John Hillcoat has heaped praise on actor Tom Hardy.
The pair work together for the first time on new movie Lawless - which also stars Shia LeBeouf, Gary Oldman and Jessica Chastain.
The director admits that he was impressed by Hardy's work and found it interesting the way the actor tackled his character.
Speaking to Flicks and Bits the director said: "I kept hearing about this incredible guy called Tom Hardy. I started watching his work, and I was awestruck... he was amazing.
"I could also see Tom and Shia as brothers... Tom's approach was very much about the different emotional textures there were to [his character] Forrest and how distilled and controlled he was.
"It was a unique and fascinating attitude towards the character."
Lawless is the first directorial outing for Hillcoat since The Road back in 2010.
The movie is a big screen adaptation of the novel The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant.
Lawless is released 7th September.