Tom Hardy has defended his bizarre accent in his new movie The Bikeriders.

The British actor stars alongside Austin Butler and Jodie Comer in Jeff Nichols’s new film, which follows a motorcycle club as it transforms into a violent organised crime syndicate in America’s Midwest.

After the trailer was released in September, social media users were baffled by Hardy’s “absurd” and “incredibly strange” accent, and he has now addressed critics of his vocal work.

“With vocal silhouettes and camouflage and playing with that, why not swing big? So if you fall, it doesn’t matter. My job is about being humiliated, if I make a mistake, that’s cool,” he told Fandango.

“I get sometimes it’s a little bit too much for some people, that’s cool, but for the way I operate, it’s super important to try and find something different because I can’t keep changing up – I’m just one person – so you have to try.”

Hardy told the outlet that his character Johnny’s accent was inspired by Marlon Brando as well as cartoon characters Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny.

However, he noted that the accent is just one part of building a character.

“I do like to play with accents because I think some people are very phonetic sensitive about accents, like they have to be really specific, and I get that 100%, but I also think that there’s a leeway,” he explained. “When you’re trying to create a character, it’s not just the voice, it’s the way someone moves, it’s the way that they look, the way that they infer, the way that their face moves, their shadow moves, their ticks, the walk, everything is connected.

“A voice on its own is not really character. So I do play in the world because I think you can get away with a lot of leeway and in return you adopt more character than staying absolutely accurate (with the voice).”

The Bikeriders will be released in cinemas on Friday.

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