Summary

• Tom Hardy's role in Inception was a result of Nolan's interest in his ability to fully embody a character with cheeky charm.
• Hardy's early career roles and humor were key factors in Nolan casting him, leading to subsequent high-profile roles post-Inception.
• Hardy brought a humorous and witty element to his role in Inception, adding depth and charm to the complex sci-fi story.

Academy Award-winning director Inception, in which he plays Eames. The movie released in 2010, when Nolan was riding high off the massive success of 2008's The Dark Knight. It's a mind-bending time travel story that centers on Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a dream thief who's offered the chance to clear his criminal name by "incepting" a corporate target.

The Inception cast is stacked with Nolan collaborators, including Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion Cotillard, and Michael Caine. Several of these actors had already worked with the acclaimed filmmaker prior to the 2010 movie, but this was Tom Hardy's first experience with Nolan. Before booking Inception, Hardy had worked steadily throughout the 2000s, notably in Star Trek: Nemesis and Bronson, though he was far from the household name he is today. But it's Hardy's early-career roles that played a big part in Nolan choosing him to play Eames in Inception.

Christopher Nolan Cast Tom Hardy In Inception Because Of His Ability To "Inhabit A Role"

Hardy Brought A "Wonderful Cheeky Quality", According To The Director

In Inception, Cobb doesn't pull off the dream heist alone. He rounds up a team of experts, which includes Tom Hardy's identity thief, Eames. Eames is the most charming of the crew, and it's his witty one-liners and banter with Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) that add some much-welcome comic relief to the intense and twisty sci-fi story. Hardy perfectly embodies the cocky yet lovable Eames, which is exactly why Nolan cast him. The director told The Guardian,

“He can inhabit a role. He saw the potential of the character right away and brought a wonderful cheeky quality to his performance.”

Hardy would go on to prove Nolan right about his ability to "inhabit a role" in post-Inception projects that catapulted the actor to A-list status, from Mad Max: Fury Road to The Revenant, in which he faces off against his Inception co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. Always someone who fully commits to his roles, Hardy even learned to cage fight in order to play Tommy Riordan Conlan in Warrior. And when it comes to playing Eames in Inception, Hardy took inspiration from Nolan himself:

'I like to flatter myself into believing that the character I played was actually Chris Nolan. I felt he was key to Eames and I latched on to him and his mannerisms."

Tom Hardy was nominated for his first Academy Award for his performance as John S. Fitzgerald in The Revenant.

Tom Hardy Brings Humor To Inception & His Other Christopher Nolan Roles

The Actor Grew Up Around Comedy

While most people don't think of Tom Hardy as a comedic actor, there's no denying that he brings a certain dry, dark wit to most of his performances. This was seen even before Inception in his movies like Bronson and Shorter, and it was this humorousness from Hardy that gave the films stronger depth. Of his relationship to comedy, Hardy said,

“I do like to find comedy – not boom boom, but circumstance, an incongruous character juxtaposed with a certain situation. My old man is a comedy writer – he wrote for Dave Allen and he writes adverts, and I grew up around that. I have an acute awareness that I’m selling something – lying and keeping a straight face. I was incredibly boring as a child, but I had a sense of humour.”

In addition to his formidable acting chops, this sense of humor is likely why Christopher Nolan invited Hardy into his cadre of frequently cast actors. As the muscular, masked Bane in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises, the final in Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, Hardy is clearly having the most fun of any Batman villain actor in the franchise.

And like in Inception, Hardy imbues his performance as pilot Farrier in 2017's Dunkirk with a dry wit that adds comic relief to the grave situations the characters find themselves in. It's likely only a matter of time before Hardy does a straight comedy, and Nolan will be the first in line to buy a ticket.

Source: The Guardian