Tom Hardy has traded Hollywood for the recording booth — and he’s doing it under a name almost as unexpected as the move itself.
The actor has released a rap album with Czarface under the pseudonym Frankie Pulitzer, officially adding rapper to a résumé already packed with major acting roles.
Czarface was formed by Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck alongside 7L & Esoteric, putting Hardy in the studio with established names from the hip-hop world.
And the guest list makes the project even more surprising.
One of the tracks features Busta Rhymes and Method Man, giving Hardy’s rap debut some serious hip-hop company.
The Frankie Pulitzer name also has a fitting connection to Hardy’s screen career. The actor is famously known for playing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, as well as Venom in the Venom franchise — but this time, he’s stepping into a completely different kind of performance.
Hardy, however, isn’t completely new to rap.
Back in 2011, he revealed in an interview that he had secured a record deal as a rapper when he was just 15 years old. He was also candid about his early ambitions, admitting, “Because I come from a nice middle-class neighbourhood, it was a very hard sell. And I wasn’t very good!”
At the time, Hardy also discussed his longtime friend Peanut, whom he described as a talented MC from the South Bronx. The actor said they continued to make music together and suggested that some of their work could eventually find its way into a film or one of his characters.
More than a decade later, Hardy has finally given that musical side of himself a much bigger stage.
Under the Frankie Pulitzer persona, he’s now sharing an entire project with Czarface — complete with collaborations involving Busta Rhymes and Method Man.
For an actor who once joked about not being very good at rap, Frankie Pulitzer is a surprisingly real chapter in Tom Hardy’s career — and one that has been a long time coming.
