Tom Hardy, godDAMN.
I'm probably the last person in the world to come across this audio file, but here it is anyway:
Tom Hardy - I Am Addicted
In case you HAVEN'T heard this, I strongly suggest you go have a listen (it's only about a minute long) before reading my thoughts below.
...and when I say "spoilers", I mean it in a somewhat unconventional yet rather accurate way.
When I first listened to this clip, it was a total mystery: I came across the link on Twitter and had absolutely zero context for it. I listened to the mp3 at least a dozen times in a row (because oh, his VOICE!) before I even began to wonder what it could be: an excerpt from an audio book, or a poem? Narration from an artsy movie or a video game? Or maybe a monologue from a radio play, or - hey, you name it. Basically, I thought of it as one colossal tease: as soon as I heard the clip, I wanted to learn everything else there was to know about the speaker - his drive, his dreams, his sins, his challenges and victories, his desires and demons. I wanted the whole novel from which originated such a delicious excerpt. And if I could get it read to me in Tom Hardy's FUCKING MAGNIFICENT voice, that would be beyond awesome, of course; but I figured I'd settle for any format. This was a story I wanted to read in its entirety, and he totally sold me on it.
So I did a search and within 15 seconds learned that the audio was... alas... a commercial for a sports shoe. :\ It's kind of impossible not to feel dumb, right? In hindsight, it's clear that the text is painfully literal (about the actual act of running! blah!) instead of richly, gorgeously metaphorical as I found it before, when all I had to go on was the mini-story itself and the performer's voice. And this is the perfect example of an actor's skill elevating text to the level of art: in Tom Hardy's voice, the object of the actual commercial is irrelevant and mundane - but the speaker to whom he lends his voice is a FREAKIN' INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY who makes you wanna crawl under his skin and either have or witness an epic bad romance during his mad chase around the world and... basically, I still want MORE. In fact, I'm kind of pissed off at Nike for not selling THAT, because fuck shoes - I want what they actually advertised.
SIGH. He is totally too good for marketing work.
Anyway, I plan to ignore the context and think of this audio clip as a teaser - a prompt, if you will - and continue with my fantasy of filling up a swimming pool with Tom Hardy's voice, diving in, and doing the breast stroke for the next decade. *cough*
(And if he ever does an audio book, it might actually KILL ME. Just saying.)
Tom Hardy - I Am Addicted
In case you HAVEN'T heard this, I strongly suggest you go have a listen (it's only about a minute long) before reading my thoughts below.
...and when I say "spoilers", I mean it in a somewhat unconventional yet rather accurate way.
When I first listened to this clip, it was a total mystery: I came across the link on Twitter and had absolutely zero context for it. I listened to the mp3 at least a dozen times in a row (because oh, his VOICE!) before I even began to wonder what it could be: an excerpt from an audio book, or a poem? Narration from an artsy movie or a video game? Or maybe a monologue from a radio play, or - hey, you name it. Basically, I thought of it as one colossal tease: as soon as I heard the clip, I wanted to learn everything else there was to know about the speaker - his drive, his dreams, his sins, his challenges and victories, his desires and demons. I wanted the whole novel from which originated such a delicious excerpt. And if I could get it read to me in Tom Hardy's FUCKING MAGNIFICENT voice, that would be beyond awesome, of course; but I figured I'd settle for any format. This was a story I wanted to read in its entirety, and he totally sold me on it.
So I did a search and within 15 seconds learned that the audio was... alas... a commercial for a sports shoe. :\ It's kind of impossible not to feel dumb, right? In hindsight, it's clear that the text is painfully literal (about the actual act of running! blah!) instead of richly, gorgeously metaphorical as I found it before, when all I had to go on was the mini-story itself and the performer's voice. And this is the perfect example of an actor's skill elevating text to the level of art: in Tom Hardy's voice, the object of the actual commercial is irrelevant and mundane - but the speaker to whom he lends his voice is a FREAKIN' INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY who makes you wanna crawl under his skin and either have or witness an epic bad romance during his mad chase around the world and... basically, I still want MORE. In fact, I'm kind of pissed off at Nike for not selling THAT, because fuck shoes - I want what they actually advertised.
SIGH. He is totally too good for marketing work.
Anyway, I plan to ignore the context and think of this audio clip as a teaser - a prompt, if you will - and continue with my fantasy of filling up a swimming pool with Tom Hardy's voice, diving in, and doing the breast stroke for the next decade. *cough*
(And if he ever does an audio book, it might actually KILL ME. Just saying.)