‘Lazy’ actor Hardy missed plot point
Co-star explained script to British star three weeks after shooting began
Tom Hardy has become an internationally acclaimed box-office star in recent years, but admits he can sometimes be “lazy” at work. On the set of his new crime drama The Drop, for instance, the beefy British heartthrob didn’t realize a key plot point until co-star Noomi Rapace told him about it — three weeks after shooting began. Without revealing spoilers, the plot point concerned a dead body and his character Bob, a seemingly simpleminded, streetwise bartender who works in a Brooklyn drinking hole with his cousin Marv, played by the late James Gandolfini. “I had no idea. It was in the script, I just hadn’t read it,” Hardy said with a laugh during an interview at the Toronto International Film Festival. “That’s what happens when you send me in. I take care of business even if I don’t know what’s going on. “Who needs to know what’s going on? I do it anyway!” Rapace said she tried to reassure him his oversight was just a result of being in character, but Hardy disavowed her of that notion. “That’s just me being lazy. I overlooked it,” he said.
In theatres Friday, The Drop costars Rapace as a neighbour Bob befriends after he finds a pit bull left by her dangerous ex (Matthias Schoenaerts) in her trash can. As Bob tries to protect her and the puppy, he also gets caught up in the underworld of ruthless Chechen mobsters who now run the so-called “drop bar” once owned by Marv.
Belgian director Michael R. Roskam ( Bullhead) is making his English-language debut with the gritty feature that was written by Dennis Lehane.
Gandolfini died in June 2013 and The Drop marks his last feature film.
When the thriller made its world premiere at the Toronto film festival last weekend, the son of the late Sopranos star attended, which pleased the cast.
“I think he enjoyed the movie,” said Hardy. “He’s a brave young man, he’s a really lovely young man. I thought it was great that he would come out and support his father and represent his family and support us as well with what was going on. So hats off.”
Rapace said she thought Gandolfini’s performance was “truly amazing.”
“For me when I saw the film, I was rather kind of happy because it’s such a beautiful performance and that’s what I walked out with,” said the Swedish native.
“That’s what stays with me that I loved.”