Tom Hardy Biography

Edward Thomas "Tom" Hardy (born 15 September 1977) is an English actor. Some of his most notable film roles were in Star Trek: Nemesis, RocknRolla, Bronson, Warrior, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, This Means War, The Dark Knight Rises, 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 Bane in Christopher Nolan's film The Dark Knight Rises, and as Forrest Bondurant in John Hillcoat's crime thriller film Lawless. In 2014, he will star as Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road, the fourth installment of the Mad Max franchise.

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 is Irish Catholic, and his father is a writer of comedy and novels. Hardy studied at Reed's School and Tower House School, then at Richmond Drama School, and subsequently at the Drama Centre London.

Career

In 1998, Hardy won The Big Breakfast 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 W"?Z. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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). 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. In March 2010, Hardy signed a first look deal at Warner Bros. 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". He is also scheduled to portray Elton John in a biopic that will start shooting in late 2014.

Personal life

Hardy married Sarah Ward in 1999; they divorced in 2004. He battled alcoholism and a crack cocaine addiction in his early-to-mid-20s. He entered rehab and has been sober since 2003. In Now magazine in 2010, Hardy said: "I've played with everything and everyone. But I'm not into men sexually and I'm done experimenting." Hardy has a son with ex-girlfriend Rachael Speed, Louis Thomas (born 2008). In 2008, he met actress Charlotte Riley while they were working on The Take and Wuthering Heights together. They started dating and Hardy proposed to Riley in 2010.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Black Hawk Down	Spc. Lance Twombly	Credited as Thomas Hardy
2002	Star Trek: Nemesis	Shinzon	Nominated Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2002	Deserter	Dupond
2003	'	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	BBC television film
2007	Flood	Zack
2007	W"?Z	Pierre Jackson
2007	Stuart: A Life Backwards	Stuart Shorter	Nominated British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
2007	'	Dad	Short film
2008	Sucker Punch	Rodders
2008	RocknRolla	Handsome Bob
2008	Bronson	Charles Bronson / Michael Peterson	British Independent Film Award for Best Actor Nominated London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor Of The Year
2009	Thick as Thieves	Det. Michaels
2010	Inception	Eames	BAFTA Rising Star Award Saturn Award for Best Breakthrough Actor Nominated 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 Favourite 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
2011	Sergeant Slaughter, My Big Brother	Dan	Short film
2011	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Ricki Tarr	Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast YouMovie Award for Best Cast Nominated British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated Women Film Critics Circle for Best Actor
2011	Warrior	Tommy Riordan / Conlon	Nevada Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor Nominated MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (with Joel Edgerton) Nominated Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama Nominated Women Film Critics Circle for Best Actor Nominated Teen Choice Award for Best Choice Movie Actor Action
2012	This Means War	Tuck Hansen
2012	'	Bane	Nominated Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Villain Nominated MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (with Christian Bale)
2012	Lawless	Forrest Bondurant
2013	Locke	Ivan Locke
2014	Mad Max: Fury Road	Max Rockatansky
2014	Animal Rescue
2014	Child 44	Leo Demidov	Filming
201?	Splinter Cell	Sam Fisher

Television

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	'	Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester	4 episodes
2007	Cape Wrath	Jack Donnelly	5 episodes
2007	Oliver Twist	Bill Sikes
2008	Wuthering Heights	Heathcliff
2009	'	Freddie

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue
2003	In Arabia We'd All Be Kings	Skank	Hampstead Theatre
2007	The Man of Mode	Dorimant	National Theatre

Awards and nominations

Year	Work	Award	Result
2002	Star Trek Nemesis	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2003	In Arabia We'd All Be Kings	Evening Standard Theatre Award
2007	Stuart: A Life Backwards	British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
2008	Bronson	British Independent Film Award for Best Actor
2008	Bronson	London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor of the Year
2009	'	Crime Thriller Awards for Best Actor
2010	The Take	RTS Television Award for Best Actor
2011	Inception	BAFTA Rising Star Award
2011	Inception	Scream Award for Best Breakthrough Actor
2011	Inception	Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2011	Inception	London Film Critics Circle Award for Best British Supporting Actor
2011	Inception	MTV Movie Award for Best Line From a Movie
2011	Inception	People's Choice Award for Favorite On-Screen Team
2011	Inception	Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble
2011	Inception	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2011	Inception	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2012	Warrior	Nevada Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
2012	Warrior	MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (Shared with Joel Edgerton)
2012	Warrior	Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama
2012	Warrior	Women Film Critics Circle for Best Actor
2012	Warrior	Teen Choice Award Best Choice Movie Actor - Action
2012	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
2012	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Georgia Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast
2012	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	YouMovie Award for Best Cast
2012	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
2012	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Women Film Critics Circle for Best Actor
2012	The Dark Knight Rises	Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Villain
2013	The Dark Knight Rises	MTV Movie Award for Best Villain
2013	The Dark Knight Rises	MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Christian Bale)