Tom Hardy talks playing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises

Tom Hardy has spoken exclusively to Total Film about his role as Bane in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises .

We recently sat down for a chat with the rising star (as certified by Bafta), and couldn’t resist asking him about his role in the epic Bat-threequel.

He told us that Nolan called him up while he was shooting This Means War , to ask if he’d be happy playing the musclebound, mask-wearing villain in Rises :

‘Hang on a minute. You’re asking me to come round the world with you in a Batman movie, playing a villain, and the only downside to it is I have to wear a mask? Hmmm, let me think. I’ll get back to you… No, I’m fucking there, man! Anything you need.’”

While Nolan’s take on Bane is likely to be worlds away from any earlier screen incarnations of the character (a necessity to ensure he fits in with the ‘reality-based’ Gotham), he’s still best known as ‘The Man Who Broke The Bat’; so will Bats suffer any spinal injuries here?

Hardy responded coyly: “Mmmmm… Good lead-in, but all I can say is that Chris has a plan up his sleeve that’s not at all disappointing. And that is a definite choice that’s watertight in every respect.

“I think Bane’s fucking cool so I’m really excited to play him. It’s not the guy in Joel Schumacher’s film, but it shouldn’t disappoint fanboys…”

So, does he feel any pressure living up to Heath Ledger’s portrayal as one Batman’s arch-nemeses? “No, none at all,” he insisted. “Brilliant actor, brilliant work – that’s it. I’ve got a job to do.

“It’s the same with Mad Max and Mel Gibson. I’m not here to engage in a competition with their talent. It’s to play the character that I’ve been given.”

And he’s not bothered about wearing a mask either: “Any time you put something over your face, you’re going to adopt a personality and a physicality that has nothing to do with acting. It allows a performance to be free.”

For more from Tom Hardy, get the new issue of Total Film Magazine, which hits newsstands on Thursday 4 August 2011.

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