Andy Serkis Reveals How Tom Hardy Basically Played Two Roles At Once In Venom

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Tom Hardy didn’t just play Eddie Brock in Venom . He also played Venom , but not in the traditional sense. No motion capture suit, no green screen buddy system — just pure method madness.

And according to director Andy Serkis , Hardy’s process for bringing Venom to life was so inventive, it impressed even a guy who basically invented modern motion capture acting.

During a recent panel at Fan Expo Philadelphia 2025 , Serkis dished on how Hardy brought both halves of the symbiotic duo to life — and it turns out, he did more than just talk to thin air. He treated Venom like a real co-star.

“Tom [Hardy] is so brilliantly inventive,” said Serkis.
“His process for creating Venom was to record Venom’s dialogue first, and then be able to place him in the room wherever he wanted — because obviously, symbiotically, he can appear anywhere and move around.”

In other words: Hardy acted as both Eddie Brock and Venom, directing where the CGI character should be in each scene before filming even began. Then Serkis would adjust framing and camera angles accordingly, making sure the invisible alien goo-buddy looked like he was actually there.

It’s like doing improv with yourself — while staring at a tennis ball and pretending it’s a monster. But somehow, Hardy made it work.

💬 A Double Act Without A Partner

Venom isn’t just a character — he’s a relationship. One man, one symbiote, and a whole lot of internal arguing. And that means whoever plays Eddie Brock has to do double duty:

Deliver lines to an empty space like it’s a real person
React emotionally to something only exists in post-production
And occasionally pretend to argue with himself like a guy who forgot his meds

Hardy pulled it off with flair, often recording Venom’s voice separately, then reacting to it on set like it was a full-on conversation. And get this — in Venom: Let There Be Carnage , Hardy voiced both Eddie and Venom , with only minimal help from longtime voice actor Brad Venable in the first film.

It’s almost like watching a one-man Shakespearean performance… except one of the characters eats people and screams “Eddie!” every five minutes.

🎥 Behind The Scenes Magic (Or Madness?)

Serkis, a legend in the world of performance capture thanks to roles like Gollum and Caesar, admitted that Hardy’s approach gave the team a ton of creative freedom — especially when planning shots.

“He had so much freedom to have that other part of himself,” Serkis explained.

Which sounds poetic until you realize what that really means:

Hardy would literally walk around set like Venom was standing next to him
He’d decide where Venom should be in each scene — sometimes behind a couch, sometimes halfway up a wall
And he’d deliver Venom’s lines with such conviction, crew members started believing the suit was real

This kind of improvisational technique helped guide the cinematography and editing teams, ensuring that the final product felt natural — not like two separate performances awkwardly stitched together in post.

🎬 What Could’ve Been: No Spider-Man, No Justice

Despite the success of the trilogy — which raked in over $1.6 billion worldwide — fans still feel cheated that Tom Hardy’s Venom never crossed paths with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man .

Especially after seeing how well Hardy handled the dual roles — and knowing that Sony originally teased a crossover — the missed opportunity still stings.

And now, with Venom: The Last Dance officially wrapping up the trilogy, and Sony shifting focus to Kraven the Hunter (which flopped hard), it looks like the Spider-Man Universe of Marvel Characters (SUMC) is quietly being mothballed.

Meanwhile, the MCU’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day moves forward without any mention of a certain black-suited anti-hero.

So yeah — we’ll never know what could’ve been.

🧠 Final Thoughts: Hardy Was The Heart Of Venom

While the Venom movies weren’t exactly Oscar material, they succeeded in one major way: making audiences care about a talking alien slime suit .

And that’s mostly due to Tom Hardy’s commitment . He didn’t just act opposite a CGI blob — he built a relationship with it. He gave Venom personality , timing , and weird charm . And in doing so, he proved that sometimes, the best performances are the ones you can’t see — only feel.

Let’s hope future superhero actors take notes.