Tom Hardy

Edward Thomas Hardy , better known as Tom Hardy, is the English actor who played Shinzon in . He was also seen in the movie as Jean-Luc Picard in a still photograph during that character's tenure at Starfleet Academy.
In addition to Nemesis, Hardy is known for his supporting roles in such films as (2001), (2004), and (2010). He has also earned recognition for his acclaimed, award-winning performance in (2008). He recently starred in Nolan's third Batman feature, The Dark Knight Rises, and in the fourth Mad Max film, Fury Road.
== Personal life ==
Hailing from East Sheen, London, Hardy received a prep school and boarding school education and attended s in . During his youth, he was involved in various altercations and showed a tendency towards violent, unruly behavior. At the age of 15, he was arrested after being caught joyriding in a stolen Mercedes, although he was not charged with an offense. He also used drugs and drank heavily throughout his teens and early adulthood.
Hardy became interested in acting while in boarding school. After briefly working as a model, Hardy studied at London's , where he performed in such stage productions as Measure for Measure, Tartuffe, and Ivanov. In January 1999, during his second year at the school, Hardy married a woman named Marlina. 
Shortly after completing filming on Nemesis, Hardy had a physical and mental breakdown brought about from his drug and alcohol addiction. Although this breakdown cost him his marriage, it motivated him to clean up his act. He has been clean of both drugs and alcohol since 2005.Nick Curtis. "Middle class boy with a dark side." London Evening Standard, . Published: 11 July 2006. Accessed: 29 October 2009.Dempster, Sarah. "Tom Hardy tastes the hard life." Times Online, . Published: 22 September 2007. Accessed: 29 October 2009.
For a time, Hardy was dating actress Linda Park (Hoshi Sato) after they acted together in a play called Roger and Vanessa. They lived together in South London, England, and were even going to form their own theater company."Showbiz Roundup: Park & Hardy Onstage, Tony Awards and More." StarTrek.com, Published: 11 May 2004. Accessed: 29 October 2009."Actors Speak of 4th Season, Personal News." StarTrek.com, . Published: 26 July 2004. Accessed: 29 October 2009. However, they have since broken off their relationship, and Linda Park is now residing in Los Angeles, California.
== Early career ==
In 2000, Hardy left the Drama Centre to play US Army Private John Janovec in , co-starring actor Neal McDonough. The following year, Hardy made his feature film debut in Black Hawk Down, featuring Eric Bana, Glenn Morshower, Jason Isaacs and Enrique Murciano.
It was while shooting Black Hawk Down in Morocco that Hardy filmed and submitted a "bizarre" audition tape to Amanda Mackey Johnson and Cathy Sandrich Gelfond, the casting directors of Star Trek Nemesis. Besides the audition, the unedited tape also had some "rather curious home video footage," including Hardy dancing around in boxer shorts. Producer Rick Berman and director Stuart Baird were impressed with his audition and after several screen tests, Hardy won the role of Shinzon, the Romulan-created clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, beating out such contenders as James Marsters and Michael Shanks. Krutzler, Steve. "Interview: Shinzon Speaks! Actor Tom Hardy Breathes Life Into Newest TREK Foe, Plus the Scenes You Won't See!" TrekWeb, Published: 25 November 2002. Accessed: 29 October 2009.Caillan. "Hardy Talks 'Nemesis' Audition." TrekToday, . Published: 10 January 2003. Accessed: 29 October 2009. Cullen, Ian M. SciFiPulse.net, Accessed: 29 October 2009.Lisa. "Tom Hardy Confirmed As Picard's New 'Nemesis'" TrekToday, . Published: 30 November 2001. Accessed: 29 October 2009. Hardy went on to receive a Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for his performance .
== Career after Nemesis ==
=== 2003 – 2006 ===
Following his work on Nemesis, Hardy returned to the United Kingdom, where he starred in such films as Dot the I, The Reckoning, and LD 50 Lethal Dose. In 2003, he acted alongside and star Colm Meaney in the acclaimed British crime film Layer Cake, which opened in the United States in May 2005.
Hardy won the Outstanding Newcomer award from the 2003 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for his performances in two plays: Blood (performed at the Royal Court Theatre) and Arabia, We'd All Be Kings (performed at the Hampstead Theatre). He was also nominated for a 2004 Laurence Olivier Award for the latter play.
Hardy subsequently appeared in a number of British television productions, including the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) TV movie Sweeney Todd (in which he worked with David Warner) and the BBC mini-series The Virgin Queen. In 2006, co-starred with Tony Todd in the horror film Minotaur. That same year, he appeared in (2006, starring Kirsten Dunst). 
=== 2007 – 2010 ===
In 2007, Hardy had supporting roles in the British films Flood and W Delta Z. He also appeared on the British TV drama Cape Wrath. He then starred as the title role of the BBC2 TV movie Stuart: A Life Backwards, which tells the true story of a homeless alcoholic who befriends a writer, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, who later portrayed the antagonist in . Hardy was nominated for a BAFTA Award for his performance in this movie.
Hardy next filmed a BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, in which he played Bill Sikes. He then had a supporting role in (2008), after which he appeared in (2009) and starred in a TV adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel Wuthering Heights. He also starred as violent British criminal-turned-prisoner in (2009), for which he won a British Independent Film Award as Best Actor. He was nominated by the London Critics Circle Film Award as British Actor of the Year for his work in Bronson.
Hardy portrayed the role of Eames in Inception (2010, with Tim Kelleher). At the 2011 BAFTA Awards, Hardy won the Orange Wednesday award for the best Rising Star. This was the only award that was voted for by members of the public, rather than the Academy.
=== 2011 – present ===
Following his breakthrough role in Inception, Hardy starred with Jennifer Morrison in (2011). Morrison is the second performer from with whom Hardy has worked, having previously acted alongside Eric Bana (Nero) in Black Hawk Down. Hardy also appeared in the 2011 film adaptation of John le Carré's novel Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which again saw him working alongside Star Trek Into Darkness Benedict Cumberbatch. More recently, Hardy co-starred with Chris Pine ( in 2009's ) in the action comedy This Means War.Franklin, Garth. "Hardy Replaces Worthington On 'War.'" Dark Horizons, . Published: 27 July 2010. Accessed: 27 July 2010.
Hardy's most high-profile role to date is that of in Christopher Nolan's third Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. His casting was announced on 13 October 2010; Fleming, Mike. "Tom Hardy Reunited With 'Inception' Helmer Chris Nolan On 'Batman.'" Deadline, . Published: 13 October 2010. Accessed: 13 October 2010. his role was revealed to be Bane in January 2011. "Anne Hathaway will be Catwoman in 'The Dark Knight Rises.'" Hero Complex, . Published: 19 January 2011. Accessed: 19 January 2011. With the exception of brief flashback sequences, Hardy's character wears a respirator mask throughout the entire film, causing his voice to be somewhat muffled. Several months before the film's release, after the first six minutes of The Dark Knight Rises was attached to 70mm IMAX prints of Paramount Pictures' (starring, among others, Simon Pegg), a minor controversy erupted when some viewers found Hardy's dialogue to be unintelligible due to the mask.Holmes, Matt. "THE DARK KNIGHT RISES Prologue Reaction – What's With Bane's Voice?" WhatCulture!, . Published: 9 December 2011. Accessed: 31 July 2012. As a result, the sound mix for his voice was altered to make his speech clearer. Taylor, Drew. "Listen: Before & After Comparison Of Bane's Voice In 'The Dark Knight Rises' Plus Deleted Scene Details." The Playlist via IndieWire, . Published: 28 July 2012. Accessed: 31 July 2012. The film also features appearances by Brett Cullen, Massi Furlan, Reggie Lee and Wade Andrew Williams, as well as production designs by Nathan Crowley.
Hardy has also starred in (2014), (2015), and as "Mad Max" Rockatansky in (2015). Hardy is also attached to star in the next two films in the series, the first of which is titled Mad Max: The Wasteland. In keeping with the earlier films, Max' signature vehicle, which Hardy drives in the beginning of the film, is a modified 1973 Ford XB Falcon, a 1974 model of which Eric Bana has owned and lovingly maintained since age 15.
In late October 2013 it was announced that Hardy would star as music legend in which started shooting in fall 2014. Highfill, Samantha. "Tom Hardy will play Elton John in biopic 'Rocketman'" Entertainment Weekly, . Published: 23 October 2013. Accessed: 24 October 2013. However, because of the film's long development process, he had to drop out because of scheduling conflicts, and the film was not released until 2019, starring Taron Egerton in the lead role.
In 2016, Hardy received an Academy Award nomination in the category Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in the thriller The Revenant. "2015 Oscar Nominees". Published: 14 January 2016. Accessed: 14 January 2016. In 2018, Hardy played the starring role of comic book character Eddie Brock in the action-thriller Venom, as well as providing the voice work for the alien symbiote Venom. Venom was the sixth-highest grossing film of 2018, despite initially negative critical reviews, and a sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, was initially set for release in late 2020 before being delayed to 2021 due to the worldwide pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus. 
== References ==
== External links ==
* – official web site
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