Tom Hardy Walked Off Set Over Script Disagreements in ‘Venom’—Here’s Why

Tom Hardy’s portrayal of Eddie Brock and the voice of Venom in Sony’s Venom (2018) and its sequels, including Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and Venom: The Last Dance (2024), marked a major milestone in the superhero genre. As the franchise continues to evolve, Hardy’s journey through physically demanding stunts, complex character duality, and creative challenges has been well-documented. In interviews, he has openly shared the difficulties he faced while filming the trilogy, focusing on the physical injuries, the unique acting challenges, and the creative tensions that shaped his experience.

Physical Challenges and Injuries

Arguably, one of the biggest obstacles Hardy faced during the making of Venom was the physical toll the production took on him. According to an interview with Esquire in 2021, Hardy revealed that he needed two knee surgeries following an on-set injury while filming the first Venom movie. He described his knees as “fucked” and noted that the injury was severe enough to require significant recovery time. Remarkably, Hardy was just eight weeks into his recovery when production for Venom: Let There Be Carnage began, putting him in a difficult position where he had to continue working through the physical strain.

Sources from Screen Rant and CinemaBlend corroborated Hardy’s account, stating that the injury led to extended downtime and surgeries, underlining the intense physical demands of action-oriented filmmaking. While the specific incident that led to the injury remains unclear, it’s evident that the physical challenges of performing stunts and embodying the symbiote character were significant hurdles. The overlap between recovery and filming schedules added to the complexity of the situation, making the physical demands of the Venom films a defining aspect of Hardy’s experience.

Acting Challenges: Playing Dual Roles

Beyond the physical hurdles, Hardy’s role required him to tackle the creative challenge of playing dual roles: Eddie Brock, a disgraced journalist, and Venom, the alien symbiote that shares his body. In interviews, including one with Daily Actor, Hardy explained the excitement he felt in playing these two contrasting characters, noting the differences in their ethical frameworks. He compared the experience to acting out mental illness, an approach that added layers of depth to his performance but also posed significant challenges.

The voice acting for Venom, in particular, was one of the most demanding aspects of this dual role. According to CinemaBlend, Hardy would record his vocals in the morning, and then act opposite those recorded lines during filming. This required coordination with a technician who would cue Venom’s voice from below the stage, while the other actors had to respond to a voice they couldn’t hear. This technical setup made it more difficult to maintain the necessary timing and emotional responses during scenes. Hardy also worked with additional voice actor Brad Venable, who provided supplemental vocals for Venom, making the voice creation process even more intricate.

This layered approach to voice acting added to the mental strain Hardy faced. The necessity of interacting with a character that was both physically present and vocally absent created a unique challenge in maintaining the flow of the performance.

Creative and Production Challenges

In addition to the physical and acting difficulties, Hardy also faced creative challenges that added another layer of stress to the filming process. In 2018, Daily Mail reported that Hardy walked off set due to frustrations with the script, which suggested creative tensions between him and the production team. This was further compounded by his comments in a People magazine interview, where he revealed that some of his favorite scenes, which featured “mad puppeteering” and dark comedy, were cut during post-production. Hardy’s disappointment with the loss of these scenes likely contributed to his challenging experience on set, as it reflected a tension between his creative vision and the final product.

Comparative Analysis: Physical vs. Acting Challenges

While both the physical and acting challenges were substantial, evidence suggests that Hardy found the physical toll of filming to be the most difficult aspect. The knee surgeries and recovery process, which overlapped with the filming schedule for Venom: Let There Be Carnage, clearly took a significant toll on Hardy. His candid description of his knees as “fucked” in the Esquire interview highlights the severity of the injury, indicating that the physical demands were perhaps the toughest challenge he faced.

However, Hardy’s comments about the acting challenges suggest that, while demanding, they were also an exciting creative opportunity. Portraying the duality of Eddie Brock and Venom provided Hardy with a unique acting challenge, but it wasn’t a hardship in the same way as his physical injuries. The voice work, despite its complexity, seemed more like an intriguing puzzle than an obstacle to overcome.

Conclusion

Tom Hardy’s experience filming the Venom trilogy offers a compelling look into the demanding nature of modern action filmmaking. From the physical toll of his knee injuries to the creative challenges of portraying a dual role, Hardy’s journey was filled with hurdles that tested his physical and mental limits. Ultimately, his performance in Venom remains one of the most iconic portrayals in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, showcasing his ability to overcome both physical and creative obstacles in order to bring Eddie Brock and Venom to life in a way few actors could.