Tom Hardy may be at his most Tom Hardy in Alfie Solomons. With a Bane-like dialect and an unpredictable demeanour, the “Peaky Blinders” character first appears in the gangster drama’s second season. From that point on, he only grows crazier. Alfie, a brawler who has survived the British criminal underworld despite numerous attempts to have him killed, is horribly scarred and is missing an eye by the show’s sixth season. Like any great Hardy performance, it’s tough to help but question how much of the actor’s consistently entertaining and frequently sardonic persona was his own creation. The response is even odd and more delicious than you could anticipate, as with any great Hardy part.
On the podcast Obsessed With Peaky Blinders, director Colm McCarthy, who was in front of the camera during Alfie’s season 2 debut, discussed working with Hardy (viaDigitalSpy). McCarthy recalled a day when Hardy dropped by the set before filming for his part, as the group was researching locations for the season premiere scene, which took place during Communist Freddie Thorne’s (Iddo Goldberg) burial.
The making of Alfie
McCarthy responded to a query about bringing the “Wild Max: Fury Road” actor on board by saying, “The Tom Hardy thing was mad.” “We were conducting tech recces, or pre-production tech scouting, and I can still remember going through the cemetery. Tom wanted to kind of chat with me about what he was considering doing because he was considering doing it and had looked at it.” Evidently, when it came to giving Alfie life, Hardy had a very precise vision in mind.
McCarthy said on the show, “He had this whole dialogue where he was talking about becoming a bear. “I’m like a good bear, but then I’m like a terrible bear, and if I get furious bear, it’s like a scary bear,” he declared. Bear, that’s right. similar to the animal Or perhaps a dude with a beard, to be honest. Like many of Hardy’s more original set decisions, this anecdote has been passed down without the actor ever clarifying his exact meaning. In either case, McCarthy must have had a bizarre moment. He went on:
“It’s raining and the crew are standing there looking at me like, ‘What is he doing there in this graveyard, under a tree, having this conversation with Tom Hardy about being a bear?’ And I was like, ‘So you want a beard?’ and he was like, ‘Yeah.’ And I was like, ‘Cool, that sounds awesome, that sounds wicked.'”
Becoming the bear
Along with growing a beard, Hardy appears to have had a big hand in shaping the physicality of his character—from his appearance to his distinctive dialect. “In an interview for the BBC’s Movies From Ali Plumb, Murphy said, “You never quite know what to anticipate with Tom, but he definitely, I mean, that character came fully formed. He just had a complete understanding of what he was doing.” Steven Knight, the creator of the series, revealed to Birmingham Live that the actor frequently improvises, saying, “It’s his style and that of the character, who flits all over the place.”
Whatever the method, the outcome is undeniable: Alfie Solomons is one of the show’s finest characters and is so adored that, after begging Tommy to shoot him at the end of season 4, he was virtually brought back to life. Although “Peaky Blinders” appears to have come to an end, a cinematic sequel is in the works, so it’s possible that the bear hasn’t yet made his final appearance.
