Meet the Man Who Inspired Bane’s Voice in ‘Dark Knight Rises’

Since the 'Dark Knight Rises' prologue previewed for fans in theaters this past Christmas season, there was a lot of controversy surrounding the voice of the film's villain, Bane. No one could understand what the heck this guy was saying. Director Christopher Nolan reportedly tweaked the audio but what remains is still unmistakeably...weird. So where did Tom Hardy come up with this?

Hardy spoke with Vulture on the 'Dark Knight Rises' red carpet last night and revealed that his Bane is based on Bartley Gorman, who he describes as "the king of the gypsies, and he's a boxer, a bare-knuckle boxer, an Irish traveler, a gypsy..." (He's a gypsy, in case you missed that.)  It's likely that Hardy found Gorman when he was researching his role in 'Warrior' as a MMA fighter and used the voice when he joined the cast of 'The Dark Knight Rises.'

If, like us, you're unfamiliar with Gorman, there's this YouTube clip from the documentary 'King of the Gypsies' (he's a gypsy, you know...) that gives you a look, and listen, to the man in action.

It's not quite as uncanny as, say, listening to Tom Waits who inspired Heath Ledger's Joker but you still get a sense of how Hardy made some of his decisions. Even besides the voice, there's a little bit of Gorman in Bane and it's always interesting to hear actors reflect back on their inspirations.