Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images

The early word on Bane, as played by Tom Hardy in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises, was that the villain didn’t speak too clearly. As in, no one could understand what he was saying, and Nolan adjusted the sound mix in order to make Bane more intelligible. The comprehension issues are all cleared up, but Bane’s voice is still unusual, and so when Vulture caught up with Hardy at last night’s Dark Knight Rises premiere, we asked him to explain the inspiration. “It’s based on a guy named Bartley Gorman,” he told us. (So, not Mr. Belevedere?) “He’s the king of the gypsies, and he’s a boxer, a bare-knuckle boxer, an Irish traveler, a gypsy.” If you are unfamiliar with the legend of Bartley Gorman, a clip from his 1995 documentary is below; the accent does not disappoint.