The East End of London has a long memory. If you walk down Vallance Road today, you won’t see the terraced houses that once birthed the most notorious twins in British criminal history, but the ghosts of Ronnie and Reggie Kray still haunt every pub conversation about the "good old days." This obsession with the twins' duality—the charming, business-minded Reggie versus the volatile, schizophrenic Ronnie—is exactly why the cast of the Krays film matters so much. If you get the casting wrong, you don’t just lose the audience; you lose the soul of 1960s Bethnal Green.
Movie history has given us two massive, wildly different attempts at capturing this sibling dynamic. First, we had the 1990 cult classic The Krays, starring real-life brothers Gary and Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet fame. Then, twenty-five years later, Tom Hardy decided to play both parts himself in Legend.
Which one worked? Honestly, it depends on what you’re looking for. Are you after the cold, eerie reality of a mother’s influence, or do you want the high-octane, slightly "cartoonish" violence of a modern blockbuster?
The 1990 Original: Why the Kemp Brothers Still Give Us Chills
When Peter Medak set out to direct The Krays, people were skeptical. You had two pop stars—the guys who sang "True" and "Gold"—stepping into the shoes of the most feared men in London. It sounded like a gimmick. But it wasn’t.
The cast of the Krays film in 1990 benefited from a script by Philip Ridley that leaned heavily into the psychological and the "English Gothic." Gary Kemp played Ronnie, and Martin Kemp played Reggie. Because they were actual brothers, there was an unspoken shorthand between them. They moved alike. They stared alike.
Billie Whitelaw: The Secret Weapon
You can’t talk about this cast without mentioning Billie Whitelaw as Violet Kray. She was the anchor. In real life, the twins were obsessed with their mother, and Whitelaw played her with a terrifying, suffocating warmth. She made you understand how two monsters could be "mummy’s boys" at the same time.
🔗 Read more: A Simple Favor Blake Lively: Why Emily Nelson Is Still the Ultimate Screen Mystery
The supporting cast was a "who’s who" of British character actors. You had Tom Bell as Jack "the Hat" McVitie, looking like a man who knew he was already dead. You had Susan Fleetwood and Victor Spinetti. It felt lived-in. It felt like the East End—gray, damp, and dangerous.
Tom Hardy’s Legend: A One-Man Masterclass or Too Much?
Fast forward to 2015. Brian Helgeland’s Legend took a totally different approach. Instead of finding two actors who looked alike, they hired one of the best physical actors of his generation and told him to go nuts.
Tom Hardy as Reggie is smooth. He’s the movie star. But Tom Hardy as Ronnie is... well, he’s a lot. He’s got the prosthetic teeth, the heavy glasses, and a voice that sounds like he’s gargling gravel and cigarette ash.
The Technical Wizardry
The cast of the Krays film in this version was basically a supporting act to Hardy’s internal dialogue. Using split-screen tech and body doubles, Hardy fought himself in the Casino scene, which remains one of the most technically impressive things in modern British cinema.
But it wasn't just the Hardy show. Look at the others:
💡 You might also like: The A Wrinkle in Time Cast: Why This Massive Star Power Didn't Save the Movie
- Emily Browning as Frances Shea: She’s the narrator. Her tragic, fragile performance is the only thing that keeps the movie from becoming a pure gangster fantasy.
- David Thewlis as Leslie Payne: He plays the twins’ business manager. He brings a dry, panicked energy to the role of a man trying to organize chaos.
- Christopher Eccleston as Nipper Read: The copper obsessed with bringing them down. Eccleston plays him with a grim, joyless determination that perfectly counters the twins' flamboyance.
The Problem with Being Too "Cool"
One thing critics often point out when comparing these casts is the "glamour factor." The Krays were criminals. They were murderers. They were racists and thugs.
Sometimes, when you have a cast of the Krays film that is too handsome—looking at you, 2015 version—the reality of the violence gets lost. The 1990 film felt more visceral. When the Kemps used a sword or a cigarette lighter as a weapon, it felt ugly. In Legend, the violence sometimes feels like a choreographed dance.
Real-life associates of the Krays, like Freddie Foreman (who was played by Paul Bettany’s father, Thane Bettany, in the 1990 version), have often commented on how films struggle to capture the actual atmosphere of the Blind Beggar or the Esmeralda’s Barn. It wasn't always a neon-lit party. Mostly, it was just tense.
Hidden Gems in the Supporting Cast
If you really want to understand the depth of these films, look at the bit parts. In Legend, a young Taron Egerton plays Mad Teddy Smith. Smith was Ronnie’s rumored lover and a loose cannon in his own right. Egerton plays him with a sycophantic, dangerous smirk that really hints at the weird, dark underbelly of the Krays' private lives.
Then you have Paul Bettany in a tiny, uncredited role as Charlie Richardson in Legend. It’s a nod to the rival "Torture Gang" from South London. Even in a few minutes of screen time, Bettany reminds the audience that the Krays weren't the only sharks in the water.
📖 Related: Cuba Gooding Jr OJ: Why the Performance Everyone Hated Was Actually Genius
Which Version Should You Watch?
Honestly, watch both. They are two sides of the same coin.
The 1990 film is a psychological horror movie disguised as a gangster flick. The cast of the Krays film here works because of the uncanny chemistry of the Kemp brothers and the brooding atmosphere. It’s about the womb and the tomb.
The 2015 film is a powerhouse performance. It’s "The Tom Hardy Show." It’s funny, it’s loud, and it’s beautifully shot. If you want to see an actor push himself to the absolute limit of what’s possible with a dual role, this is the one.
Actionable Insights for Fans of the Genre
If you’re diving into the history of the Krays through these films, here are a few ways to get the most out of the experience:
- Watch 'The Krays' (1990) first. It sets the tone and gives you the "legend" in a more traditional, eerie way.
- Look for the contrasts in Ronnie. Pay attention to how Gary Kemp plays Ronnie as a quiet, staring threat versus Hardy’s vocal, booming madness.
- Read 'The Profession of Violence' by John Pearson. This is the source material for Legend. Comparing the real events to how the cast portrays them reveals just how much "artistic license" was taken, especially regarding Reggie’s relationship with Frances.
- Check out 'The Rise of the Krays' and 'The Fall of the Krays' (2015). These are lower-budget films starring Simon Cotton and Kevin Leslie. They aren't as polished, but they focus more on the gritty timeline of their rise to power if you want a more "docu-drama" feel.
The fascination with the Krays isn't going away. As long as we are obsessed with the idea of "the gentleman gangster" and the bond between twins, filmmakers will keep casting new actors to wear the sharp suits and carry the brass knuckles. Whether it's the Kemps or Hardy, the cast of the Krays film always reflects what we want to believe about the East End: that it was a place of fierce loyalty, sharp fashion, and sudden, terrible violence.
If you want to understand the real men behind the movies, look past the stars and into the eyes of the supporting players—the ones playing the victims and the mothers. That's where the truth usually hides.