’s Max grounds the film, saying more with a wide-eyed stare, shifting glance or gurning grimace than the few lines he reads ever could. Tom Hardy’s finest hour? It gets our vote.

If his love of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wasn’t enough, let Warrior act as a reminder to never start a fight with Tom Hardy. He gives a convincingly handy performance as Tommy Conlon, a mixed martial arts fighter on a collision course with his estranged brother. Its fight choreography is bone crunching real, but the emotional interplay between Hardy and his onscreen brother Joel Edgerton are what makes Warrior truly special.

Sure, it glamourizes the nasty and unglamorous life of two of Britain’s dirtiest criminals, the Kray twins. But you can’t argue against the masterful work Hardy does playing against himself as both Reggie and Ronnie Kray. On the one hand, you’ve got Bond-like charm from Hardy as Reggie, and on the other unpredictable, powder-keg violence as Ronnie. Both were bastards in their day, but Hardy is mesmerising as both, too.

As far as ensemble casts go, Peaky Blinders has some heavyweight talent spread across its series. That Tom Hardy can turn up a chunk into series two and steal the limelight from Oscar-winning Cillian Murphy speaks to his addictive on screen talents. Here Hardy plays mob boss Alfie Solomons, channelling a little of an earlier Hardy role as Bill Sykes in a TV adaptation of Oliver Twist.

The one film on this list where Hardy plays a supporting role, he makes a memorable foil for Leonardo DiCaprio in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s gruelling The Revenant. His frontiersman John Fitzgerald has a bit of a wild accent, but his every treacherous move is made 100% believable by a twitchy, paranoid Hardy performance.

The most recent entry on our list, Hardy is the perfect fit for bruising biker gang leader Johnny. Quietly imposing, Hardy’s chain-smoking anti-hero is the coolest thing on two wheels since Brando rolled out with the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club in The Wild One.

Let us not forget Hardy’s memorable appearance on BBC kids show Jackanory, the long-running storytime show for pre-schoolers. Showing his sensitive side, Hardy tells the story of a poor little cactus called Felipe who just wants a hug. Let it never be said that Hardy hasn’t got range!