NYCC : Venom : The Last Dance / Q&A with Actors Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple and Director Kelly Marcel

Q :  Well, we’re going to talk about Venom.  Venom: The Last Dance, to be precise. It is coming very soon. These movies are wild. They are crazy. They are like no other Marvel film. They are wildly inventive. They are fun. They are gruesome. And they are anchored by one of the greatest actors on the planet, Tom Hardy. Eddie Brock and the symbiotic, of course, Venom. No other actor could do this. And it’s very exciting to say that this new movie, Venom: The Last Dance, gives exactly I want, which is more of that conflict between the two of them, as only Tom Hardy can do.

This has been quite a journey with this character. Talk to me about what it’s been like to go on a long road through three films with a character that’s become so synonymous with your name, and one that I know you cherish.

Tom Hardy : You’re right. It’s been seven years, this day. I started the day seven years ago, and now it’s nighttime. It’s time to go to sleep. No! I’ve absolutely loved playing Eddie and Venom, and other people … that you don’t know. Again, it’s been one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life, so it’d be sad to see him go.

Q : Kelly, what’s the first step when you guys start to approach a Venom film? Where do you even begin to crafting the story? 

Kelly Marcel : Well, we’re always starting with the comics and the books. Everything starts there. You know, it’s always been about the lethal protector (in the) comics for us.

Q :  Take me a little bit through. As I said, obviously, you’re a co-writer of the story on this one, Tom. You’re very involved in the creative process. When you guys are hashing out the story, what is that like? What is the process like in crafting a Venom story in the writer’s room? 

Tom Hardy :  I come up with these fantastic ideas. [audience chuckles] Like, literally. I have a fantastic idea. I’ve had five already, just as when I started talking. And I’m still having them right now. And then what I’ll do is I’ll talk at Kelly. And I’ll keep talking until Kelly says that’s enough. And then I’m like, yeah, she’s got it. She’s got it all. And then Kelly goes away and comes back with things I never thought of. But it’s all formatted perfectly. And I’ll pat myself on the back.

Q :  Sifting through the genius of Tom Hardy.

Tom Hardy : Filtered through Kelly. My idea turned into something completely different. Is that accurate, Kelly? Would you like to set the record straight or is it spot on?

Kelly Marcel : No, that’s about how it goes. There were some drawings involved as well.

Tom Hardy : Yeah, I draw on the wall.

Q :  You’re doing the drawings too? 

Tom Hardy : 100%.

Q :  Are you a good artist? 

Tom Hardy :  They’re illegible, they’re illegible. It’s like something out of a beautiful mind. Sort of like mind map. And arrows and different colors. And I just hand it. And Kelly just knows what I’m saying.

Q : This is why it’s a beautiful partnership. Talk to me a little bit about… I mean, look, you have been involved in film and TV in different capacities. But why was it important to be a creative partner in these films? As opposed to an actor. And that’s wonderful. To show up on set and do your job. But to also be a creative partner behind the scenes.

Tom Hardy :  I think, you know, I’m a face puller. So it’s not really hard to turn up and pull faces. Acting, for me, is kind of a mimetic art. So that’s a craft in itself. Storytelling is super important from a nucleus point of view for many reasons. If you’re storyteller, you’re going to want to be able to do that. My aperture was through acting. Behind the supposed page or whatever. I think when you have an IP or a character as wonderful and deliciously wicked as Venom.. And you have such a huge talent to partner with.

The opportunity to play and deepen the challenges you can have as an actor. And also understand against the canon of the huge amount of lore there is within the comic books. All the way from Todd McFarlane through to Donny (Cates) and Ryan (Stegman), you have this wonderful place to play. But also challenge yourself on the screen too. So it’s immersive. And obviously it makes it a high level more than playing a character. Because I’m deep in the fibers of it. If that makes sense.

Q :  Yes, it does. Kelly talk to the audience a little bit about where we find Eddie and Venom in this film? How are they doing? How’s this relationship? 

Kelly Marcel :  Yeah, we find them where we left them. At the end of Venom 2. They’ve been exposed to the outside world because of the massive fight in the cathedral. And so now they’re fugitives and they’re on the run. So The Last Dance is kind of a road trip movie. As they’re chased by people from our world. But also people from another world. And the longer they stay together, the more they realize that their being together is putting the whole world in jeopardy.

Q :  And one of the things, one of the many things I’ve loved about these films is obviously surrounding Tom with the finest actors on the planet. And welcome to the Venom world, Chiwetel and Juno, guys. [audience applause} So we can start to peel back the layers a little bit. I feel like for the last decade I talked to Chiwetel, he could never say anything about his characters. But now he can tell me a little bit. Can you say a little bit about who you play in this one, Chiwetel? 

Chiwetel Ejiofor : Yeah, I play, thank you, I play Rex Strickland. And, you know, he is a military man. He is incredibly stringent and forthright in dealing with these creatures. And trying to hold this facility together. And, you know, we kind of work together in a way, working in the same facility. There’s a military side, there’s a scientific side, which Juno runs. And we kind of struggle, I think.

Juno Temple :  We work together, but we don’t agree about how we approach the work together.

Chiwetel Ejiofor : We don’t agree about anything.

Juno Temple : At all.

Q : Friction makes for drama, this is good. We should note also, and I think this room knows it, we’ve had a Dark Knight Rises reunion on stage here. 

Juno Temple : Yeah, but you wouldn’t remember because we didn’t work together.

Tom Hardy : I was like, who’s here?

Juno Temple :  Yeah, and I was in it very briefly. But I think also for me to get to be asked to be a part of this with you guys was something weird. Because I knew how much this meant to you both from the ground up. From where it’s birthed and where it’s gone. And so I think immediately, as an actor, being asked to come and play with you guys in a passion project like this was something I was pretty blown away by.

Nervous as hell. But I remember Kelly telling me, come and have fun. We have fun. And I was like, okay. And I think that’s exactly what it was. You know, it’s something really different for me. I know I’ve dipped my toes in movies like this before, but I never got to spend the time that I did with these guys on a movie like this before. And it was a lot of fun and a lot of learning.

And I get to have a kind of scientific perspective, but with an absolute passion for things from the great beyond. That definitely creates a combative situation with this one here. Which was really fun. I mean, when you get to have these kind of scenes of friction with Chiwetel, it was something that I really treasured. And getting to actually work with Tom was very precious to me this time, too. And our extraordinary director, who handled this movie with such grace and made us all feel so excited to be at work. And it was a lot of night shoots, too. And, yeah. I loved it.

Q : There’s always this fascination, and justifiably so, Tom, in how you do this. How you work with yourself as a screen partner in these films. Is it old hat by now? Is it rewarding in a different way than other kinds of acting? Can you give us a little sense of what it’s like to act with yourself in so many scenes through the Venom films? 

Tom Hardy : Why screw it? I agree with myself, you know? Like, a lot. And that helps. Like, when I go to work with myself, I know exactly what I want to do. I very rarely fall out of myself, you know? So on stage, I think it’s important to get the job done. And then, I’ll have a word with myself later on. If I haven’t done what I intended to do that day. And that will happen in the wash-up. But, it is a bit old hat. I started out talking to myself as a child.

Q : Let’s get back to the beginning. 

Tom Hardy : Yeah, I still talk to myself. And the nice thing about now is I get paid to talk to myself. And I can be bombastic and enigmatic. And I can cloak my inner machinations in a huge visual effects monster. But the actual process is quite technical. So, I’ve got a lad called Patrick. He’s actually the voice of Venom, really. He plays Venom. I voice him, but he watches through the monitor.

With Kelly and anybody else at the director’s tent that wants to chime in on a microphone. I have an earpiece in. And we pre-record all of Venom. And then, I have an earpiece in which I can hear Venom. Nobody else can hear Venom on stage. But I can also hear Kelly as well in my ear. So, we’ll be in the middle of the scene. And she can see me as Eddie Brock.

And hear Venom on the monitor. And I can. This makes no sense to you, does it? It’s bonkers, right? It’s really good. So, now I also have Patrick in my ear as well. So, I’ll be in a scene with Chiwetel or Juno. And simultaneously, we’ll be doing our scene. And Kelly will be in my ear going, Did you get the new sides? And I’ll go, yeah, yeah. But I can’t respond to that. And Venom will go, What’s for lunch?(monster’s voice) And we’ll be doing a scene.

And then, Patrick will also play me music in between takes as well. So, I’ll be listening sometimes to Creedence Clearwater. So, the earpiece is everything. It’s opened up a whole new world. I could get really geeky about this process and talk to you about it. But I just sound like I’m on the spectrum. Because I am. And that’s for you. [gestures to audience}

Q :  We’d gladly be here for hours. But I do want to say, Kelly, your journey through these films has been remarkable too, obviously. Starting as co-screenwriter on the first one. Sole screenwriter on the second one. Obviously now writing and directing this one. And as we well know, sadly, we’re still not seeing enough opportunities for female filmmakers. Let alone female filmmakers in the superhero space. [audience screams] What does it mean for you to go on this journey and now be writer and director of a Venom film?

Kelly Marcel : Yeah, well, obviously it means a lot to me. I’ve been with Tom for those seven years on this journey. So, these films mean everything to us. And so, I was really grateful to Sony for giving me the opportunity to see this one through from inception all the way to the very end. Especially as the last in the trilogy. So, it was a really beautiful experience. And I also really hope that it opens more doors for female directors directing male-led action movies. [audience screams]

Tom Hardy :  Can I just say something? I’ve been working with Kelly since we were 20-something. And it was just going back a bit. And we started out trying to get our first jobs together. We didn’t know each other until we were about 25. But I just want to say that she’s super talented. Like, super talented. And I back her a million percent. I just want to say how hard it is for… A female director is one thing, right? But this is her first film. Okay? So, when you think about that, most film directors will have a student film.They might have done an episode of television. They may have even done an advert. They might have done a music video. She’s done nothing. [Kelly laughs at Tom being sarcastic] Not remotely qualified. No, you’re not. [audience is crying]

Q :  It started so well. 

Tom Hardy : No, no, no. This is even better. No, that’s even better. So, when you watch this, not only is this something we really love. We love the movie.We love the character. We put everything into it. We care about it. But this is somebody’s first step out. So, when you see how epic it is, because it is. It’s the best of all of them. It’s come from us. And we really care. This is also her first ever movie. [audience clapping]

Q :  Now, when we say, the last Venom movie. 

Tom Hardy  : Her last movie as well. [Kelly is laughing hard] That’s showbiz.

Q :  No, wait, wait. How definitive, Kelly. Is this the last Venom movie, truly? 

Kelly Marcel :  This is the last Venom movie. We always saw this as three pictures. And we wanted to tell Eddie and Venom’s story in three movies. And the arc for Venom and Eddie closes here. But, as you know, there are lots of symbiotic stories in the canon. So, there’s lots of places to go. And maybe even there are a few Easter eggs in here that might start that journey off. [audience reacts]

Tom Hardy : And I’m unemployed now.

Q :  We’ve also, look, it’s from the start we’ve wondered Spider-Man and Venom, right? Is there still, can we still see a chance, even not in a Venom film, for those two characters to interact? Do you have hope for that in the future? 

Kelly Marcel :  I would love to see Venom and Spider-Man. But, who knows?

Tom Hardy : I would love to fight Spider-Man. I would like to fight him now. [audience applause]

Q :  Are you talking as Tom or as Venom right now? 

Tom Hardy :  Both, yeah. I’m happy to fight Spider-Man today. Maybe set some rules. You know what I mean? In a movie, 100%. I’m well up for it. So, I would never say never on this. But, you know, as Kelly says, we specifically were set up to create Venom and bring him in a movie format. And that’s what we’ve done. And The Last Dance is the final piece within that trilogy. And we’re super excited about it.

Q : We’re also excited that a lot of talk about Knull. What can we expect of Knull in this film? 

Kelly Marcel :  Knull, this is just the introduction to Knull. Obviously, he’s a massive, massive character. So, you could never be… You could never do one and done with him. So, this is just a little taster of Knull. You’ll get to meet him. And then what the future holds for him, who knows? [audience noise]

Q :  A lot of teases, but nothing can tease the audience better than showing some actual footage. Should we show something? Is there anything to tea up here? Or should we just launch right into some special stuff for the audience?

Kelly Marcel : We should just launch right into it.

Q :  We’re going in. Here we go, guys. Venom: The Last Dance, just for you guys. Cell phones down. Enjoy.

Photo by Nobuhiro Hosoki

If you like the Q&A, share your thoughts below!

Check out more of Nobuhiro’s articles. 

Here’s the trailer of the film.