Christopher Nolan Explains Why He Likes to Cover Tom Hardy's Face in Films

Mike Miller
Updated
Christopher Nolan Explains Why Tom Hardy's Face Is Covered in So Many Films

Fans of Tom Hardy’s face are finally getting an answer as to why it always seems to be covered up in his films.

Whether he’s sporting a scraggly beard like in The Revenant, or metal face masks like in Mad Max and The Dark Knight Rises, the actor’s mug always seems to be obscured onscreen.

The pattern holds true for his new film Dunkirk, in which Hardy’s face is hidden behind a pilot’s air mask. Now, Christopher Nolan, who directed him in The Dark Knight Rises and Dunkirk, is offering an explanation for the choice.

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

By covering Hardy’s face with the pilot’s mask, Nolan felt like he was upping the ante. “I thought let’s see what he can do with no forehead, no real eyebrows, maybe one eye,” he added.

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

Dunkirk is in theaters now.