UFC fighter Conor McGregor inspired Tom Hardy's take on Venom
The actor says he thought of McGregor when creating the character of Eddie Brock.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Actors take their inspiration wherever they can, and Tom Hardy found his in the UFC octagon.
Hardy told Ireland's RTE Entertainment that he based his version of Eddie Brock in the upcoming Venom movie on mixed martial artist Conor McGregor. In Venom, Brock, a journalist, bonds with an alien symbiotic life form to become a creature with amazing power and strength.
"The studio wanted somebody who could fight, which they always do in these sort of hero movies," Hardy told RTE. "They want somebody who can have a scrap. Conor obviously wants to have a scrap with everybody, so that's useful."
He's not calling the Irish fighter a big toothy goo-monster, though. Hardy said it's the human side of the character that he's talking about.
"There were more elements of Eddie Brock which needed to be pinned on somebody who's incredibly handy physically," he explained. "And, obviously, Conor is incredibly handy physically."
The actor said he also took inspiration from such varied characters as Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones and even "the neuroses of Woody Allen." But he doesn't think McGregor would be disturbed by the homage.
"Conor doesn't strike me as the type of person who might be that bothered," he said.
Also on Wednesday, Sony released a brutal 36-second clip from the film, showing Brock turning into Venom and then taking on unsuspecting police officers.
Venom will be released Oct. 4 in Australia and Oct. 5 in the US and UK. On Oct. 6, McGregor will fight undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 in Las Vegas.
