Tom Hardy’s critical scene with the bikers actually comes from the book, says director

Tom Hardy’s critical The Bikers The scene in which Johnny is set on the path to becoming a biker by watching Marlon Brando is taken directly from the book that inspired the film. Danny Lyons’ 1968 photo book of the same name, a portrait of the lives of Chicago-area bikers, was the inspiration for Jeff Nichols’ latest film, in which Hardy plays a family man who becomes the leader of a biker gang. A key moment in the film is Hardy’s Cyclists Character observes Brandos The wildand found his calling as a rebel of the open road.

Johnny’s inspiration from Brando’s legendary 1953 biker film was not Nichols’ invention, but came directly from Lyons’ book, as Nichols recently explained in an interview with. Little white lies. The writer/director recalls how difficult it was to adapt this scene from the book when trying to adapt it into “not just an inciting moment” for Hardy’s character, but also “A decisive moment” as it ties into a key element of the overall story. Read what Nichols explains below:

We’ve all done that. That was actually taken from the book. There’s a photo of the real Johnny, a kind of family album of the club. And one of the pages was a TV Guide with Marlon Brando on it. So that actually happened. I think it was kind of up to me to then turn that into not just a triggering moment for the character, but a defining moment because… And I think Tom certainly embraced that with his voice and everything else, but he’s just playing the role. He’s just acting like Brando, and that catches up with him in a very dangerous way. He’s not really part of that world. He’s got a house and a family and daughters, and deep down he knows he’s not really the guy on the screen.

How Brando’s “The Wild One” inspired Hardy’s “Johnny” – and others

1953s The wild starred the legendary Brando as Johnny Strabler, a leather-clad rebel and leader of the seditious Black Rebels Motorcycle Club. Brando’s performance as the original outlaw biker, a casually rule-breaking, almost nihilistic character, was so powerful that the entire biker film genre in general largely arose from his portrayal, and in particular from the iconic scene in which, in response to the question “What are you rebelling against?“, he replies coolly.What you have?”

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Brando’s coolness had a great influence on the real person who inspired Hardy’s Johnny in The Bikersas the scrapbook picture mentioned by Nichols proves. But Hardy himself was inspired by Brando and delivered a performance reminiscent of Johnny Strabler and his era-defining look and attitude. Hardy is in good company, because Brando’s Wild The performance also inspired everyone from Elvis Presley, who copied aspects of Brando’s look, to David Lynch, who paid tribute to Brando with Michael Cera’s hilarious Twin Peaks Figure Wally Brando.

The Bikers serves as a reminder of how powerful and influential Brando’s Wild The first performance took place in the 1950s and the decades that followed. Hardy’s own performance is a tribute to Brando, one of his direct acting role models. Nichols makes no secret of where Hardy’s performance comes from and gives The Bikers’ Johnny took direct inspiration from Brando, giving Hardy the opportunity to put his own Brando-like spin on it.

Source: Little White Lies

The Bikers

The Bikeriders tells the story of the Vandals, a motorcycle club in the Midwest in the 1960s. From the perspective of Kathy, played by Jodie Comer, the film shows the club’s evolution from a group of local misfits to a dangerous gang.

director

Jeff Nichols

Release date

21 June 2024

Authors

Jeff Nichols

Duration

116 minutes

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