Tom Hardy has revealed his first photo as Al Capone in Fonzo, the upcoming biopic about the notorious Chicago gangster. Hardy has been one of the busiest actors in Hollywood since his Oscar-nominated best supporting actor turn in 2015’s The Revenant, taking on not only Ridley Scott’s acclaimed TV series Taboo on FX, but a pivotal role in frequent collaborator Christopher Nolan’s Best Picture Oscar-nominated World War II epic Dunkirk and the titular role in Sony’s upcoming Marvel villain tale Venom. And if Venom wasn’t high-profile enough, Hardy stepped up his game even more last October when news broke that he was playing Capone for director Josh Trank.
And while movie fans have yet to see Hardy’s Eddie Brock transform into his symbiote alter-ego following Venom’s first trailer, Hardy isn’t wasting any time in giving his first peek of himself in the guise of Capone in Fonzo now that principal photography on the film is underway, a bit earlier than its reported April 2 start date.
Hardy revealed in a post on his Instagram Saturday the first set photo of Capone as he’s serving time in Alcatraz at age 47. A film that will examine the final years of the Prohibition Era crime boss’ life (Capone died on September 25, 1947 at age 48), Hardy’s version of the gangster, also known as “Scarface,” keys in on Capone’s dementia (caused by neurosyphilis) and, according to the production, how “his past becomes present as harrowing memories of his violent and brutal origins melt into his waking life.” Hardy revealed little else in the post about his first photo of Capone, other than saying, “Chasing Fonzo,” followed by a string of emojis. See his post below:
While no release date is attached to Fonzo yet, it will be interesting to see how soon the independent production picks up a U.S. distributor and whether the film will be ready in time for awards season in the fall. Just from the first-look photo alone, Fonzo appears to be yet another transformative role for Hardy, much in the way he channeled intense, violent energy into his frightening turn as John Fitzgerald opposite Leonard DiCaprio in The Revenant.
While Hardy is pictured as a worn-down Capone ravaged by illness about a year before his death, the film’s brief, official description appears to open up the narrative to plenty of flashback scenes where he plays the younger gangster during his stranglehold of power, thus giving the actor plenty of opportunity to show more of his already impressive range. Perhaps most fascinating for moviegoers and history buffs, though, will be Hardy’s portrayal of the Capone in his waning years, since most portrayals of Capone – including Robert De Niro’s furious turn as the brutal mobster in The Untouchables – have focused on the man also known as Public Enemy No. 1 during the Prohibition years.
Source: Tom Hardy
