--- description: "Everybody's who somebody comes from Brooklyn" title: Why 'The Drop' Is Set in Brooklyn image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Why _The Drop_ Is Set in Brooklyn: Behind the Scenes  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 12, 2014 2:44 PM CUT  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 12, 2014 2:44 PM CUT It’s hard to imagine _The Drop_ taking place anywhere else but Brooklyn, given the borough’s role in the story of a bartender (Tom Hardy) caught in the crosshairs of gang life, but that wasn’t always the case according to the filmmakers. “We looked into a couple locations, but Brooklyn was the one that spoke to all of us,” says screenwriter Dennis Lehane in a exclusive behind-the-scenes video about the film, which also stars the late James Gandolfini (in his final film performance) and Noomi Rapace (Sweden’s _The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo_). “The issues that are underlying some of the characters’ struggles, particularly the death of the old parochial neighborhood, the old neighborhood that defined itself by the Catholic church … that neighborhood is vanishing, and that was a big key to the screenplay.” Another way to put it: _The Drop_ (in theaters now) is about what happens when organized crime meets a Brooklyn neighborhood that _isn’t_ being heralded as the next big trendy hipster haven. Watch up top. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3330663/the-drop-tom-hardy-brooklyn/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3330663/the-drop-tom-hardy-brooklyn/"},"headline":"Why The Drop Is Set in Brooklyn: Behind the Scenes","datePublished":"2014-09-12T14:44:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:08:47.123Z","description":"\"Everybody's who somebody comes from Brooklyn\"","url":"https://time.com/3330663/the-drop-tom-hardy-brooklyn/","keywords":["movies","Brooklyn","Tom Hardy"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3330663/the-drop-tom-hardy-brooklyn/","name":"Why The Drop Is Set in Brooklyn: Behind the Scenes"}}]}] ```