Tom Hardy

Tom Hardy (birthname: Edward Thomas Hardy) is one of the most physical and versatile actors working in English-language cinema, delivering a dazzling array of performances for such stalwart filmmakers as Christopher Nolan, Nicolas Winding Refn, George Miller, Sofia Coppola, Jeff Nichols and Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Hardy was cast (with the credited name of Thomas Hardy) by filmmaker Ridley Scott for a supporting role in his film debut in Black Hawk Down (2001), with Josh Hartnett, Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, and Sam Shepard, and grossing $173 million against $92 million costs.

Hardy was cast in a supporting role in director-producer Matthew Vaughan’s crime thriller starring Daniel Craig, Layer Cake (2004), with Colm Meaney, Sienna Miller and Michael Gambon, and then Hardy appeared in the ensemble of Sofia Coppola’s fanciful historical drama, Marie Antoinette (2006), starring Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman, Judy Davis, Rip Torn, Rose Byrne, Asia Argento, Molly Shannon, Shirley Henderson, Danny Huston and Steve Coogan.

Hardy returned to the familiar turf of the crime movie with a significant role in director/writer/producer Guy Ritchie’s RocknRolla (2008), with Gerard Butler, Tom Wilkinson, Thandiwe Newton, Mark Strong, and Idris Elba, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and released by Warner Bros.

Tom Hardy had his first impactful starring role in an exciting, eye-catching performance in director/writer Nicolas Winding Refn’s inventive crime drama Bronson (2008), earning ten times costs with a $2.3 million take after a London Film Festival premiere. Hardy then joined the colorful cast of Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending, eight Oscar-nominated sci-fi drama Inception (2010), starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Cillian Murphy, Tom Berenger, Ken Watanabe, Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, and Elliot Page, grossing a cosmic $839 million for Warner Bros.

Hardy finally had his chance to work opposite his acting idol and lead (and Oscar-nominated) Gary Oldman in a co-starring role in the superb Tomas Alfredson-directed version of John Le Carré’s novel, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), co-starring Colin Firth, John Hurt, Toby Jones, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch and Ciaran Hinds, earning a fine $81 million for Working Title Films and StudioCanal. Hardy co-starred with Joel Edgerton as fighting brothers in the MMA-themed drama, Warrior (2011), with Oscar-nominated Nick Nolte and Frank Grillo under Gavin O’Connor’s direction and released by Lionsgate.

Tom Hardy co-starred in one of his rare rom-coms opposite Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine in This Means War (2012) with Til Schweiger, Chelsea Handler, Angela Bassett, Rosemary Harris, and Rebel Wilson under McG’s direction, and returning $156.5 million for 20^th Century Fox. Hardy did something completely different for his fearsome portrayal of Bane in

Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed Batman drama, The Dark Knight Rises (2012), co-starring Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Morgan Freeman, delivering a knockout box-office for Warner Bros. with a return just over $1 billion.

Hardy co-starred in the U.S. crime drama written by rocker Nick Cave, Lawless (2012), co-starring Shia LaBeouf, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, and Guy Pearce under John Hillcoat’s direction, and premiering at the Cannes Film Festival before grossing $54.4 million for distributor The Weinstein Company. Hardy was the only on-camera actor in a tour de force as a star of director-writer Steven Knight’s drama-in-a-car, Locke (2013), with the (phone) voices of Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, and Tom Holland, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.

Tom Hardy co-starred with James Gandolfini and Noomi Rapace in a nuanced film version of Dennis Lehane’s short story, “Animal Rescue,” titled The Drop (2014), with Matthias Schoenaerts and John Ortiz under Michaël R. Roskam’s direction, released to the disappointing box office ($19 million globally) for Fox Searchlight Pictures. Hardy took on one of his most vivid portrayals—as Mad Max–opposite Charlize Theron in George Miller’s universally acclaimed sequel, Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), grossing $378 million (against $150 million costs) for Warner Bros. and earning six Oscars.

Hardy delivered another astonishing performance (or performances) as criminal twins Reggie and Ronnie Kray in director/writer Brian Helgeland’s crime biopic, Legend (2015), co-starring Emily Browning, David Thewlis, Christopher Eccleston, and Chazz Palminteri, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival and earning $43 million for distributors Universal Pictures and StudioCanal.

Hardy earned his first Oscar nomination for his vivid supporting turn opposite Oscar-winning Best Actor Leonardo Di Caprio in director/co-writer/producer Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Western thriller based on Michael Punke’s 2002 novel, The Revenant (2015), with Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter, and earning a global gross of $533 million for 20^th Century Fox.

Tom Hardy reunited with filmmaker Christopher Nolan for the role of a doomed British airman in the Warner Bros.-backed WW2 drama Dunkirk (2017), co-starring Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy, Harry Styles, and Kenneth Branagh. The film grossed over $530 million (against $100 million costs) and earned eight Oscar nominations (and three wins).

Hardy launched a three-film MCU project in the paired turns as Eddie Brock and Venom inside the Spider-Man Universe for Sony Pictures with the successful opener directed by Ruben Fleischer, Venom (2018), with Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, Scott Haze and Reid Scott; followed by the Andy Serkins-directed Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), on which Hardy was a producer; and capped by Venom: The Last Dance (2024), directed and written by Kelly Marcel (with Hardy as both story writer and producer), with Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans and Peggy Lu.

Hardy delivered one of his most nuanced and affecting performances as an aging biker in American filmmaker Jeff Nichols’ superb 60s-era drama, The Bikeriders (2023), co-starring Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, and Norman Reedus, premiering at the Telluride Film Festival (when its distributor was 20^th Century Studios) but which was eventually released by Focus Features (after the delaying SAG-AFTRA strike) to $36 million returns.

Hardy starred in and produced the US-UK thriller from director/writer/producer Gareth Evans, Havoc (date to be announced), with Xelia Mendes-Jones, Forest Whitaker, Timothy Olyphant, Jessie Mei Li, and Luis Guzman, and released by Netflix. Then Hardy repeated his double play as star and producer on the crime thriller, Blood on Snow (date to be announced), based on co-screenwriter Jo Nesbø’s novel and directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga and co-starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson.