15 Surprising Facts About Tom Hardy

Mental Floss
Jennifer M Wood

You don't have to be a Hollywood insider to know that Tom Hardy is widely considered to be one of the most talented actors of his generation … and that he has a reputation for not always being willing to play by Hollywood’s rules.

Since making his onscreen debut in 2001, the London native has gone on to collaborate with some of the world’s most talented filmmakers, including Ridley Scott, George Miller, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Sofia Coppola, and Christopher Nolan (on three occasions, and counting). He also created, produced, and starred in the FX hit Taboo and earned an Oscar nomination for his role in The Revenant—and all of this before hitting the big 4-0.

1. HE WON A TELEVISION MODELING CONTEST.

Technically, Tom Hardy’s onscreen debut came in 1998, when he took part in a modeling contest on the British morning show The Big Breakfast. Among the facts we learned about the then-21-year-old: He was a drama student who idolized Gary Oldman, liked Eddie Izzard, wanted to write and direct his own short films, and didn’t like football. And yes, he won.

2. HE MADE HIS ONSCREEN DEBUT IN BAND OF BROTHERS.
In September of 1998, shortly after he began attending the Drama Centre London, Hardy dropped out when he was offered a role in the Steven Spielberg-produced WWII miniseries Band of Brothers (2001). When asked about the experience by IGN in 2002, Hardy said that, “Band of Brothers was my first job so I was virtually out of the frying pan and into the fire, really. I'd not had previous experience with working in front of the camera, so there was dealing with that. Also, I had the research material—not that I'd need it. I mean, I was in two episodes and had 12 lines. That was the sum total of work [I] had to do.”

Hardy made his big-screen debut in 2001 as well, playing Twombly in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. “I was the Ranger who got left behind,” he told IGN. “He was sort of, if you could call it, comic relief to [a] very precarious situation.”

3. HE WENT TO SCHOOL WITH MICHAEL FASSBENDER.
While attending the Drama Centre London, Hardy looked up to a fellow student who was two years older than him: Michael Fassbender. “He was a really serious method actor and we used to watch him and think, ‘F**k, man! He’s the sh*t!,’” Hardy told The Daily Beast. “He was in an Irish play about this guy who came back from the First World War who was a great athlete but ended up in a wheelchair, but at lunchtime he wouldn’t come out of character and was always in his wheelchair and we’d be like, ‘Dude! Just order your lunch and come along! We’ve got an hour before we have to go back to class! But he was the best actor in the school.” (Fassbender, too, landed a role in Band of Brothers.)

4. HARDY REPLACED FASSBENDER IN TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY.
Though their careers have taken different paths, Hardy and Fassbender overlapped a bit in 2010, when Hardy replaced Fassbender as British operative “Tricky” Ricky Tarr in Tomas Alfredson’s 2011 adaptation of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a Cold War thriller based on the John le Carré novel.

5. HE IDOLIZES GARY OLDMAN.
That aforementioned modeling contest wouldn’t be the only time Hardy expressed his admiration of Gary Oldman. In 2011, he told ShortList that, “Gary Oldman is my absolute complete and utter hero. He’s the f**king man. I look at him and I want to be like that for my generation—I want to have that same quality. He’s incredible.”

That same year, Hardy got the chance to star alongside Oldman in the Oscar-nominated Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. “There is a definite ‘hang on a minute’ [moment], but I’ve got past the star-struck part now,” Hardy said of getting the chance to act opposite Oldman. They have since worked together on three more films: Lawless (2012), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Child 44 (2015).


READ MORE; http://mentalfloss.com/article/504331/15-surprising-facts-about-tom-hardy

Which TV show starred Michael Fassbender, Tom Hardy, Simon Pegg, David Schwimmer, James McAvoy and Andrew Scott?

DIGITAL SPY
BY TOM EAMES

.. It was Band of Brothers​ of course.

You probably remembered that Damian Lewis first made a name for himself in this excellent 2001 miniseries on HBO, but there are LOADS of other actors who popped up that you may well have forgotten.

Here's a roll call of the biggest names (most of whom are Brits playing Americans) for you to try to spot next time you binge-watch the epic Steven Spielberg-produced war series.​

MICHAEL FASSBENDER



Appeared as: ​Technical Sergeant Burton 'Pat' Christenson

Now best known for: The X-Men movies, 12 Years A Slave, Inglourious Basterds…

Number of episodes: 7

TOM HARDY



​Appeared as: ​Private John Janovec

Now best known for: The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant…

Number of episodes: 2

DAMIAN LEWIS



 Appeared as: ​​Lieutenant / Captain / Major Richard Winters

Now best known for: ​Homeland, Wolf Hall

Number of episodes: 10



READ THE REST HERE: http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/feature/a790633/band-of-brothers-cast-michael-fassbender-tom-hardy-simon-pegg-david-schwimmer/

Tom Hardy - 70 Pictures You Need To See; 70 Facts You Need To Know...(LOOK)

Tom Hardy's life and his acting career is all here in pictures - from his birthday on 15th September, 1977 and his roles in Band Of Brothers, Star Trek, Inception and Warrior to The Dark Knight Rises, Lawless and Mad Max: Fury Road. On October 9th, 2012, we updated the slideshow to 70 HOT pictures and facts about Tom. In the future he'll star in Doug Liman's Everest, Greg Williams' Samarkand, Al Capone biopic Cicero, The Long Red Road, and maybe even the Fifty Shades Of Grey movie now his best friend Kelly Marcel is writing the script.

MORE PICTURES: http://www.look.co.uk/pictures/tom-hardy-70-things-you-need-to-know/tom-hardy-70-pictures-you-need-to-see-70-facts-you-need-to-know

Tom Hardy, 'Star Trek' Screen Test: See Actor's Screen Test With Patrick Stewart (VIDEO) The Huffington Post | By Crystal Bell

Before he was stirring up trouble in Gotham City as Bane, Tom Hardy was Shinzon in 2002's "Star Trek: Nemesis."

With only a few acting credits under his belt -- 2001's critically acclaimed miniseries "Band of Brothers" and Ridley Scott's "Black Hawk Down" -- young actor booked a coveted role in "Star Trek: Nemesis" alongside franchise star Patrick Stewart. As you can seen in the unearthed screen test above, British-born Hardy has a knack for making his voice sound quite threatening.





READ MORE: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/30/tom-hardy-star-trek-screen-test-patrick-stewart_n_1718914.html?utm_hp_ref=entertainment

Tom Hardy – Early Contender For Man of 2012 (WHAT CULTURE)

February 28, 2012 10:56 am
Jonathan Pritchard


2012 is a big year for Britain, what with the Olympics looming large and failure at Euro 2012 almost a dead cert. It is also a big year for British cinema, and in particular their actors. With Daniel Radcliffe running around a house for an hour and a half in The Woman In Black, Jamie Bell putting in a decent effort in Man On A Ledge, and Ray Winstone’s stellar performances in the Bet 365 adverts, Britain is calling out for a new, brilliant actor. 

And that’s where Tom Hardy comes in. Granted, he’s been knocking around for a while now, but 2012 is a big year for him too. It wasn’t until 2008 when he really became noted in the mainstream for his acting thanks to his haunting, frightening and downright scary portrayal infamous prisoner of Charles Bronson in Bronson, but there were signs of his talent right from the outset. Even his bit-part appearances were memorable and noteworthy, such as Band Of Brothers, Black Hawk Down and his impressive villainous role Star Trek: Nemesis where he went toe-to-toe with Jean-Luc Picard and didn’t blink.

 For avid film watchers, the brooding, handsome Hardy was popping up all over the place without ever really stealing the show; until Bronson came along.


Read more:  http://whatculture.com/film/tom-hardy-early-contender-for-man-of-2012.php

BAND OF BROTHERS - James McAvoy

'Band of Brothers' actors are a successful, tight unit

Ten years ago, 'Band of Brothers' aired starring largely unknown performers. Since then, their careers have blossomed and they gather annually for a reunion.

HBO's "Band of Brothers" was a 10-part miniseries based on Stephen E. Ambrose¹s nonfiction bestseller. (David James / HBO / September 8, 2011)

• Also
• Photos: 'Band of Brothers' cast: Then and now

 

By Liesl Bradner, Special to the Los Angeles Times

September 8, 2011

Currahee, a Cherokee word meaning "we stand alone together," is the name of a rugged, small mountain in Georgia where soldiers during World War II trudged their way uphill as they trained to become paratroopers. The word also fittingly served as the title for the opening episode of "Band of Brothers," the groundbreaking HBO miniseries that aired a decade ago Friday.

The Emmy-winning, 10-part series, which was produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, continues to resonate with audiences who view the work as a much-needed historical tribute to the soldiers who helped defeat Nazism in Europe. The series was based on Stephen Ambrose's 1992 book that followed the real-life exploits of Easy Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from training through D-Day to the end of the war.

The reach of the series today extends to the United States Military Academy in West Point, N.Y., where many scenes featuring Richard Winters, the young American officer portrayed by British actor Damian Lewis, are used to teach future battlefield commanders about tactics (assaulting a fixed position at Brecourt Manor in Episode 2) and leadership (how to treat combat fatigue in Episode 3).

But even at the time it aired — in the days and weeks after the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11 — the series, while thanking the generation before, helped settle and inspire the one ahead.

"The men of Easy Company were resilient and stuck together. It was a powerful message to a nation trying to overcome something like 9/11," said Col. Eric Kail, who oversees military leadership curriculum at West Point. "Great strength is not from ourselves but from each other. That's a message soldiers have been trying to get out for a long time."

The $120-million production was shot entirely on location in England over eight months in 2000. The program was a powerful launching pad for a cadre of young and then unknown actors from the United Kingdom. In addition to Lewis who landed TV series work in NBC's "Life" and Showtime's upcoming "Homeland," "Band of Brothers" also boosted the careers of Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy, who starred together in this summer's "X-Men: First Class."

Other Brits included a baby-faced Tom Hardy, Batman's Herculean nemesis in next summer's "The Dark Knight Rises," who is nearly unrecognizable as Pfc. John Janovec and Simon Pegg as 1st Sgt. William Evans, Capt. Sobel's (David Schwimmer) assistant.

"It was truly an ensemble piece," said casting director Meg Liberman of their deliberate decision not to bring big names on board.

She acknowledged having mixed feelings originally about casting Lewis as Winters, whose character anchors the entire series. "I really wanted an American actor to play the part, but Damian came in and blew us away."

The American actors from the series didn't fare so badly either. Neal McDonough (who played Lynn "Buck" Compton) later starred in several Spielberg productions including "Minority Report" and "Flags of Our Fathers." The actor, who could be seen in this summer's "Captain America: The First Avenger," also met his wife the day he arrived in England for boot camp.

"The notoriety took me to another level," said Frank John Hughes, who played the wisecracking Bill Guarnere. "Before it was bad guys, criminals and mobsters. After playing Wild Bill, I switched to the other side of the law."

Added Matthew Settle, who played Capt. Ronald Speirs, who arguably has one of the most remarkable scenes in the series as he runs through the German occupied Belgian town of Foy: "I still get a lot of guys coming up to me saying, 'What's Speirs doing on "Gossip Girl?'"

Michael Cudlitz, who played Denver "Bull" Randleman and can be seen starring in TNT's cop drama "Southland," hosts an annual cast reunion at his home, which has been attended by Hanks and Spielberg.

"People fly in from all over," he said. "Even now, I don't think there's anyone that wouldn't drop anything to help each other out, and that's a rare thing in Hollywood."

"It was like joining a frat," said Ron Livingston, who played Lewis Nixon, the captain with a fondness for Vat 69 whiskey.

Like their characters who jelled as a unit thanks to a mutual loathing for Capt. Sobel, the actors bonded over their disdain for the production's military advisor, Dale Dye, who played the company commander Col. Sink but also ran the boot camp.

"He allowed himself to be the common enemy, but that's the way he works," said McDonough.

"They were creating bonds early on in boot camp," said Dye. "I was waiting to see if all that had faded as the production went on, but in fact it increased. "

Many of the actors struck up friendships with the men they portrayed during production and some have lasted to this day. "To call it a friendship would be to slight it," said Hughes of his relationship with Guarnere, 88. "He's like a father to me."

"He played me like the devil I was," said Guarnere from his home in Philadelphia. (He lost a leg in Bastogne saving his friend Joe Toye.)

"When it came to anything heroic, he wouldn't talk about it," said Hughes. "They'll only talk about someone else's bravery."