Bryan Alexander

USA TODAY

It was shortly after their first meeting on the Brooklyn set of The Drop that Tom Hardy and James Gandolfini had to shoot a pivotal, intense scene together.

But director Michaël Roskam had plenty of confidence in the duo for the drama about the underground crime world (due out Sept. 19).

"In that meeting, I could see there was a bit of a smile between them. It was like, 'We're going to nail this, right?' " says Roskam. "And they did this intense scene and were just spot on. There was a beautiful connection between those two guys."

Gandolfini's performance was his last for the big screen, as the actor died of a heart attack at age 51 during an Italian vacation last June, just months after filming The Drop.

Roskam, who was nominated for a best-foreign-language Oscar for his 2011 Belgian drama Bullhead, believes the iconic star of The Sopranos was continuing to break into new territory in the suspenseful drama, showing a different kind of vulnerability.

The story focuses on Hardy's Bob Saginowski, a former criminal trying to straighten out his life as the bartender at a place that also serves as a money "drop" for local gangsters. He works alongside his cousin Marv (Gandolfini), another former criminal. Bob's attempt at a normal life with a rescued pit bull puppy and his girlfriend (Noomi Rapace) falls apart when he finds himself in the center of a robbery gone wrong, committed by a thug (Matthias Schoenaerts).

Dennis Lehane, whose novels were the basis for gritty, urban American movies such as Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River, took on his first screenplay in The Drop. He was not surprised to see the British-born Hardy (best known as Bane from The Dark Knight Rises) emerge as a Brooklynite.

"Tom was intensely inquisitive," says Lehane. "He mined every single piece of marrow out of that character."

Lehane lobbied hard to make sure Gandolfini signed onto the project.

"There are certain guys out there that are exceptionally rare who can completely feel this type of guy in their bones," says Lehane. Gandolfini could "speak with a sort of music of the urban experience and do it effortlessly."

Roskam says Hardy and Gandolfini were clearly so proud of their work that they would hang out together on set as if savoring the moment.

"It didn't hurt that we shot the movie in a bar," says Roskam, "I would look over my shoulder and see them sitting together at a table laughing and making jokes."

Gandolfini, who was "so full of life on the set," was never able to see the finished product. But Roskam says the film will be dedicated to his memory.

"I think we were ready for a new Gandolfini chapter," says Roskam. "He was a little older. And he had the gray hair and the beard. A new Gandolfini was emerging. Unfortunately, we are not going to be able to see more of it. But I am happy that we had this beautiful glimpse."