Let Tom Hardy do his silly voices!

The first dialogue in the very first trailer forThe Bikers made it clear that lead actor Tom Hardy was not prepared to give up his penchant for silly voices just for this “grounded” feature. “I’ve been thinking,” says Hardy as Johnny in that very characteristic tone, “I can’t run this club forever.” With these few words alone, Hardy sounds a bit like a Kennedy, the Meowth from the English dubbing of Pokemon. As he continues to talk about how “this is our family… you and me, kid,” Hardy’s voice takes on a slightly more authoritative, deeper quality. It also seems increasingly intriguingly out of step with the flashes of distinctly rural imagery that open the trailer. Rather than distracting, the dissonance captures the imagination.

Hardy has not opted for the broad Southern Trace Adkins accent that one might associate with a biker. He has gone in a more unexpected but no less distinctive direction. Given that this voice has been the driving force behind the entire marketing campaign for The Bikerspeople immediately had an opinion about Hardy’s voice. That’s understandable, considering the striking choices Hardy always makes for his characters’ voices. They’re so distinctive that they’re bound to not resonate with everyone. Some even see them as a mere gimmick. Me? I kind of worship them. Not every idiosyncratic voice Hardy uses is divine in nature, but he always mixes them into his cinematic exploits. You have to respect that.

Tom Hardy has been acting since the early 2000s, when he was considered the perfect choice for the role of young Patrick Stewart in Star Trek: Nemesis. In these early days of his career, he tried out some silly vocal flourishes. In Hardy’s early performances, however, perhaps because he was still trying to establish a stable acting career, he toned down his more indulgent vocal variations somewhat. In StartFor example, plays the role of Eames with only a slight variation of his natural voice. Eames’ soft voice is meant to convey confidence, but isn’t really a huge change from Hardy’s normal speaking style. In the American-set Warrior, on the other hand, London-born Hardy Tommy Riordan gave Conlon a typical Midwestern American accent. He didn’t even incorporate a specific region of America (Boston, California, East Texas, etc.) into his voice for Conlon.

However, Hardy increased his love of silly voices with his work in The Dark Knight rises. The role in a huge blockbuster sequel to one of the biggest films in history may have given Hardy the confidence to go all in. With a bigger audience than he would ever reach again in his career, it was time for Hardy to go wild. In the role of the muscular Bane, Hardy adopted a distinctively British, thoughtful voice. It was a voice not far from the voice of Maurice LaMarche for the Cat scratcher Butler and nothing that resembled Bane’s singing Batman Media. Hardy also brought a light-hearted touch to Bane’s delivery of lines like “of course!”, creating an intriguing dissonance to the man’s brutal actions.

That same summer, Hardy indulged in a deep Southern accent for his portrayal of one of the lead roles in the Southern crime drama Lawless. In the course of a cinema season, Hardy went from being a member of British high society to a voice that could have belonged to Travis Tritt’s father. Ironically, a new motif in Hardy’s career was unleashed the same year that he starred in the bleakly rated That means war with another generic American accent. From now on, Hardy would lend a very memorable voice to most of his roles. While Hardy opted for a more reserved voice in the 2014 Brooklyn crime drama The case2015 Mad Max: Fury Road saw Hardy adopt a gravelly voice befitting a man moving through the apocalyptic ruins of Earth.

Hardy’s Max Rockatansky doesn’t talk much in Fury RoadThe few words he utters suggest that the lack of water has damaged his vocal cords. His Oscar-nominated performance in the western The Revenantduring which Hardy showed off a voice reminiscent of Jeff Bridges’ standard vocals. These 2015 productions cemented Hardy’s commitment to bombastic vocals, and he had no plans to stop anytime soon. Just look at his various headlining performances. Poison Films in which he plays a dual role as the human Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote bonded to him. For Brock, Hardy speaks each line in a weasel-like, slightly nasal tone. In contrast, the symbiote’s voices are deep and menacing, which is intended to provide a humorous contrast to the otherworldly being’s more mundane nutritional needs.

Hardy delivers lines like “look at you!” in a thick southern accent that sounds like a precursor to the voice of future Rian Johnson protagonist Benoit Blanc! Not all of these voices lead to anything extraordinary (I’m personally rather ambivalent about the Poison films than most queer film geeks), however, they usually show an impressive level of commitment on Hardy’s part to his performances. This guy is not interested in repeating himself by giving the same voice to Bane and Eddie Brock. He wants to live up to his roles in projects like Lawless And LegendThis level of dedication is deeply admirable.

This quality of Hardy also gives his performances something akin to energy and personality. His big, slurring, smart-ass voice for Capone may not work for everyone, but the film is hard-hitting and not at all what any studio boss would want to see. These qualities are especially admirable given the dark era for leading men in which Hardy emerged. In the first half of the 2010s, Hollywood foisted tons of white guys from the UK and Australia on an unsuspecting public. Aaron Taylor-Johnson/Max Irons/Brenton Thwaites/Jai Courtney/Liam Hemsworth/Alex Pettyfer (among so many others) all had the same physique, the same personality, and a modicum of charisma. Despite being hailed as new movie stars by the major Hollywood studios, few of them demonstrated anything that made an impression on moviegoers. They were confident in everything from their looks to their voices to the films they starred in.

While Alex Pettyfer’s star performances in the early 2010s all blend into one another, Capone And Mad Max: Fury Road Performances are distinctly different creatures. In an era of buttoned-up guys trying to recapture Taylor Lautner’s success with light in a bottle, here was Hardy, a dirty boy with a deeply malleable vocal apparatus. While Charlie Hunnam’s flat American accent became a punchline in the 2010s, Hardy was busy reproducing even deleted war of stars Scenes with deeply memorable vocal flourishes. The combination of the death of the movie star and a truly dismal crop of wannabe icons ensured that the 2010s were a hopeless era for potentially new iconic leading men. Tom Hardy’s voices would stand out in any era. But in the 2010s, he was balm for the soul, a man whose vocal delivery was more in line with Christopher Walken and Nicolas Cage than Scott Eastwood.

The Bikers is ready to continue this fascination with Hardy. No doubt this voice will inspire some funny memes and punchlines on social media. However, it is also likely that this feature will continue Hardy’s streak of standing out more compared to the leading men of the early 2010s. For some, Hardy’s voices may be too annoying. I say let the man do his silly voices. Give me something to talk about, good or bad, instead of leaving me bored to death in the cinema. Voices like Capone’s voice choice for Capone inspire the kind of sustained entertainment that most performances dream of!