Tom Hardy has done so many accents, you might be surprised to learn that he was born in London, and not, as you might have thought, born in the darkness of society. But he’s done all the accents you can imagine, from a New York/Boston hybrid in Venom to whatever this accent is in Peaky Blinders. In the past, Hardy has described his speaking voice as “middle class tw*t” but for The Bikeriders, he had to be something even scarier: American. Specifically, a Midwesterner.
“I’m not sure that I did nail it,” Hardy told Variety of his accent in the film. But he doesn’t care!
In the film, Hardy plays Johnny, the member of a Chicago motorcycle gang in the 1960s. He’s joined by fellow Accent King Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Michael Faist.
When it came to his accent, Hardy says that he tried hard, and that’s all that matters. It’s in his name, after all. “What’s important to me is that if you’re doing something as an actor, if you’re going to commit, then make the effort to fully commit, even if you fail. It doesn’t matter,” he said, adding that he doesn’t like to hold back. “I’d rather go out swinging, trying something to make the effort, than not make the effort at all, because there doesn’t seem to be any point in playing safe.”
While it might sound intense, his costars insist that on-set, he was a “teddy bear” who would go around hugging everyone, so maybe we can overlook the accent thing for now. If you can’t understand him, subtitles are your friend!