Tom Hardy

Edward Thomas 'Tom' Hardy (born 15 September 1977) is an English actor. Hardy made his feature film debut in the war film Black Hawk Down in 2001. His other notable films include the science fiction film Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), the crime film RocknRolla (2008), the biographical psychological drama Bronson (2008), the science fiction thriller Inception (2010), the sports drama Warrior (2011), the Cold War espionage film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), the crime drama Lawless (2012) and the drama Locke (2013). He has also portrayed the villain Bane in the superhero film The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and "Mad" Max Rockatansky in the post-apocalyptic film Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).

Hardy's television roles include the HBO war drama TV miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), the BBC historical drama miniseries The Virgin Queen (2005), ITV's Wuthering Heights (2008), BBC British historical crime drama television series Peaky Blinders (2013) and the drama series The Take (2009).

Hardy has also performed as a theatre actor on British and American stages. He was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his role as Skank in the 2003 production of In Arabia We'd All Be Kings and was awarded the 2003 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for his performances in both In Arabia We'd All be Kings and for his role as Luca in Blood. He starred in the 2007 production of The Man of Mode and received positive reviews for his role in the 2010 Philip Seymour Hoffman-directed play The Long Red Road.

Born      Edward Thomas Hardy, 15 September 1977 (age 37), Hammersmith, London, England

Alma mater         Richmond Drama School

Occupation         Actor

Years active        2001–present

Spouse(s)             Sarah Ward (1999–2004)

                              Charlotte Riley (2014–present)

Children               1

Early years

Hardy was born in Hammersmith, London, the only child of Anne (née Barrett) and Edward "Chips" Hardy. He was brought up in East Sheen. His mother is an artist and painter whose family was of Irish descent, and his father is a novelist and comedy writer. Hardy studied at Tower House School and Reed's School, then at Richmond Drama School, and subsequently at the Drama Centre London.

Career

1998–2009

In 1998, Hardy won The Big Breakfast‍‍ '​‍s Find Me a Supermodel competition at age 21 (and with it a brief contract with Models One). Hardy joined Drama Centre London in September 1998, and was taken out early after winning the part of US Army Private John Janovec in the award-winning HBO-BBC miniseries Band of Brothers. He made his feature film debut in Ridley Scott's 2001 war thriller Black Hawk Down. In 2003, Hardy appeared in the film dot the i, and then travelled to North Africa for Simon: An English Legionnaire, a story of the French Foreign Legion. In the same year, he gained some heavy international exposure as the Reman Praetor Shinzon, a clone of USS Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek Nemesis. He then returned to England to feature in the 2003 film LD 50 Lethal Dose.

Hardy was awarded the 2003 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his performances in Blood and In Arabia We'd All Be Kings performed at the Royal Court Theatre and Hampstead Theatre. He was also nominated for a 2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer of 2003 in a Society of London Theatre Affiliate for his performance as Skank in the aforementioned production of In Arabia We'd All Be Kings. Hardy appeared in the 2005 BBC miniseries The Virgin Queen as Robert Dudley, a childhood friend of Elizabeth I. The miniseries portrays them as having a platonic, though highly romantic, affair throughout her reign over England during the 16th century. Hardy featured in the BBC Four adaptation of the 1960s sci-fi series A for Andromeda.

In 2007, he appeared in the BBC Two drama based on a true story, Stuart: A Life Backwards. He played the lead role of Stuart Shorter, a homeless man who had been subjected to years of abuse and whose death was possibly suicide. In February 2008, he played a drug-addicted rapist in the British horror-thriller WΔZ. In September 2008, he appeared in Guy Ritchie's London gangster film, RocknRolla. He played the role of gay gangster Handsome Bob. Though a sequel to RocknRolla titled the "The Real RocknRolla" has been rumoured to be in production, in which Hardy will reprise the role of Handsome Bob, filming has yet to commence on the project. In early 2009, Hardy starred in the film Bronson, about the real-life English prisoner Charles Bronson, who has spent most of his adult life in solitary confinement. For the film, he put on three stone (19 kg/42 pounds).

In June 2009, Hardy starred in the Martina Cole written four-part TV drama The Take on Sky One as a drugs and alcohol fuelled gangster. The role gained him a Best Actor nomination at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. In August 2009, he appeared in ITV's Wuthering Heights, playing the part of Heathcliff, the classic love character who falls in love with his childhood friend Cathy.

2010–present

In early 2010, Hardy starred in The Long Red Road at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. The play was written by Brett C. Leonard and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Hardy won some good reviews for his portrayal of Sam, an alcoholic trying to drink away his past. In 2010, he starred as Eames in Christopher Nolan's science fiction thriller Inception for which he won a BAFTA Rising Star award. Hardy replaced Michael Fassbender in the 2011 adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, released on 5 September 2011 at the 68th edition of the Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica in Venice. In March 2010, Hardy signed a first look deal at Warner Bros.

Hardy starred as Tommy Riordan in the film Warrior, who is trained by his father to fight in a mixed martial arts tournament against his brother, for which he gained critical acclaim. It was released on 9 September 2011 by Lionsgate Films. Hardy also starred in This Means War, a 2012 romantic comedy film directed by McG. He played the villain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, released on 20 July 2012. He played a bootlegger in John Hillcoat's Lawless (2012). Hardy has signed up to play the lead role of Sam Fisher in Ubisoft's upcoming film adaptation of their video game series Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. He has also appeared in Riz Mc's music video for the song "Sour Times".

Hardy played the title character, Max Rockatansky, in the 2015 sequel Mad Max: Fury Road.

Personal life

Hardy married Sarah Ward in 1999, but the marriage ended in divorce in 2004. He has a son, Louis Thomas (born 2008), with ex-girlfriend Rachael Speed. In 2008, he began a relationship with actress Charlotte Riley, whom he met on the set of The Take and Wuthering Heights. The couple became engaged in 2010 and married in July 2014. They have two dogs, both rescues, one of which Hardy appeared with in a PETA ad promoting pet adoption.

Hardy battled addictions to alcohol and crack cocaine in his early-to-mid-20s. He entered rehab and has been sober since 2003.

Hardy was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men in 2015.

He has named Gary Oldman as his "absolute complete and utter hero" and "the greatest actor that's ever lived".