“A random anomaly”: the movie that “broke” Tom Hardy
Although there are plenty of movies that are designed specifically to tug at the heartstrings, Tom Hardy has found himself reduced to an emotional wreck by a particularly surprising title.
That’s not to say there’s any sort of definitive list of films that anyone who fancies a good cry is obligated to watch when it’s all down to the individual. Just because somebody has dry eyes when the credits begin rolling on Terms of Endearment, it doesn’t necessarily make them a monster that’s dead on the inside.
On the flip side, there’s no shame in reaching for the tissues and having a good sniffle under unexpected circumstances, and it’s part of cinema’s inherent magic that anyone can be affected in any way by any movie. For Hardy, though, even he was caught off guard by his borderline breakdown.
Strangely for such an immensely talented performer capable of disappearing almost completely into every role they play, Hardy admitted to Shortlist that he’s not an expert at sobbing on command. “I find crying difficult, it takes a long time for me to go,” he admitted. “And I won’t know what will send me. I’m quite sentimental. If my son tells me he loves me, that will make me cry.”
That’s understandable, but what about a 1995 drama that stars Richard Dreyfuss as a composer clinging onto the belief they’re one day going to write one of the greatest musical pieces ever, who finds himself working under the watchful eye of William H. Macy’s principal at an Oregon high school while trying to balance his professional life with home troubles?
If you’re an Academy Award-nominated star, regular Christopher Nolan collaborator, and figurehead of a billion-dollar comic book franchise like Hardy? Absolutely. “Mr. Holland’s Opus, unbelievably, broke me,” he confessed. “A random anomaly”.
That being said, he did list Bambi and Shrek as having the potential to do the same thing, so at least he’s self-aware enough to know the tears could be coming from anywhere. When the title character’s mother dies in Disney’s animated classic, it’s easily one of the most devastating and impactful moments in mainstream cinema history, which has left countless generations of parents to console their blubbering children.
Shrek, maybe not so much, but each to their own. Then again, Hardy almost certainly wasn’t the only one left with their bottom lip quivering in sadness from Dreyfuss’ Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated performance as the self-proclaimed genius in waiting to prepare for the moment of inspiration they’ve waited their whole life for to strike, but it’s obvious from the way he recalls his reaction that he wasn’t quite prepared for that eventuality when he sat down to watch it for the first time.
