Tom Hardy channeled Woody Allen for his performance in Venom

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Tom Hardy is no stranger to changing his voice or hiding his face for a role, and that includes for the upcoming comic book movie VENOM. The chameleonic actor recently spoke with Esquire for a massive profile and revealed who he drew inspiration from when portraying Eddie Brock in the movie, and if you never thought in a million years an actor would channel the likes of Woody Allen for a role like this, prepare to be proven wrong.

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The actor revealed that when he read the script for the movie he thought of three people who he believed Brock – a journalist infected with a unique, body-altering parasite – had a lot in common with, including the veteran filmmaker/actor.

 “Woody Allen’s tortured neurosis and all the humor that can come from that,”  Hardy said. "Conor McGregor—the überviolence but not all the talking. And Redman—out of control, living rent-free in his head.”

When you watch the last two trailers for the movie you can see some of those influences breaking through. In the second trailer, the one more focused on Brock than the massive, black creature he turns into, you can see the tougher, McGregor sides shining through. And then there's the panicky, jittery Allen nature when he becomes infected and starts demonstrating his powers by protruding black, I wanna say, limbs? But, of course, these are not the kind of influences you go around sharing, lest you want the folks up top to scratch their heads.

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“You don’t say shit like that to the studio,” Hardy said.

You can catch Hardy and his Allen/McGregor/Redman-inspired performance in VENOM on October 5.