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In the midst of talking about the final film in the Venom trilogy, star Tom Hardy revealed to the thousands of fans gathered to see him at New York Comic Con 2024 that the process by which he plays Venom is a lot more complex than people might realize.

All of Venom’s dialogue is pre-recorded, Hardy explains, and he wears an earpiece which allows him to hear that dialogue. “I can hear Venom, but no one else can hear Venom on stage.”

But in the director’s tent there is a microphone which allows director Kelly Marcel to talk to Hardy during the scene, as well as Patrick Anderson, the sound engineer who is responsible for the Venom playback. “He plays Venom—I voice him, but he watches through the monitor” and talks to Hardy as needed.

So yes, there are literally voices in Hardy’s head as he performs. “It’s a little bonkers, but it’s really good,” Hardy told the crowd. “I’ll be in a scene with Chiwetel [Ejiofor] or Juno [Temple] and we’ll be doing that scene, and Kelly will be in my ear going ‘Did you get the new sides for this?’ and I’m like ‘Yeah, yeah,’ but I can’t respond to that, and Venom will say something like ‘WHAT’S FOR LUNCH?’”

In between scenes Anderson will also pipe in music. Hardy’s band of choice? CCR. “The ear piece is everything, it’s opened up a whole new world.”

Listening to himself, Hardy admitted, “I can get really geeky about this process, but I just sound like I’m on  spectrum… because I am,” he added, laughing, to cheers from the audience. 

Venom: The Last Dance is in theaters now. 

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