The Real Reason Tom Hardy Agreed To Play Venom
There are all kinds of reasons an actor will accept a role. Whether it is a passion project, a character they believe in, or just for money, actors are deliberate in their reasoning. Bill Murray famously pursued his passion project, "Razor's Edge" by agreeing to star in the iconic comedy "Ghostbusters" (via WhatCulture), and Alec Guinness hated "Star Wars" and simply wanted a paycheck (according to his biography). Nowadays, any actor who wants to make it big has to consider the possibility of starring in an adaptation of a comic book. Since Sam Raimi's 2002 blockbuster "Spider-Man," the world has had superhero fever. Some of the most successful franchises in the past two decades come straight from the pages of comics.
One reasonably successful adaptation is Sony's "Venom," which was released in 2018 (with the sequel "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" releasing in 2021). Venom can best be described as a twisted and distorted version of the hero Spider-Man — a dark, brutal character in the comics that began as a villain before making the jump to anti-hero in the films. Taking on the role of Eddie Brock/Venom was Tom Hardy, who had a unique reason for accepting the part.
Tom Hardy was introduced to Venom by his son
Even though Tom Hardy became a household name when he portrayed the formidable Batman villain, Bane, in 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises," he may not be as big of a comic book nerd as the studios may have you believe. However, Hardy took on Eddie Brock/Venom for one primary reason.
"First and foremost," Hardy told Variety in an interview at Comic-Con in 2018, "I'm a dad. One of the things you come across as a father is a massive influx of stories brought to you after Fireman Sam by Spider-Mans and Venoms and Captain Americas. So, my son came to me with a specific character that he absolutely fell in love with."
"I started to take a look at it," he continued, "and then, as if by magic, a script appeared on the horizon. Having had done 'Dark Knight' with Chris [Nolan], I'd kind of done my superhero bit, but when I was presented with the opportunity to play Venom — and that correlated with my son's love of Venom and how cool he was — I got really, really excited and decided I wanted to do it."
When it comes to reasons to accept a role, playing a character your child idolizes has to be one of the best.