The Bikeriders rides into cinemas this week, marking the first time that Tom Hardy and Austin Butler have worked together on screen.
Hardy plays Johnny, the head of Chicago outlaw motorcycle club Vandals MC, which Butler's Benny is a part of. Benny looks up to Johnny, but also finds himself having to choose between his loyalty to the club and his partner Kathy (Jodie Comer).
Talking to Digital Spy, Hardy was full of praise for rising star Butler and is already looking to the future.
"He's awesome. He's a really generous, sensitive soul, and a very capable artist. He's got a lot to say and to do in his life. I hope to get to work with him again, I think he's brilliant," he enthused.
Based on the book of the same name by Danny Lyon, the focus of The Bikeriders on the club sees the movie explore masculinity and not always in the ways you'd expect.
For writer/director Jeff Nichols, that was entirely the point.
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"People come into this film with an idea of what they think these people are. What's interesting is when you find out they're possibly a bit more, possibly a bit more complicated, more dynamic," Nichols told Digital Spy.
"That's how I felt when I entered the world of Danny Lyon's book, is that I might have had some judgments here, and now these people are talking in a way that I identify with. Then it becomes interesting. Masculinity is difficult to define."
Hardy added: "I think also when you start looking underneath something you understand the connection between the human beings and how they operate."
Following its premiere at last year's Telluride Film Festival, The Bikeriders debuted with a strong 89% on Rotten Tomatoes. It's since dipped slightly to a still-decent 84% ahead of its cinema release.
The movie also stars Norman Reedus, Challengers star Mike Faist, Michael Shannon, Boyd Holbrook and Damon Herriman.
The Bikeriders is released in cinemas on June 21.
Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.
Mireia (she/her) has been working as a movie and TV journalist for over eight years. Based in the UK, she is a former deputy movies editor at Digital Spy, and previously worked for the Spanish magazine Fotogramas. Mireia's work has been published in other outlets such as Esquire and Elle in Spain, and WeLoveCinema and GamesRadar+ in the UK. She is also a published author, having written the essay Biblioteca Studio Ghibli: Nicky, la aprendiz de bruja about Hayao Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service.
During her years as a freelance journalist and film critic, Mireia has covered festivals around the world and has interviewed high-profile talents such as Kristen Stewart, Ryan Gosling, Jake Gyllenhaal and many more. She's also taken part in juries such as the FIPRESCI jury at Venice Film Festival and the short film jury at Kingston International Film Festival in London. LinkedIn
