A true chameleon of an actor gets lost in his roles. Sometimes, it can be hard to realize it is a specific actor until the credits roll. While he changes his hair and looks in most roles, the characters that Tom Hardy plays are undeniable. He has become a reliable leading man in Hollywood, excelling in both big-budget films and smaller but memorable TV roles.
The grittiness that Hardy brings to his characters shines through in every performance, as he is usually playing a character others don’t want to cross. His newest character in Paramount+’s MobLand fits that bill as well. This even shows in his personal life, as he has won martial arts championships in his spare time. As his star has grown, many of his best roles have become leading roles. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t chew up scenes in supporting roles as well. This isn’t about Bronson, in which he is the focal point of the movie, or Locke, in which he is actually the only person in the movie. These are his best supporting movie and TV roles.
10
Clarkie
‘Layer Cake’ (2004)
Hardy had made a name for himself in a few movies prior to Layer Cake, Matthew Vaughn’s crime drug film starring Daniel Craig in a role before he became well-known as James Bond. But Hardy showed a different side to himself compared to his earlier roles (more to come on them later.) He portrays Clarkie, a member of Daniel Craig’s drug-running gang with a soft confidence, despite being the youngest member of the crew.
The movie is unique in that most of Craig’s XXXX’s group members are more peaceful than traditional drug gangs, preferring not to use violence unless they have to. Clarkie is soft-spoken and quieter. But Hardy, as a member of the group, helps XXXX deal with the problems he faces. Hardy’s slicked-back hair and temperament make him perfect for the gang.
9
Shinzon
‘Star Trek: Nemesis’ (2002)
In the final film starring the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Hardy stars as the main villain. This is particularly notable because it was only his third movie. He plays Shinzon, the Reman rebel leader who takes over Romulus in a coup. Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the rest of the Enterprise are sent on a diplomatic mission to Romulus, where they find out Shinzon is actually a clone of Picard created by the Romulans.
But the plans to use him as a clone were abandoned and Shinzon had a classic coming-of-age storyline in which he was left as a slave and quickly rose up as a rebel leader to be the voice of his people. Hardy portrayed the role in a cold and calculated manner and his bald head, a la Picard, made him menacing. While this wasn’t directed by Patrick Stewart, it does feature a solid battle scene between Hardy and Stewart during its climax.
8
Handsome Bob
‘RocknRolla’ (2008)
After playing a criminal in a gritty British film by a British filmmaker in Layer Cake, it almost felt like Hardy was destined to play a role in a Guy Ritchie film at some point. That happened in RocknRolla, a crime thriller comedy that fits in with the style of Ritchie’s best films up to that point, Lock, Stock, Two Smoking Barrels, and Snatch. RocknRolla saw Hardy play Handsome Bob, a member of the Wild Bunch, a mob group led by Gerard Butler.
Handsome Bob was a closeted gay man whose sexuality proved to be both a detriment and an asset for the Wild Bunch. He also has a crush on Idris Elba’s One-Two. While the film isn’t as memorable as some of Ritchie’s other films, Hardy steals the show in every scene, especially the scene where he comes out to Butler’s Lenny Cole. It’s a human moment in the middle of a mobster film that catches the audience as off guard as it does Cole.
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7
Forrest Bondurant
‘Lawless’ (2012)
While this may not be the most supporting role for Hardy, because it was a movie with three main characters, there’s a case to be made that they share the supporting title in Lawless. Forrest Bondurant is the middle brother of a trio of boys who run a moonshine business in Virginia in the early 1930s. With Prohibition in full effect, Forrest (Hardy), Jack (Shia Labeouf), and Howard (Jason Clarke) must combat crooked attorneys, government officials, and more to keep their business afloat.
Hardy is gruff and portrays Forrest with impressive physicality, considering he is shorter than a few of the other actors in the film. He uses his strength and his “invincibility” to stave off quite a number of attacks in the film. Lawless also features Guy Pearce at his maniacal peak until The Brutalist came out.
6
Ricki Tarr
‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ (2011)
In a film with a lot of big-time actors and a lot of wild hairpieces, Hardy takes the cake (at least in the hairpiece department). Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy features Hardy playing Ricki Tarr, a field agent for British Intelligence who starts Gary Oldman’s George Smiley’s journey to find the mole inside British Intelligence. Tarr has seen some things he shouldn’t have and now has a target on his own back.
He has to convince Smiley that he isn’t a traitor, which leads to some intense questioning scenes in Smiley’s home that are memorable. Hardy, still finding his way as a lead actor, provides a memorable supporting role in a cast that also featured Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Mark Strong, Ciaran Hinds, Stephen Graham, John Hurt, and Toby Jones.
5
Eames
‘Inception’ (2010)
Working for the first time with Christopher Nolan, Hardy played Eames, an expert in forgery and identity theft in Inception. Eames is a member of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Cobb’s crew. This film is another that showcased Hardy in an amazing cast and saw his understated performances stand out. Eames is brought in to do the dirty work of imitating certain people as a part of the inception plot.
It’s incredible to see him impersonate Tom Berenger’s character and pull off a mask that is made to confuse not only the character he dealt with, but also the audience. The action in the film is spectacular, as Eames racing around to rig the fortress with explosives to force a kick for his crew’s outer selves to bring them out of their dreams is exhilarating. For the poor audiences who haven’t seen the film, that previous sentence likely makes no sense and should be an indication they need to rent it tonight.
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4
Farrier
‘Dunkirk’ (2017)
A pilot who is running out of time because of a malfunction to the plane will always be exciting and gut-wrenching to watch. Yet it is Hardy’s unflappable nature that makes his character so memorable in Dunkirk. His third time working with Christopher Nolan, Hardy plays Farrier, a member of the Royal Air Force flying a Spitfire during the Battle of France in 1940. Dunkirk is the destination and Farrier is one of the pilots headed to aid in the evacuation of the city.
The way that Nolan tells his tale, the film jumps back and forth to check in with Farrier and the audience frequently sees single cockpit shots with him trying to handle the situation at hand. Despite having his fuel gauge shot during a dogfight, meaning he doesn’t know how much fuel he has, Farrier remains calm and collected and continues to fight. In the midst of a war and thinking of helping others, Hardy plays Farrier as patient and focused on the greater task at hand.
3
Alfred “Alfie” Solomons
‘Peaky Blinders’ (2014 – 2022)
While he isn’t the only character Hardy has played that faced off with Cillian Murphy on screen, Alfie Solomons is the most memorable. Peaky Blinders introduced Alfie in Season 2 and his long-running character had run-ins with the Shelby brothers for years. Alfie is the leader of the Jewish gang known as the Yiddishers and starts off at war with the Italian mob for resources. Despite Tommy Shelby (Murphy) insisting that the Yiddishers join forces with the Peaky Blinders, Solomons is reluctant.
But his on-again-off-again relationship with the Shelbys proves entertaining through multiple seasons of the show. Hardy plays Alfie with a playful exuberance and his character is electric any time he is on-screen. He rambles. He is a loose cannon. Yet it’s hard to take your eyes off of him.
2
John Fitzgerald
‘The Revenant’ (2015)
Arguably Tom Hardy’s most critically acclaimed role, John Fitzgerald just wants his money and will stop at nothing to get it. Fitzgerald plays a perfect foe to Leonardo DiCaprio’s Hugh Glass in The Revenant. Fitzgerald is a fur trapper, just like Glass, and in the midst of the Dakotas during the Arikara War, he is battling more than harsh winters and Native Americans. He goes to the limits to secure the money that he has to give up for leaving behind pelts he had secured.
He becomes the villain in the film because he decides to kill Glass’s son while Glass watches. But he does this because he’s trying to survive himself. From there, Fitzgerlad lies, cheats, and kills in order to live. John Fitzgerald is not a good man, and Hardy plays him as such. But at the same time, his facial expressions and decisive nature portray to the audience that he is doing what he believes he needs to do to survive in that time period. Fitzgerald earned Hardy an Academy Award nomination for his work. But the role only lands as number two on the list because the bear that fights Glass is remembered as the better villain of the film.
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1
Bane
‘The Dark Knight Rises’ (2012)
Warner Bros.
It’s hard to imagine another character being one on the list. That’s because Hardy brought his brute physicality to Bane in The Dark Knight Rises that has been seen in his films many times over the years. While he does offer plenty of nuance to his performances, he often fills scenes with force and Bane is the greatest example of that. His most famous collaboration with Christopher Nolan pits him against Christian Bale’s Batman. Bane, like many psychopaths that have graced Gotham City, wants to watch the city burn around him.
He isn’t motivated by money. Being a former member of the League of Shadows, he is ultimately motivated by something far greater. The way Hardy approached Bane’s speech pattern made the character menacing. But because of the contraption he wears around his face, it’s his movements and his eyes that really sell how evil Bane is. The scene in the football stadium is haunting because it shows how sinister a terrorist Bane is. Hardy thrived in the role and Batman fans were better for it.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
