an open Letter to Tom Hardy

All my life, I wanted to be famous !

These are the first words I heard from you on the screen. The cinema hall was hardly filled, it was the first day of the release of Bronson directed by the prodigy dannois Nicolas Winding Refn. A first sentence like one of the first cheerleaders that you are going to have imposed throughout your film career, and it you give it to me from the front, on a black background, looking at me full in the eyes. An hour and a half later, at the end of the session, the cheek is still red, and I know that my fascination for you is installed for good. Of course, there is the beautiful world that is already installed in my small head but you, I gave you a place to share, such as the one granted to a member of the family. I already knew that I was going to follow you throughout your artistic journey in the image of the brother who comes to look back with pride on the work of his elder.

I thought I had discovered that day, a jewel that nobody knew, but in my naivety, I forgot that you didn’t arrive here by chance. In fact, you was already printed in my retina before I know it. The Fall of the falcon noir of Ridley Scott, band of Brothers, produced by steven Spielberg, RockN Rolla of Ritchie, already many of the leading names at your filmography, passages lightning more or less salient, but no one had ever operated your brute force of an actor, the one that will lead to the top of the pyramid. Because yes, today you seem to be without any real rival, on the strength of this great school in the uk that crushes everything in its path. The americans are grey mine at this time, only a Joaquin Phoenix or a Viggo Mortensen can claim to highly compete with your caste elite of Great Britain firmly held by B. Cumberbatch, I. Elba, T. Hiddleston, Mr. Fassbender, and the list goes on.

But where you expose your difference, it is in your authorship, artistic of course, with the “actors o actor” Gary Oldman. In addition to being great friends, you share a similarity in the choice of your career. Remarkable debut in the major (Mike Leigh and Stephen Frears for Oldman), a climb through the tv (Meantime of Leigh and The Firm ofAlan Clarke for Oldman, Brothers-in-arms,The Virgin Queen and Colditz for you), a strong attraction to the roles of compositions ( there it is useless to quote so your career is built on this talent), and finally, the roles of major villains. It is not for nothing that we love to gather in front of the camera (The Mole, The men without law and Child 44) as a passage to witness inter-generational. You are made of the same blood, that of the love of the game with a large J, that of the physical transformation and that of the spark in the eyes that share the largest. Because as Gary Oldman, there is a question of perspective in your game, it to be crazy, haunted, brutal, or extremist, it is well above of what could be a simple muscle for the role, which has now become the yardstick of performance for Hollywood. And not many people do resist in the face … That this is Christian Bale in The Dark Knight Rises, Joel Edgerton in Warrior, Chris Pine in Target or Shia Labeouf in lawless, you écrases any competition.

And then, finally, there is your voice, a pillar of your game transformation-the basis of your fantasy, the foundation of your composition. While cries and sighs loud in Bronson, metallic, precise, and became a cult for your incredible Bane, serious and dangerous for the big brother Bondurant lawless. But if it was just that … You seem to take great pleasure in the accents, american regional, Warrior, lawless and The Drop, welsh for Knight for Locke, Russian accent and rolling ” r ” for Child 44.

In short the full panoply that we ask all the actors, but at you as in your spiritual father, he has “this thing” in addition, the kind of thing that gives the mystery to the character, and that the public does not see. But as for me, I did not, and it brings me back so much more of you, so many little secrets that are exchanged in winks.

“You écrases any competition.”

Now, we could talk about your choices, risky, on the razor’s edge, away from your “comfort zone” and these choices could make you harm.

Resume the role of the villain in Batman after the terrible Joker ofHeath Ledger, there was enough to break, but you have exploded all expectations with a mask on the face, leaving only your keen eyes and the fluctuations in your voice to to print one of the greatest performances in the difficult category of the villains of Comics.

You could also go to drown in the huge cast ofInception , but you do cause, and you imposed your physical relaxation and humor to overcome a bunch of actors perhaps not the most inspired on the moment, I grant you.

And what about the movie Locke ! A shooting a week as a piece of theatre that you rejouais every night in ” one shot “, a character ensconced in his car who speaks only or almost, and made the choices that will change her life and that of his family, and you get out without a scratch, more worthy than ever, master of a partition that only few people have managed to just play.

You’ve even curled the ridiculous with the Target , and even then, predicted to grinding in good and due form, you can get it on you out of the carcass to give us a surprise and guilty pleasure.

In fact, it is what it is, you’re not human. I had a beautiful shake the hand of the Festival de Cannes when you had come to present Men without Law, behind your kindness, and your accessibility, you’re not real. You only exist in the movies, printed on the film, for my little selfish pleasure of cinephiles. Of course, I will be sharing on the tv, such as in the excellent series Peaky Blinders , but for me, my relationship with you will always be in the big screen to me that you surprennes, me weirs, I do experience things ” bigger than life “.

Then we will say Tom, that it is for Child 44 or Mad Max : Fury Road, we will see you very soon !

Affectionately,

LoïcM