20 Most Intense Movie Performances Of All Time

11. Ronnie Kray (Tom Hardy) - Legend

Tom Hardy is pretty much the modern intense actor of choice, having made a name for himself with physically imposing - often vocally idiosyncratic - hulk-men like Tommy Riordan Conlon, Bane, Bronson, Forrest Bondurant and Mad Max. And while he's been more memorable in flashes in other performances, he's never been as good or as terrifying as he in Kray Twins biopic Legend.

As Reggie, he's disarmingly charming - the archetypal gentleman gangster (at least at first) - whose criminal activity feels like only a career. On the other hand, his brother Ronnie is a gorilla in a suit, bred for the bloodier, meaner side of the gangster "trade". He bemoans the softening of it, the abandonment of a time when you could just have a "proper shoot-out" to solve everything.

And as likeable as Reggie is, Ronnie is impossible. Impossible to watch and impossible to resist. He's occasionally hilarious, always terrifying and deeply, deeply troubled. Looking back, it's remarkable that Hardy was even able to commit both performances at the same time - so taxing both must have been on him.