Watch: Tom Hardy's 'Star Trek: Nemesis' Screen Test Vs. Finished Film Footage Comparison Is Awesome

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by Kevin Jagernauth
July 30, 2012 5:16 PM
6 Comments

Before "The Dark Knight Rises," "Inception," "Warrior," "Bronson" and "Rocknrolla," Tom Hardy was at best, a blip on the radar. He was primarily known in his native U.K., but even then, was hardly the star he is now. And indeed, even before all that, the theater actor scored one of biggest opportunities of his early career, the villain role of Praetor Shinzon in "Star Trek: Nemesis." And now, thanks to the interwebs, we can see the talent that helped land him the gig.

Making the rounds is pretty impressive six minute video that cuts together Hardy's screen test with Patrick Stewart with the finished scenes in the film, showing a pretty confident and talented young actor, more than holding his own. The line readings, a bit embellished from time to time, nonetheless show Hardy had the goods even as a young lad. That's all we'll say about it, so just watch below. And as a bonus, after that you can watch a vid of Hardy dropping some verses from KRS-One's "Hip Hop Vs. Rap" with his son Louis strapped to his chest. Can someone please combine these talents into a baddie role that will require Hardy to drop some freestyle jams? Hardy wins all the awards today. [VH1]

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Mr Anonymous | July 31, 2012 8:22 AMReply

OMG! Tom Hardy sounds just like Bane in the screen test vid in the very first scene with Patrick. Amazing!!!
Cinematic_high | August 1, 2012 8:07 PM

Behold the screen test of your liberation!
Sam | July 30, 2012 11:20 PMReply

fell in love with him with Bronson. then forgot about him. then fell in love with him with Warrior. then Bane happened, for fuck's sake.

this video is awesome :)
Jug | July 30, 2012 7:13 PMReply

I saw this some months ago & thought "Damn Hardy is a beast!" I remember liking him when I first saw NEMSIS & wondered who is this dude, hanging toe to toe with Stewart. And with Bane, I think his brilliance has truly shown that he fuels each of his character with a wealth of character antithesis. In Bane, there was such levity & a rare elegance beneath the brutality. Same with his work in INCEPTION. In NEMESIS, just the opposite. Shinzon was all animal, wrapped in a shiny bow of bows courtesies. In ROCK N ROLLA, his crook was extremely boy next door but they were hitters for sure. BIG big fan of Tom, bringing grown ass men back to the screen!
MAL | July 30, 2012 5:50 PMReply

As Spock would say: "Fascinating." What I find truly interesting is that in the test footage, the actors' delivery is far more emotional and thoughtful. I think they unfortunately had the life directed out of them in the final product, especially Hardy -- and that's a shame. It may have made the character that much more interesting on the screen.
Stevo the Magnificent | July 31, 2012 12:12 AM

And the reason for that was Paramount ordered - ORDERED - producer Rick Berman to hire Stuart Baird to direct '...Nemesis' when Baird had not watched a single episode of '...The Next Generation' series and didn't know any of the characters names on-set. Berman wanted Nicholas Meyer, who directed '...The Wrath of Khan' and '...The Undiscovered Country', to helm '...Nemesis', Meyer also insisted working on the script beforehand but writer John Logan had approval on the final script and said no, hence Meyer walked... and the film ended up a mediocre and boring flop, killing the franchise stone dead in the process.