Steven Spielberg's Favorite Tom Hardy Performance Is Also The Actor's Most Underrated

When you think about Tom Hardy, which performance stands above the rest? Is it the completely jacked and oddly voiced Bane from "The Dark Knight Rises," the biggest hit of his career? Maybe it's the unhinged title character of "Bronson," the film where he exploded onto Hollywood's radar in 2008? (He had been in films before that, including playing a villain opposite Patrick Stewart in "Star Trek: Nemesis," but "Bronson" took things to the next level.) How about the suave Eames in "Inception," the stoic Max in the famously-difficult-to-make "Mad Max: Fury Road," or the splintered Venom/Eddie Brock personas in the "Venom" trilogy?

If you're Steven Spielberg, the answer is none of the above. In a 2018 interview with LADbible Entertainment, the iconoclastic director singled out a very different Hardy performance as his personal favorite.

"I think 'Peaky Blinders' is wonderful. I mean, Tom Hardy, come on! Is he not a great actor? He is incredible in 'Peaky' — I think 'Peaky Blinders' is my favorite Tom Hardy performance."

Hardy has delivered many memorable performances throughout his 25+ year career. He held the frame by himself in the "one guy in a car" movie "Locke," was a key element in the most powerful imagery of Christopher Nolan's "Dunkirk," played twins in "Legend," and slowly lost his mind as a syphilitic Al Capone in the unconventional biopic "Capone." But I agree with Steven Spielberg: Despite all of the great work he's done for the big screen, Hardy has never been better than when he played Jewish gangster Alfie Solomons in Steven Knight's TV series "Peaky Blinders."

Tom Hardy is an undeniably talented actor, but sometimes it can feel as if he's in a separate film than his co-stars, caught in a furious whirlwind of affectations. But somehow, in "Peaky Blinders," he was able to go "full Tom Hardy," affectations and all — and it worked. Weird voice? Check. Wild eyes? Check. Mesmerizing physicality? You better believe it. Whatever odd steps Hardy took to prepare for this role, the final performance fit perfectly in the context of this show.

"Peaky Blinders" is full of power struggles and cycles of violence, and Hardy may not even be in the top three things that come to mind when you think about the show. But even opposite Cillian Murphy, who gives a titanic, haunted performance as Tommy Shelby in the series, Hardy steals every scene he's in. His character adopts a swagger and seemingly devil-may-care attitude, but it belies the fact that Alfie Solomons is a schemer who's typically at least one step ahead of his opponents. He's an opportunist who's not afraid to turn his back on his allies if he sees the chance for a more advantageous move on the chess board, but over the course of the show, he slowly exhibits signs of genuine friendship for Tommy — not that Alfie would ever admit it. Because he's "just" a supporting player on a long-running TV series, I think his performance is probably underrated at this point. But if you're a fan, you absolutely must seek it out; I truly believe it represents Hardy at the top of his game.

So even though Guy Ritchie's "RockNRolla" might have the best character name of any role Hardy ever played ("Handsome Bob"), the actor's most magnetic performance remains one designed for the small screen.