- [Josh] I feel like, if there was a comic character
that is meant for you, Mr. Hardy,
it's Venom.
And I mean that in the nicest possible way.
It's a huge acting challenge.
It's two distinct, different characters
at war with each other.
And not to mention he's a badass.
He's the coolest-looking character in the known universe.
- [Tom] But Eddie isn't.
And Eddie is not, though. That's what's going on.
Eddie's a fundamental, professional coward
who's dragged through the bushes by Venom.
The anti part of the hero.
Let's-not-and-say-we-did hero.
- [Josh] Why was Venom the right match for you?
- [Tom] Well, initially -
I am a fan now, but I came to it with open eyes.
My son is a big fan of Marvel, obviously,
but I kinda missed the boat in some aspects as a kid.
So I learned a lot through my 13-year-old
explaining to me the world and how it works,
which is really compelling,
especially if you hear it through the eyes of a young boy.
You know what I mean?
Because then it's like, oh, OK.
This is super meaningful.
My relationship with my son is, obviously, super meaningful.
So then I can participate
in a place that I'd never really been.
So there's an element of genuine care.
But it doesn't come from a fanship.
It comes from a - this is important,
so I need to know this.
What I saw of the initial script
was arguably further in the investigation that I was doing
when I worked on 'Legend,' where I played two twins
and I really enjoyed trying to create
two complete characters at the same time
and then see if it could make them work.
This seemed to be an option to do that,
but with a larger-than-life superhero on an epic stage.
What's not to like about that challenge?
And then primarily I think the fundamental connection piece
for me was the Jekyll and Hyde element of it.
You know, the inside voice
that shouldn't really make the decisions
and the sort of rational element,
which is riddled with neurosis
that I happen to recognize, perhaps.
Do you know what I mean?
As a human being, I was like,
"Well, I'd really like to do this,
but I should probably do that."
Or, "Wouldn't it be great if we did this?"
But the sensible thing is probably not.
Do you know what I mean?
And that interior argument, which I have,
is then embellished in a huge, surrealist, absurdist
sort of like fantasy world
whereby it has a law and a symbolic output,
which becomes, you know, Eddie and Venom.
And I know initially Eddie Brock is quite tough
and resentful and, in the comic books, can be seen
as a more dour character.
And Venom is a heady thing, scary, you know, violent,
but there's also an element of comedy
between the two and a love and a genuine -
which is also truthful in the comics,
which I could tap into.
And I think for me,
the balance was to play
between the neurotic element of cowardice,
which was the anti-hero and the bombast nature of that,
which is primal and has no fear of consequence
nor interest in the paradox of the human condition.
It's beneath it.
It's already considered that millions of light years ago
and just wants to go down the hill
and do what it does. Right?
So the dichotomy of that is super engaging as an artist.
And I'll be quiet now. Sorry.
- [Josh] No, no. All of that is fascinating
and it's also fascinating
that you found this great match in Andy
because you guys share a very interesting thing in that,
Andy, you've played a character at war
with himself, as well.
Obviously, you know, Gollum and Smeagol had these iconic
battles within their own soul.
Which of these characters is more dysfunctional
with themselves, you think?
Is it Venom and Eddie or Gollum and Smeagol?
Who's got the more (beep) up relationship?
- [Andy] That's a very interesting question.
Smeagol works in a sort of slightly manipulative -
you think he's the sweet, innocent one,
but actually he works in a slightly manipulative,
passive-aggressive way.
Whereas Gollum is probably more the Venom character, really,
where he's more up front and actually
goes for what he wants.
So I think there are parallels there.
Venom is truly kind of a truth giver, in a way.
He has no filter. He doesn't hold back.
Eddie is so sort of -
he's made a career out of lying to himself and other people.
[Laughs]
- In the pursuit of truth and humility
- Yes, exactly.
- With the veil of illusion.
- Correct.
- Yes. Yes - Yes. Yeah. Yeah.
- False.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Falsely noble.
- Yes. False nobility.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
- Yeah. I think there are -
I definitely think there are parallels there.
- [Josh] Yeah.
- I was just super excited to be able to come on board
this story at a moment where we've sort of seen the nuggets
of all of that. And actually Venom,
although he's very present in the first movie,
the dialogue between them doesn't really emerge
until this film.
- Right.
- [Andy] So the CG characters, you know,
Venom, in this movie, had to act.
He had to be a good actor.
In terms of the look, in terms of the way he felt,
the believability of the character
with integration into the environment, and Carnage.
You know, they both have to be
emotionally connective characters,
characters that are truly connected to their hosts
and reflect and amplify all the dysfunctionality
that their hosts possess.
So it was a really wonderful kind of cauldron
of screwed up, marginal weirdness in a blockbuster canvas
and platform, where you think all the answers
are gonna be very easy, and actually,
we're swimming around in some murky areas here.
You know, so all these kind of real-world things
that we pick up on as cues, that kind of thing.
Wow, this is humanity.
This is what we do to each other.
And then on top of that,
you have the über kind of symbiote view
of what this world has become and what we do to each other.
So it's a magnificent cauldron of strangeness to play in.
- [Josh] Tom, since you've been announced as this character,
you know the fans have been itching to see you
and Tom Holland mix it up on the big screen.
Have you spent time talking to Tom Holland
about how this could potentially go down?
- [Tom] Oh, no. Not really.
I know him [enough] to give him a hug and say hi.
You know what I mean?
I did a film with him years ago called 'Locke,'
where he played my son.
- [Josh] Of course. Yeah. Yeah.
- Now your boys played my sons.
You know what I mean?
I have a fondness for Tom
and I don't know him particularly well.
You know, I think he's brilliant at what he does and I'm a huge fan.
We haven't sat down and had a discussion. No.
But obviously, the possibility
of Venom and Spider-Man coming together,
I can't think of anybody
who would be remotely interested in seeing that.
[Laughing]
It's hard to think about really.
- Here's one guy that wants it.
- Oh, well, maybe just for you, then.
- OK, thanks.
- It's something that, obviously, is always on the radar
and if you're privileged enough to work
with such a potent IP for - a better word,
you know, a couple letters,
of course you'd be remiss not to think,
"Wouldn't that be a fantastic opportunity?"
So we'll see.
- [Josh] So, the Venom voice, iconic.
The Bane voice, I'm always obsessed with.
There's not gonna be a time, Tom,
where I don't talk to you about the Bane voice.
Is one easier to get into?
Is there one that you relish doing more?
Can you compare and contrast them for me?
- [Tom] OK.
Bane is more akin to a cadence rhythm of Alfie Solomons
or Ron Kray, for me, or a Charlie Bronson,
where you enjoy and indulge in the sound of their own voice
and the mellifluent effluence of their own speech pattern
and floridity.
They almost witness their own verboseness
and enjoy the smell of it.
[Laughing]
And that's quite fun because there's a laconic element
to that, whereas Venom's like a dog,
you know. It's impulsive.
You know, it's like, "Well, I think we do this.
Actually, we'll do that."
And he's considerate.
He's much more front forward.
He's from 'Looney Toons.'
A lot of my characters are stolen from cartoon land.
Or I might steal from hip-hop culture
and, say, like a Busta Rhymes or Redman or Method Man.
You know, something that's bombastic
and present and, like, here and now.
But then, he sits back occasionally
and considers things in a sort of
meditative Richard Burton tone or Dylan Thomas.
Elements of a poetic reasoning.
[Laughs]
- I love it.
- [Tom] If he does, that makes sense
to add gravitas to his bombast,
just in case he doesn't get his own way.
So his words are used in a violent, fricative, or plosive
impulse to get Eddie to move
and it's important that he does
'cause he has to punch through the face of Eddie.
You have to hear him.
He's alive only vocally, initially.
You know what I mean? Because we don't film and see Venom.
I don't see him. So I have to feel him.
So if I can feel him alive
and he's punching through the air,
it's nice to see when a scene's working with me
just talking to myself by the bombastic sound
of coming out of nowhere with the colors of Venom.
Whereas, I don't think the Bane voice is colorful.
It comes out of the mask and the eyes are deadpan,
so you hear something which is more radio, I suppose.