Even though the character is created using CGI and not performance capture, the role of Venom still requires Tom Hardy to pull double duty. As well as playing Eddie Brock on set, the actor then reacts to his own performance in the recording booth once the digital effects have been added, voicing the symbiote based on responses to his own work.
Of course, Hardy’s vocals are then heavily modulated, but you can still tell that both parts are played by the same person. As you’d expect, that template has been extended towards Woody Harrelson in the sequel, with the villain bringing Cletus Kasady to life in live-action before lending his talents to Carnage in post-production.
However, Harrelson revealed in a recent interview with ComicBook that he initially wanted Venom: Let There Be Carnage director Andy Serkis to fill in on his behalf, before he eventually settled into a groove that allowed him to deliver something everybody was satisfied with.
“It was great. I really enjoyed it…It’s wild, because in a way, you’re playing two characters in one. So there was a lot of discussion about the voice and also discussions with Tom, but obviously with Andy, who directed it. And I just kept messing with the voice, and I was thinking to myself, ‘Who’s going to know the difference, if Andy Serkis did the voice, who’s a master of voices? Why don’t you do it, Andy?’. And no, he was insistent that I do it, but I really… I like how it turned. Obviously, effects are put on the voice, but I really like how it all turned out.”
There’s no shame in asking Andy Serkis to take over, when his turns as The Lord of the Rings‘ Gollum, Planet of the Apes‘ Caesar, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Ulysses Klaue and Star Wars‘ Supreme Leader Snoke have proven his talents, but it makes much more sense for Harrelson to bring Carnage to life on both fronts than his director.