Quote of the Day

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There was a screening of Nicolas Winding Refn's film Bronson in Los Angeles last week with Refn there to talk about the film and The Playlist shared some of the most interesting tid-bits over here - of course it's the names that were considered before Tom Hardy for the leading role that are the most interesting; Refn says that he really wanted the movie to star Jason Statham but Statham said no - kind of a "Hell no" is what it actually sounds like and naturally my brain is blaming his reaction of the copious full-frontal nudity since that's the way my brain works. Even if there's no truth to that (and hell maybe Refn wouldn't have insisted on all the dick if the movie had starred Statham; it probably would've been a very different movie) it is the narrative I've decided upon, truth be damned. Refn says that Guy Pearce also passed on the role.

But it's the part where Refn talks about Tom Hardy that I found really interesting; it's long, but reading between the lines it sounds like Hardy is indeed the huge pain in the ass that everybody seems to think; everything Refn says sounds qualified with the implication of "GOD HE'S SO DIFFICULT." Not that the difficulty's not worth it, from where I'm standing, and it sounds like Refn ultimately agrees.

"I had met Tom Hardy earlier that year because he was like an up-and-coming actor. I don’t drink alcohol and he was an ex-alcoholic, and we met at a wine bar in London which is the worst place you could meet in. And I don’t think we very much liked each other, so that was that. I looked around and then at the end when I couldn’t find anyone, the casting director said, “You should really meet with Tom again, I’m telling you he is it.” I was very stupid and arrogant and reluctant, but in the end, there were no real choices that I had that I was happy with. So we met again in a much more just “me and him” situation, and right away I saw my guy. So he got the part, and I must say I think he’s absolutely amazing in the movie. 

Tom Hardy is a fantastic stage actor and a lot of it was about his stage performance. He’s a wonderful comedian. He’s very much a chameleon. He had oddly been obsessive about Charlie Bronson and knew him and was studying him because they were trying to make the movie earlier on with someone else and he was gonna play Bronson back then. But when I decided to make it, I wanted Jason Statham. So I had a different take on it [and that's] what you end up seeing. But to do that, we needed someone like Tom to pull it off. And that’s what he does and he’s probably one of the greatest living actors nowadays. 

Tom is a fearless actor. And he’s the kind of actor that if he trusts you, he’ll give you his heart and you can run with that. But you must make sure he feels secure —like any good actor, they need to feel that you have their back. And he’s willing to take off his clothes and put himself in black shoe polish. That takes a lot to do that and he did, because he’s a very, very unique talent. "

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Speaking of Tom Hardy being a pain in the ass (and blessing him for it) remember how there was that rumor that Tom had punched Alejandro González Iñárritu on the set of The Revenant recently? Well I'd never heard the story, told by Tom himself, of a similar situation on one of his earlier movies The Reckoning, involving Paul Bettany -- from a French issue of Premiere magazine here's Tom chatting with his other co-star on that film, Vincent Cassel (via):

Vincent: You’ll be brilliant in Mad Max. Mel Gibson can go to hell. (laughs) Are you allowed to talk about under which circumstances we met and how that anecdote involves Paul Bettany during the filming of The Reckoning?
Tom: Go ahead! Don’t be afraid to incriminate me! It was my first part in a feature film, actually. Before, I’d only done the tv show Band of Brothers.
Vincent: So, would you advise someone who’s shooting their first movie, to take a swing at the lead actor because he’s saying bad things about you?
Tom: I didn’t hit him, I slapped him. I didn’t want to leave a mark on his face.
Vincent: Good thinking. (laughs)