Tom Hardy reveals the unlikely comedic side to his killer character in Guy Ritchie's 'horribly violent' new series MobLand

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Tom Hardy has revealed the unlikely comedic side to his killer character Harry Da Souza in Guy Ritchie 's 'horribly violent' new series MobLand.
In the ten-part Paramount+ drama the actor, 47, plays the fixer to Pierce Brosnan 's crime boss Conrad Harrigan and wife Maeve, played by Dame Helen Mirren.
When not killing gangsters, Harry is trying to salvage his marriage and avoid couples' therapy with his wife Jan (Downton Abbey 's Joanne Froggatt).
Tom told Radio Times: 'He's a dad, he has a partner and kills people, the compartmentalisation is what makes him fascinating because nothing spills into other compartments'.
In one scene Harry threatens a man in hopistal and quips: 'I, or possibly one of my associates, depending on my availability, will find you'.
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Speaking about the unlikely comedy in the show, he said: 'I think making something very pedestrian or civilised can turn the tone of a scene into something with an element of comedy'.
The action star, whose father Chips Hardy, 75, with whom he co-created BBC series Taboo, won numerous award for writing for Irish comedian Dave Allen, was then asked if he was usually considered for straight forward comedic roles.
'The scripts that I get are fairly funny but tend to often be connected to really dark matter, Which others might find unpalatable but I find absolutely normal,' before adding: 'There's a wicked humour in sitting in pain.'
Tom was then quick to shut down suggestions that the series, which co-star Brosnan, 72, described as 'twisted', glamourised violence.
'It's not glamorous, it's horrible, Violence and cruelty has existed in literature and theatre from the Iliad and the Odyssey, to the Bible and Dante's Inferno.
'I think when it comes to art, nothing is really sacred – it's a safe place to play and evoke conversation. We watch in order to better understand the human condition'.
It comes after Tom opened up about his various health woes in a candid chat with Esquire magazine.
He posed for a striking photoshoot to accompany the interview, which saw him share the cover with his French bulldog Blue.
During the interview, he opened up about various surgeries he's undergone over the years and the way he's trying to build his strength up - but did admit one unhealthy habit - he vapes.
Tom told the interviewer: 'I've had two knee surgeries now, my disc's herniated in my back, I've got sciatica as well.
'And I have that… is it plantar fasciitis? [inflammation of foot tissue]. Where did that come from? And why? Why?! And I pulled my tendon in my hip as well. It's like, it's all falling to bits now, and it's not going to get better. Unless you do all the stem cells...
'This is the biopsy of where we're at: two vapes, somebody else's clothes, and a hotel room that neither of us feels comfortable in.'
Tom previously revealed that he needed to undergo surgery on his knee as a result of injuries sustained from filming stunts and practising jiu-jitsu.
Later in the interview, Tom was described by the interviewer as stopping mid-answer to 'wheeze' and then 'suck' on the vape before continuing.
The actor has previously been spotted vaping while filming Guy Ritchie's The Fixer earlier this year.
The Peaky Blinders star also revealed that he had taken Sudafed that day to fight dizziness, before suggesting that he had been losing his hair, his teeth were loose and his knees were getting weaker.