Tom Hardy Legend Interview
Tom Hardy talks about laying gangster twines Reg and Ronnie Kray in the stylish new biopic Legend directed by Brian Helgeland and co-starring Emily Browning and Christopher Eccleston.
Q. When did you first hear about the Krays?
I think as a kid you see the books in the true crime section, at least I did anyway. I had a brief interest in true crime when I was about 15, going on holiday and grab a book or whatever. So that was when they first came across my horizon, they crossed me atmospherics then. But that’s about ti really. They’re about as familiar as a red telephone box in many aspects really. That was then and playing them was a question of going back to look at all the source materials that’s available. There’s a lot of source material on the Krays.
Q. Tom how did you get into the mind-set of Ronnie, particularly when it came to his sexuality?
You know I didn’t even think about it really. It’s just what it is really. I don’t think it needs playing. That’s that. Ronnie was Gay. Does that make sense? If I thought about it that would give me sorta pause to think and I had to do something. I had to get on with doing something which was my job. Ronnie’s gay, it’s all good. Does that make any sense? I think if you start playing anything then you kind of miss the point. I think what was complicated was that Reggie was also potentially.. we don’t know if he’s gay or not. So that’s where I had to look at Legend as its own separate entity. Within this Reggie is heterosexual, Ronnie is gay. Crack on. Does that make sense? Alright, cool.
Q. Does the connection between celebrity and organised crime still exist in that way?
Yeah you can access all areas of society in our job very easily. But the thing is we’re in the entertainment part of it and they’re not necessarily. They’re wired slightly differently.
Q. How did you research the roles?
There’s always a question about research isn’t there. It’s like have you done your homework. It’s like No, I didn’t know what I was doing. To a certain degree that’s true and let it be what it will be. But there is a plethora of research that one could do on the Krays. Right down to the fact I actually had Reggie’s watch which he died in on my wrist. We had various members of the world come out and talk. Private meetings like. There’s only one visual primary source of the Krays which is them speaking on the BBC for like a minute. But you can’t even tell much form that because they were on show, so you can’t tell if that’s their true voice or true mannerisms. There are lots of photos. Mainly it’s all legends and tales which are asinine. Usually told by people who didn’t know them. You get a lot of them come out. It forms patterns of stories and anecdotes that start to appeal a lot. I also had lots of diaries and some footage from a panorama documentary.
There you go I did loads of research. In the end I decide to not pay it any mind anyway, but only to answer that question.
Q. Tom you’ve been quoted as saying you were more drawn to playing to Ron than Reg, is that’s true why was it?
I mean that’s sort of paraphrased down but he truth of the fact is that just from a technical point of view Ron is predictably unpredictable. So just for a performer it’s fun to play because you have everything on the smorgasbord you can use, you have multiple options and you can pull the rug on anyone you want at any given time. So it’s a free ball character even if he wasn’t a Kray, it he was Idie Armine wit would be the same. Whether you’re going to naturalize that or going for a heightened reality of super surrealism. However you wanted to play it, that character is a free ball character. You can roam with him in any scene. Whereas Reggie has boundaries, he has the restrictions, he has to go a,b,c,d,e,f,g. That’s kinda boring for me in some way because I don’t want to go straight down the line. I want to make lateral choices and I want to have fun. I was drawn initially because I have a bit of a disco ball head to Ronnie. There’s some options there, with Reg I know he’s going that way even if I might want to take him another way.
Q. Tom where there any especially tricky shots playing two characters on screen at the same time?
No, not really. It was a question of how we were going to do it and it was pretty basic. There was no CGI or anything like that because there was no budget for it. It was back to old school basic drill. We were finding out how that stuff worked like split screen or talking to a text board. There had to be another actor there and someone who would take notes on what I was doing so that I could replicate it at the end of the day but also leave room so that I could change it. It was a mental puzzle that needed to be unpacked and then I could breathe life into it. At the same time you’ve got the rest of the cast there in real time trying to deal with the fact they’ve got a split dynamic in the room. So it was kinda mathematic in a strange sort of way. It was like stop, start. let the bitch breath. Then turn it all around and let the bitch breath again. It’s a mixture of sums, geometric shapes and maths with sort of a bit of creative stuff. The homework and more drugs for Nipper.
Q. How long was your turn around for changing between the brothers?
It was about an hour. We had wig, teeth, plumper up the nose. Aging stipple. So there was about an hours’ worth of makeup between Reg and Ronnie. But we couldn’t hang about we only had seven weeks to shoot it. So we had to move quickly. There was wedges in the shoes because Ronnie had to be a bit taller, then an extra layer of shirts because his shirt shad to look a bit bigger. Then a waistcoat and glasses. So there was a different silhouette between the two.
Q. Tom some people clearly admire the myth of the Krays or even see them as Robin Hood figures. What’s your view of them now having played them?
I just have a healthy indifference to be fair mate. It was sort of a thesis that I worked on for a little bit. That’s the subject and that’s my show and tell on it under the Legend banner. I spent a bit of time researching and working with them in fantasy and pretending. That’s where we leave ti mate at the end of the day. So I got to do a bit of research and schooling but I sort of have a healthy indifference to anything really so I can just invest in the next thing that comes along. Each experience is something under the belt to move forward with my training.
Emily Browning Legend Interview
Emily Browning talks about playing Frances Kray in gangster biopic Legend starring Tom Hardy. The film charts the rise and fall of notorious London gangster twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray.
Q. When did you first hear about the Krays?
I honestly had never heard of them until I read the script. That’s my whole story.
Q. How did you research the role?
There’s really not as much information available about Frances as they Krays themselves. Which was actually rather nice for me because I didn’t feel like there was as much pressure on me. Because people don’t have as much of a strong idea about who Frances was as about the Krays. I had little bits and pieces. Brian actually managed to get me some of the letters Frances had written to Reggie. That was my lighthouse that was what I held onto and built her around that. I’m not very good at doing my homework either, for me a lot of the research was really about the accent the time ad place. Otherwise I kinda just did it I suppose.
Q. Emily the characters you’ve played including this one have collectively been raped, violently abused, orphaned, institutionalised, lobotomised and killed. What do you think are the dangers and value of evicting the victimisation of women on screen?
Jesus.. um… I think I’ve done seven films where the character I’ve played has been in a mental institution. That’s not intentional; I mean I don’t really know how that happens. I don’t have my career path planned out I just when something comes along and it makes me feel something I go for it. But I don’t see Frances as a victim really. I think she could have easily been written differently. She could have bene a bit wet, sad and pathetic. But I just think the way that Brian wrote her and the way that I wanted to play her was as a human being. She’s complex. I mean obviously her story comes to a tragic end and she’s also quite sad, but I think she’s quite ballsy and she has the guts to stand up to the boys when I don’t know if many people would have had that strength. I don’t see her as a tragic character by any means.
Q. Was it hard for you acting opposite Tom playing two roles?
It wasn’t really an issue for me. I didn’t have to think about the mathematics of it I just got to do everything twice. Tom was there as Reg and then he went away for a bit and he was there as Ron. It was kind of a breeze for me to be honest.
Christopher Eccleston Legend Interview
Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston talks about playing notorious policeman Nipper Read in the Krays biopic Legend starring Tom Hardy as both gangster twins Ronnie and Reggie. The film directed by Brian Helgeland charts the rise and fall of the infamous London criminal brothers.
Q. When did you first hear about the Krays?
Who are the Krays? I heard about them when I was a teenage boy like Tom really. There’s a point where teenage boys get very interested in gothic violence and I remember going to the true crime section a lot around 14 I’d think. I have twin brothers so obviously I was particularly interested in it.
Q. How did you research the roles?
To quote David Bowie “ I threw my homework on the fire and took a car downton”. I think there’s a lot of bollocks spoken about research. I think that it’s make believe. I felt what Brian had written sent a very clear message on what he wanted. So I relied entirely on what Brian had written and wat happened on set. Me and Brian did have a number of conversations about what kind of a dog Nipper would have been. I think we decided on a Bloodhound. Because according to Brian, this may be complete fantasy, but he says a Bloodhound will run until it dies. It will chase a criminal or its prey until its heart bursts. I threw in Malvolio from Twelfth Night, because I saw Nipper as a man who was absolutely puritanical, a man of the fifties who did not want the sixties to happen. Did not want the Krays to have sex and fun. Did not want the Rolling Stones to have fun. He was the man form the previous 10-20 years. No homework, just drugs with Brian Helgeland.
Q. Why do you think Nipper became so obsessed with the Krays?
I seized on the class theme that Brian presented, in that he believed that they were from similar backgrounds and he felt a good deal of class shame about what they were doing. I think Nipper was obsessive generally I think you probably have to be. I think what’s interesting about Nipper was surviving as a northern copper in the metropolitan police department. That must have been difficult. I think he was a workaholic, I think he was obsessive. He was also humiliated as we show in the film on numerous occasions by Rona and Reg and he didn’t forget that. He got there in the end.
Q. Was it hard for you acting opposite Tom playing two roles?
It was a deeply humbling experience in stereo. I think I’m not sure I really experienced it, there’s one sequence where Nipper is jammed between Reg and Ronnie. But I don’t think we had time on the day. I didn’t have time for him to change so we did it with the stand in Jacob. I think 99% of my scenes were with Reg. I had one scene with Ron and that was a revelation. That was very interesting because I’d only ever met Tom as Reg then suddenly there was Ron. They were completely different and having twin brothers in real life that was very interesting to see what an actor was doing with both roles. I was very jealous.
Q. Did you enjoy the period costume?
I looked exactly like my paternal grandfather and he was a frightening man. I was struck by that when I put on the gear and looked at myself in the mirror. I actually based it on him. I based it on his effect on me as a child and his basic outlook as I imagined it. So it was helpful.
Brian Helgeland Legend Interview
Director Brian Helgeland talks about crime biopic Legend starring Tom Hardy as London’s infamous gangster twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
Q. When did you first hear about the Krays?
I can tell you it was in 1988. I had been asked to go on tour with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, I heard about them then form a guy who was involved with the ban. He told me some stories about them. I was very interested in them because when I first heard the name Krays I thought it was like a wild animal, I didn’t know what it was, but I quickly learned. It was just a fascinating thing it wasn’t’ like I knew I wanted to do a film about them until I was contacted by working title many years later.
Q. Does the connection between celebrity and organised crime still exist in that way?
I think you always meet people you could never meet otherwise. Usually in Hollywood they’re arms merchants who have a lot of money ad want to launder it. So usually yeah you meet interesting characters who you would never normally meet if you had a normal job.
Q. How much of the film is anecdotal and how much is fantasy?
I felt like, the book ‘profession of violence’ had been optioned. I felt obligated to try and cover as much as I could. I read a lot of books, met people they knew as adults. I read a lot of bad stuff and schlocky material. What was interesting was how extreme it all was, between the accounts of them helping old ladies across the street or nailing people to the floor. I never came across people wo had such an extreme mythology behind them. I don’t know what the truth is but I thought trying to find something in the middle of all that would be the truest thing I could do. I was interested in humanizing them in a way.
Q. What was the toughest challenge of having Tom play both roles?
We tried to not make the camera to aware of what was going on, to not make it too aware of what he was doing. So it was a lot of little things really. There were some things we found were just untenable in terms of how much time they took up. Motion control shots and stuff like that. We wanted it to go away really, we had a couple of tricks and we used them over and over again without getting too fancy.
Q. The Krays mother has only a very small presence in the film despite being a big character in their lives. We’re you concerned about having her reduced to such a small role in the film?
We had Frances and her mom as a child and mother relationship and I thought that was kind of enough for the film. I mean so much has been done about the mom and the boys that I sort of wanted to stay away from it in a way. That’s really been done to death. We had a very interesting scene with the three of them. But also I didn’t really buy into it. I mean there’s been so much about it but every gangster story I know the boys are close with their mom, so I didn’t especially take it as something that was unique to the Krays. Maybe that’s not true and that’s just my own point of view, but I thought that Frances and her mom covered things in a way that meant I didn’t need to look into it with the boys and their mom.
London Film Festival Archive Gala Announced
The Archive gala screening at the 59th BFI London Film Festival in partnership with American Express®, on Friday 16th October 2015 at the Odeon Leicester Square, will be the world premiere of a new restoration of Anthony Asquith’s Shooting Stars (1928). Asquith’s first film as co-director and scriptwriter, Shooting Stars is a fascinating drama set behind the scenes at a contemporary film studio. Newly restored by the BFI National Archive, Shooting Stars will be presented with a new live score by John Altman, BAFTA and Emmy award-winning composer whose work includes Titanic and Goldeneye .
Shooting Stars is a dazzling debut which boasts a boldly expressionist shooting style, dramatic lighting and great performances from its leads. Annette Benson (Mae Feather) and Brian Aherne (Julian Gordon) play two mis-matched, married stars and Donald Calthrop (Andy Wilkes) a Chaplin-esque star at the same studio, with whom Mae becomes romantically involved. Chili Bouchier, Britain’s first sex symbol of the silent era, plays a key role as an actress/bathing beauty, an attractive foil to the comic antics of the comedian. The film manages to operate as a sophisticated, modern morality tale, while it’s also both an affectionate critique of the film industry and a celebration of its possibilities. It teases the audience with its revelations of how the illusions of the world of film-making conceal ironic and hidden truths.
Asquith (son of the former Prime Minister Herbert Asquith) had privileged access to see Chaplin making The Circus on a trip to Hollywood and he had also been behind the scenes at German film studios. Both influences are clearly seen in the film. Asquith went on to have a hugely successful international career in the sound era with films such asPygmalion, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Browning Version and The VIPs.
The film has been meticulously restored by a team of BFI experts from materials held in the BFI National Archive, making this the definitive restoration to stand alongside those of previous BFI restorations of Asquith’s Underground (1928) and A Cottage on Dartmoor (1929).
Robin Baker, Head Curator, BFI National Archive said, “We are delighted to be showcasing this remarkable film in a brilliant new restoration achieved after months of work from our dedicated teams at the BFI. Shooting Stars is a fascinating debut from one of Britain’s greatest film-makers and to see it with a newly commissioned score performed live in the Art Deco splendour of the Odeon Leicester Square promises to be a very special experience.”
The new score by composer, John Altman, has been written for a twelve piece ensemble playing multiple instruments. It is full of a lively jazz influence, inspired by some of the sheet music for the popular song “Ain’t She Sweet” which is seen on screen in the film. Altman is both an authentic and accomplished jazz musician as well as a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning composer of music for the big screen. He has composed, orchestrated and conducted for many films including the period music for James Cameron’sTitanic, and he composed the tank chase sequence in the James Bond film GoldenEye and won the Anthony Asquith Award for Achievement in Film Music for Hear My Song.
John Altman said,
“For the new score I have been inspired by dance band sounds and Duke Ellington in 1927. It’s not a slavish period recreation but I have tried to find an appropriate way of reflecting some of the plot twists and ironic deceptions through a series of interlinked musical themes. The score will be played by a very versatile group of musicians and we will end up using almost as many instruments as a complete orchestra through the whole film. I hope that the music will carry audiences effortlessly through the emotional highs and lows of this brilliant film.”
There were famously two opposing reviews published in Variety, one British, one American, with the British review disparaging the film and the American giving it a strong thumbs-up. The film is now however fully appreciated as one of the few undisputed masterpieces of British silent cinema. Only Alfred Hitchcock has a higher critical reputation than Asquith in this period of late silent British cinema.
