Tom Hardy plays Brummie in new Steve Knight film

Birmingham-born film director Steven Knight’s new film Locke, stars Hollywood heavyweight Tom Hardy as a Brummie tradesman and is set on the M1 motorway around the city.

Speaking to Empire magazine about his inspiration for the film, the 54-year-old filmmaker – and creator of TV series Peaky Blinders – explained, “The first time I thought of doing this movie was on the way back from Birmingham. Being driven, I was half asleep, and waking up to see the M1 in the rain. It looked beautiful. I realise full well that I might be a nutcase.”

The thriller stars Hardy as Ivan Locke, a man who puts his career on the line by deciding to drive across the country making a series of phone calls that may ttransform his life when he reaches his destination.

Construction foreman Locke abruptly leaves an important job in Birmingham before driving down to London. Along the way, he tries to settle stressful personal and professional problems on his mobile phone while having imaginary conversations with his long deceased father.

The film’s 90-minute running time is largely dominated by shots of Tom Hardy in a car, but also features the voices of actors Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson and Andrew Scott.

Actor Hardy, who played Batman’s arch nemesis Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, is expected to continue his collaboration with director and screenwriter Steven Knight by appearing in the second series of Birmingham-based Peaky Blinders and in Knight’s new BBC drama Taboo, on which they are collaborating with Ridley Scott.

Discussing his favourite bit of motorway in relation to Locke, Knight said: “I like going back to Brum, so when I get to the very unglamorous Chelmsley Wood housing estate on the M6, my heart skips a beat.”

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Locke is out in cinemas on Friday 18th April.

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