Tom Hardy has revealed a surprise inspiration for his Russian accent in new thriller Child 44: a character on Sesame Street.
The actor, who stars as a secret police agent hunting a killer, attended the premiere of the film last night, along with co-star Noomi Rapace. When asked on the red carpet about the origins of his onscreen Soviet twang, he said: “I watched Sesame Street. The Count speaks just like it”.
His Swedish co-star Noomi Rapace claimed the accent wasn’t difficult for her to master: “I kind of melted into it and stopped thinking about it.”
The varied accents in Child 44 have already come under fire. In his review, the Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw calls it a film “full of actors speaking English with vyery hyeavy Ryussian accyents”. As well as Hardy and Rapace, the film stars British actors Gary Oldman and Paddy Considine, French actor Vincent Cassel and American Jason Clarke.
The film was also banned in Russia earlier this week after their culture ministry denounced it as “historically inaccurate”. The decision was made just days before the release.
