Liam Lacey’s TIFF diary: Tom Hardy’s onscreen evolution continues in The Drop

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Have you heard the one about a couple of Belgians, an Englishman, a Swede and a couple of Americans who end up in a Brooklyn bar?

The punch line is that they got together and made a lean, authentic American crime drama, The Drop, which opens in theatres on Sept. 12 after premiering at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. The Belgians are director Michaël R. Roskam, who earned an Oscar nomination for his 2011 film Bullhead, and that film's intense star, Matthias Schoenaerts, who plays a local Brooklyn bully. The Swede, Noomi Rapace (star of the Swedish version of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie trilogy), plays a woman who, despite having a bad boyfriend history, helps a soft-spoken bartender, Bob (Tom Hardy, the Englishman), care for his adopted pitbull puppy.

Adding the authentic American grit is Boston crime writer Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, Shutter Island), who based The Drop on one of his short stories. The other American, in his final screen performance, is The Sopranos star James Gandolfini, who plays a sad and angry bar manager, Cousin Marv.

Within this constellation of elements, there's little doubt about the central magnet: The Drop is a chance to watch the continuing evolution of Hardy, an exceptional modern screen actor. The 36-year-old is best-known as the mask-muffled villain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, but his critical reputation derives from a run of varied roles over the past half-dozen years (Bronson, Inception, Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy). In his most recent film Locke, released last March, he was the only actor onscreen for 85 minutes, as a construction manager on a night drive to London.

In The Drop, the character of a modest Polish-American bartender is something different again – a shy guy with a soft Bruce Springsteen rasp of a voice who protects puppies and friends.

How does Hardy prepare for these transformations? At the Saturday afternoon press conference for the film, he spoke of his approach.

"A lot of my preparation is in my head," said Hardy: "I read the script – once – and then I think a lot."

Or as much as he has time to. In December, 2012, Hardy finished shooting his lead role in the blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road in South Africa, which comes out next year. In February, 2013, he was in England for the two-week shoot of Locke. By March, he was onset in Brooklyn, shooting The Drop.

"As for accents and whatnot, I have a sound I want to find that's not necessarily about a zip code," Hardy said. "It's a tonality I want to make that will provide authenticity to the character.

"And if I'm working with Jimmy (Gandolfini) I'll pick up his cadence. If I'm working with Matthias, I'll pick up his cadence. Noomi, the same. As I do in real life, I speak in a way so that a person might want to hear what I'm saying. It's a kind of sleight of hand. It's not necessarily an orthodox procedure. I just fake it to make it, and hope some of it sticks."

An insight into Hardy's method is offered by writer Lehane. After reviewing Hardy's performances, he started changing the script to suit the actor. And he changed it again when Gandolfini joined the cast.

"When Tom came on, I said, 'I gotta start cutting now,' because he can do so much with his face. The amazing thing about Tom's performance – I've seen it three times now – is that every single thought his character has, that the plot hinges on, is there to see. It's beautiful."

"When Gandolfini came in, it was the opposite. I thought, 'I want to throw in some dialogue,' because of the way – you know what I mean – Gandolfini could turn street speech into a symphony."