Tom, Hadley and The Tale of Broken Sword
Hadley Fraser :
Tom and I have a big fight basically and the best night that we did that fight though was when I think it was Damian Lewis and Guillermo Del Toro were at the front row, and my sword snaps at the beginning of the fight and I think Tom’s did as well, anyway we just stomps, we sort of look at the stump of the sword, threw them and just have a wrestle instead, like an uncoreographed wrestle.
Tom Hiddleston :
There was one night I was doing coriolanus at the donmar warehouse in London and there’s an intense sword fight at the end of the 1st act. We had this broad swords and it was precisely practiced and choreographed. We had done it 57,58 times and the steel had been compromised in some way, so we connected and the steel sword snapped in half and went like a helicopter blade into thin air somewhere, mercifully not into the audience, to the back wall, and that night happened to be the night that Damian Lewis and Kennett Branagh were in the audience watching and my acting partner and I went into some terrible rendition of amateur wrestling to finish the fight, but afterwards, Damian Lewis came backstage and said oh my God when the sword snapped in half that was amazing! How do you do it every night? I said well Damian, it was not planned.
Review by Darren Ross:
On the night we were present, the big sword fight between Martius and Aufidius saw Mr Hiddleston’s sword (if I recall correctly) break and the blade go flying off, leaving him weaponless. Quick as a flash, Hadley Fraser discarded his own sword and the two embarked on an impromptu wrestling match. So deftly was it done, I had thought it part of the fight choreography!
