Written By: Nick Poulimenakos

Tom Hardy has become a go-to actor for Christopher Nolan. Appearing in Inception, The Dark Knight Rises and Dunkirk, it’s no secret that Nolan loves working with the actor. But Nolan loves doing something with Tom Hardy that caused a bit of a trend for the actor. Nolan seems to love covering Hardy’s face. As Bane in TDKR, he wore a mask and now, as the Dunkirk pilot, Hardy again wears a mask. Fans have been questioning why Nolan keeps doing this to Hardy and now we finally have an answer. In an interview with the Independent, Nolan jokingly said that he loved Hardy’s TDKR’s performance so much, he strived to give Hardy a role with even less facial showcase.

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

As stated above, yes this is a joke but considering Hardy’s roles since The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan might have inadvertently kick-started a requirement for Hardy’s castings. In The Revenant, Hardy had a sizeable beard that covered at least half of his face while his role in Mad Max: Fury Road had the actor with a metal mask for the entire first act. It would appear that all of Hardy’s best roles have only half his face in it.

Nolan then goes on to praise Hardy’s acting and states that the fact that he can do so much with a film showing almost none of his face is just a testament to the kind of actor he is.

“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 is in theatres everywhere now.