Tom Hardy Playing Twin Gangsters in ‘Legend’

Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) is no stranger to playing English criminals; he’s been a simple crook in Layer Cake, a lovestruck gay gangster in RocknRolla, and a nutty musclebound prisoner in Bronson. But, Hardy may be taking his most interesting approach to the unlawfull – although Bronson is pretty damn unconventional – with his recently confirmed (by the Guardian) role in the upcoming biopic of the Kray twins, Legend. The actor will doubling his workload as he takes on the roles of both notorious gangsters, Ronnie and Reggie Kray.

There’s no word yet on how the film will handle scenes where Ronnie and Reggie appear in the same shot. Perhaps it will take the Social Network route wherein actor Armie Hammer had his face digitally transplanted onto a body double to portray Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

Brian Helgeland will be handling the script. Helgeland has had some past success writing in the realm crime, with L.A. Confidential (1997), Mystic River (2003), and The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009). His most recent work was the Jackie Robinson biopic, 42 (2013).

The Kray twins are some of United Kingdom’s most famous criminals, reaching the height of their notoriety in the 1060’s. They’ve shown up in pop culture numerous times – including a 1990 film The Krays, in which they were played by actual brothers Gary and Martin Kemp, and a Monty Python sketch, “The Piranha Brothers.”

According to the Guardian, Legend “is expected to shoot in the UK later this year.”