Christopher Nolan on why Tom Hardy loves to cover his face in movies

With Dunkirk set to open in cinemas this weekend, many of the stars and director Christopher Nolan have been across the globe on the usual publicity rounds. But one subject that ticked Nolan was about star Tom Hardy – and his recent run of acting with most of his face covered on-screen.

The “trend” began with Nolan’s 2012 Batman trilogy closer, The Dark Knight Rises, when Hardy played the villainous Bane who had to wear a special mask to keep the pain away and has continued through Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant (his huge beard counts!) and now, in Dunkirk, he plays a fighter pilot who wears the usual oxygen mask.

Chatting to the Press Association about the strange rise in Hardy’s “faceless” roles, Nolan said:

“I was pretty thrilled with what he did in The Dark Knight Rises with two eyes and a couple of eyebrows and a bit of forehead.”

With Dunkirk, Nolan joked that when he cast him for the role he wondered what he could do with even less face but added that the challenges Hardy faced in these roles just prove how good of an actor he is, saying:

“I thought let’s see what he can do with no forehead, no real eyebrows, maybe one eye.”

“Of course Tom, being Tom, what he does with single eye acting is far beyond what anyone else can do with their whole body, that is just the unique talent of the man, he’s extraordinary.”

Dunkirk opens in cinemas on July 21st.