East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Image: STUDIOCANAL

 

Actor Tom Hardy is playing East End gangsters the Krays in a new biopic.

The Dark Knight Rises and Inception star is appearing as both Reggie and Ron, portraying their intense relationship and the extraordinary events which secured the infamy of the Kray twins.

Tom, 36, will head up a stellar cast, which includes Christopher Eccleston and David Thewlis, as well as Australian actress Emily Browning and Chazz Palminteri.

Production has already started on the Brian Helgeland written and directed film, and eagle-eyed residents of Essex and east London have spotted filming in the areas, specifically outside Turner’s Old Star pub in Wapping.

As heads of notorious criminal gang The Firm, Hoxton-born the Krays were behind a number of armed robberies, murders, arson attacks and protection rackets up until their arrest in 1968. 

Ronnie died from a heart attack in prison in 1995, while Reggie passed away after losing his fight with terminal cancer, eight weeks after he was granted release on compassionate grounds because of his illness.

This isn’t the first time their story has been told on film, with real life brother Martin and Gary Kemp playing the title roles in the ‘90s.