For other people named Tom Hardy, see Thomas Hardy (disambiguation).

API
Hardy in 2010
Born | Edward Thomas Hardy (1977-09-15) 15 September 1977 (age 36) Hammersmith, London, England
Occupation | Actor
Years active | 2001?present
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Spouse(s) | Sarah Ward (1999?2004)
Partner(s) | Charlotte Riley (2009?present)
Children | 1

Edward Thomas "Tom" Hardy (born 15 September 1977) is an English actor. Some of his most notable film roles include Star Trek: Nemesis, RocknRolla, Bronson, Warrior, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, This Means War, and Inception, the critically acclaimed film for which he won the BAFTA Rising Star Award.

His television roles include the BBC mini-series The Virgin Queen, ITV's Wuthering Heights, in which he played Heathcliff, Stuart: A Life Backwards, for which he garnered a nomination for the BAFTA for Best Actor, and Martina Cole's The Take. In 2012, he appeared as the supervillain Bane in Christopher Nolan's film The Dark Knight Rises and as Forrest Bondurant in John Hillcoat's crime thriller film Lawless.

## Early years[edit]

Hardy was born in Hammersmith, London; the only child of Anne (n?e Barrett) and Edward "Chips" Hardy. He was brought up in East Sheen, London.[1] His mother is an artist and painter whose family is Irish Catholic, and his father is a writer of comedy, and novels.[2][3] Hardy studied at Reed's School and Tower House School, then at Richmond Drama School, and subsequently at the Drama Centre London. Hardy has named Gary Oldman as his "absolute complete and utter hero",[4] and "hands down, the greatest actor that's ever lived."[5]

## Career[edit]

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, sharing the bill with Gael Garc?a Bernal. He 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 (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek Nemesis. He returned to England to feature in the 2003 thriller 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 Richard Fell adaptation of the 1960s sci-fi series A for Andromeda, on BBC Four.

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 had the lead villain role as a drug-addicted rapist in the British horror-thriller W?Z opposite Selma Blair and Stellan Skarsg?rd; later, in September 2008, he appeared in director Guy Ritchie's London gangster film, RocknRolla. He played the role of gay gangster Handsome Bob, one of the members of the criminal gang the Wild Bunch, led by One Two (Gerard Butler), on whom Bob has a crush. 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) of muscle.[6]

Hardy at the London Premiere of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. September 2011.

In June 2009, Hardy starred in the Martina Cole written 4?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.[7] 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 (played by Charlotte Riley), "the love that destroyed everything it touched". It was even suggested by tabloid paper The Sun that he began a relationship with Charlotte Riley shortly after finishing work on The Take, and that he left his partner of two years and mother of his infant son to be with Riley. Riley has disputed this rumour in interviews.[8]

Hardy at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

In early 2010, Hardy starred in The Long Red Road at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago.[9] 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.[10][11] In 2010, he starred as Eames in Christopher Nolan's science fiction thriller Inception for which he won a BAFTA Rising Star award. In June 2010, Hardy announced on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross that he will play the title role in a new version of Mad Max.[12] Hardy replaced Michael Fassbender in the 2011 adaptation of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, also featuring Gary Oldman and Colin Firth,[13] by director Tomas Alfredson, released on 5 September 2011 at the 68th edition of the Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica in Venice.

Hardy starred as one of the two main protagonists in the film Warrior, with Nick Nolte portraying his father, a washed up, alcoholic, former wrestler that trains him to fight in a mixed martial arts tournament against his brother, portrayed by Joel Edgerton 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.[14] He played a bootlegger in John Hillcoat's Lawless (2012).[15] He stated in January 2012 that he had been watching gangster films in preparation for his role as Al Capone in David Yates' Cicero trilogy, which is expected to begin filming in 2013.[16] In March 2010, Hardy signed a first look deal at Warner Bros.[17] 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.[18]

## Personal life[edit]

Hardy married Sarah Ward in 1999; they divorced in 2004. He battled alcoholism and a crack cocaine addiction in his early-to mid-twenties; Hardy entered rehab and has been sober and clean since 2003.[19] He has a son with ex-girlfriend Rachael Speed, Louis Thomas Hardy (b. 2008).[20] In 2008, he met actress Charlotte Riley while working on The Take and Wuthering Heights together. The two started dating and Hardy proposed to Riley in 2010.[21]

## Filmography[edit]

### Film[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes
--- | --- | --- | ---
2001 | Black Hawk Down | Spc. Lance Twombly | Credited as Thomas Hardy
2002 | Star Trek Nemesis | Shinzon |
2003 | Reckoning, The The Reckoning | Straw |
2003 | dot the i | Tom |
2003 | LD 50 Lethal Dose | Matt |
2004 | EMR | Henry |
2004 | Layer Cake | Clarkie |
2005 | Batter Up |  | Short film
2006 | A for Andromeda | John Fleming |
2006 | Minotaur | Theo |
2006 | Marie Antoinette | Raumont |
2006 | Scenes of a Sexual Nature | Noel |
2006 | Sweeney Todd | Matthew |
2007 | Flood | Zack |
2007 | W?Z | Pierre Jackson |
2007 | Stuart: A Life Backwards | Stuart Shorter |
2007 | Inheritance, The The Inheritance | Dad | Short film
2008 | RocknRolla | Handsome Bob |
2008 | Bronson | Charles Bronson / Michael Peterson |
2009 | Thick as Thieves | Det. Michaels |
2009 | Take, The The Take | Freddie |
2010 | Inception | Eames |
2011 | Sergeant Slaughter, My Big Brother | Dan | Short film
2011 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Ricki Tarr |
2011 | Warrior | Tommy Riordan / Conlon |
2012 | This Means War | Tuck Hansen |
2012 | Dark Knight Rises, The The Dark Knight Rises | Bane |
2012 | Lawless | Forrest Bondurant |
2013 | Mad Max: Fury Road | Max Rockatansky |

### Television[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Notes
--- | --- | --- | ---
2001 | Band of Brothers | Pfc. John Janovec | 2 episodes
2005 | Colditz | 2nd Lt. Jack Rose |
2005 | Gideon's Daughter | Andrew |
2005 | Virgin Queen, The The Virgin Queen | Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester | 4 episodes
2007 | Cape Wrath | Jack Donnelly | 5 episodes
2007 | Oliver Twist | Bill Sikes |
2008 | Wuthering Heights | Heathcliff |

### Theatre[edit]

Year | Title | Role | Venue
--- | --- | --- | ---
2003 | In Arabia We'd All Be Kings | Skank | Hampstead Theatre[22]
2007 | The Man of Mode | Dorimant | National Theatre[23]

## Awards and nominations[edit]

Year | Work | Award | Result
--- | --- | --- | ---
2002 | Star Trek Nemesis | Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor | Nominated
2003 | In Arabia We'd All Be Kings | Evening Standard Theatre Award | Won
2007 | Stuart: A Life Backwards | British Academy Television Award for Best Actor | Nominated
2008 | Bronson | British Independent Film Award for Best Actor | Won
London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor of the Year | Nominated
2009 | Take, The The Take | Crime Thriller Awards for Best Actor | Nominated
2011 | Inception | BAFTA Rising Star Award | Won
Scream Award for Best Breakthrough Actor | Won
Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble | Nominated
London Film Critics Circle Award for Best British Supporting Actor | Nominated
MTV Movie Award for Best Line From a Movie | Nominated
People's Choice Award for Favorite On-Screen Team | Nominated
Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble | Nominated
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor | Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble | Nominated
2012 | Warrior | Nevada Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor | Won
MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Joel Edgerton) | Nominated
Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama | Nominated
Women Film Critics Circle for Best Actor[24] | Nominated
Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie Actor: Action | Nominated
2012 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast | Won
Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast | Won
YouMovie Award for Best Cast | Won
British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor | Nominated
Women Film Critics Circle for Best Actor[24] | Nominated
2012 | The Dark Knight Rises | Teen Choice Awards Choice Movie Villain | Nominated

## References[edit]

1. ^ Head, Steve (9 December 2002). "An Interview with Tom Hardy". IGN. Retrieved 4 June 2011.
2. ^ Maher, Kevin (5 March 2009). "A tough life for Bronson actor Tom Hardy". The Times (London).
3. ^ Fisher, Alice (4 July 2010). "Tom Hardy: the rake's progress". The Guardian (London).
4. ^ Wilding, Josh. "Tom Hardy Shares His Thoughts On Gary Oldman And His Plans After The Dark Knight Rises!". ComicBookMovie.
5. ^ Stern, Marlow. "Gary Oldman Talks 'Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy,' 'Batman' Retirement". The Daily Beast. 8 Dec 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
6. ^ "Actors Who've Gone Big". Empire. Bauer Consumer Media. 13 March 2009 or before. Retrieved 8 December 2009. Check date values in: `|date=` (help)
7. ^ Allen, Kate (7 September 2009). "Coben, Cole, Atkinson vie for crime awards". The Bookseller. Retrieved 7 September 2009.
8. ^ Wigg, David (28 August 2009). "Heathcliff and Cathy reach such passionate Heights in ITV adaptation ? is it for real?". Daily Mail (UK: Associated Newspapers Ltd).
9. ^ Jones, Kenneth (13 February 2010). "Tom Hardy Journeys Goodman's Long Red Road, a World Premiere, Starting Feb.?13". Playbill Web site. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
10. ^ Potempa, Phillip (24 February 2010). "OFFBEAT: Goodman Theatre's 'The Long Red Road' is brilliant masterpiece". nwi.com. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
11. ^ Hieggelke, Brian (22 February 2010). "Review: The Long Red Road/Goodman Theatre". Newcity Stage. Retrieved 22 March 2010.
12. ^ Rosenberg, Adam. "Tom Hardy landing the starring role in "Mad Max: Fury Road" is an amazing turn of events for that franchise.". mtv. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
13. ^ "Tom Hardy Replaces Fassbender in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"
14. ^ Ryan (13 October 2010). He was filming in Alvor, Algarve, Portugal through the summer of 2011 for this role as well as other locations throughout Europe."Tom Hardy Joins Batman 3 Cast; Fury Road Delayed". reelzchannel.com.
15. ^ Zeitchik, Steven (7 December 2010). "Shia LaBeouf and Tom Hardy will be bootleggers". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
16. ^ "Tom Hardy Preparing To Play Al Capone In David Yates' Trilogy 'Cicero'; Film(s) Aiming For 2013 Start". Indiewire. 6 January 2012. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
17. ^ Tom Hardy joins WB's first-look roster
18. ^ [1]
19. ^ McLean, Gareth (23 June 2009). "'I want adulation'". The Guardian (England: Guardian News and Media Limited). p. 13.
20. ^ Davies, Serena (11 June 2009). "Interview: Tom Hardy, from East End gangster to romantic hero". The Daily Telegraph (UK: Telegraph Media Group Limited).
21. ^ Nicholl, Katie (10 July 2010). "This time Heathcliff and Cathy will marry". Daily Mail (London).
22. ^ Billington, Michael (28 April 2003). "The Guardian: In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings". Guardian. Retrieved August 2, 2012.
23. ^ "The Man of Mode". Unknown parameter `|https://microsites.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=` ignored (help); Missing or empty `|url=` (help)
24. ^ a b The Women Film Critics Circle Awards. Awardsdaily.com. Retrieved on 2011-12-23.

## Further reading[edit]

- Dempster, S (22 September 2007). "Tom Hardy tastes the hard life". The Times (UK). Retrieved 3 October 2007.

## External links[edit]

| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tom Hardy.

- Tom Hardy at the Internet Movie Database
- Tom Hardy at AllRovi

Authority control | VIAF: 4680980

Persondata
Name | Hardy, Tom
Alternative names |
Short description |
Date of birth | 15 September 1978
Place of birth | Hammersmith, London, England
Date of death |
Place of death |