FX premiered an ambitious new series this midseason with Taboo. The show stars Tom Hardy as James Delaney, who returns to Britain with fourteen stolen diamonds after 12 years in Africa, and the first season has been filled with plenty of action, mystery, and melodrama so far. As it happens, Tom Hardy has also brought quite a quirk to his character. James Dulaney has the habit of grunting and growling his way through scenes, and one Taboo fan online took the time to compile a video of every grunt from the first five episodes. Fair warning: once you see the supercut of Tom Hardy grunting, you really can't un-see it. Prepare yourself, and take a look!
Many Taboo viewers may have noticed for themselves by this point that Tom Hardy does a lot of grunting as James Delaney, but there's a difference between knowing that he does something and watching him do it more than 70 times in the span of 39 seconds. Kudos to the person who compiled the video for YouTube. It must have taken a lot of work and a lot of patience to put all the clips together.
The supercut is an effective demonstration of Tom Hardy's range as an actor. He can grunt in recognition, curiosity, amusement, pain, and confusion. I'm pretty sure I even spotted a lusty grunt or two in there. Who knew just how much he could do with vague vocalizations on camera? If there was an Emmy category for best grunting, I'd say that Tom Hardy was all but guaranteed a win.
Of course, the grunts and growls aren't the only things that make Taboo such an entertaining watch each week. The setting in the early 19th century allows for some drama that is rarely seen elsewhere on the small screen, and the dynamic characters have already formed fascinating (and sometimes uncomfortable) relationships. The show is a labor of love for Tom Hardy, who co-created and executive produces Taboo on top of starring.
Taboo got off to a solid start when it debuted in January, and while there has been no official announcement of a Season 2, co-creator Steven Knight seems pretty certain that James Dulaney's journey will continue after the conclusion of Season 1. We'll have to watch, wait, and see. There are still a couple of episodes left in Season 1, which means that Hardy has plenty of time to blow our minds (and eardrums) with grunts.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for the latest in TV news. You can catch new episodes of Taboo (complete with plenty of scripted and unscripted Tom Hardy vocalizations) on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX. Take a look at our midseason TV premiere schedule to see what else you can watch on the small screen, and don't forget to check out our 2017 Netflix premiere schedule.
