Who is Ben Hardy? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

British Celebrities Born In January

Also Known As: Ben Jones

Age: 33 Years, 33 Year Old Males

Actors British Men

Height: 5'10" (178 cm), 5'10" Males

City: Bournemouth, England

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Childhood & Early Life

Ben Hardy was born on January 2, 1991, in Bournemouth, Dorset, on South-West coast of England, UK, but he spent his childhood years in Sherborne, in North-West Dorset. He studied at the ‘Sherborne Abbey Primary School,’ and later attended ‘The Gryphon School.’

During school years, Hardy enjoyed drama class, but he was more interested in sports and showed no inclination towards acting profession till his teen years. He used to play rugby, but a series of injuries made him leave sports when he was 15. At that time, he visited the local drama club on a friend’s invitation and slowly got interested in performing arts. While at ‘The Gryphon School,’ he featured in the school film adaptation of ‘Far From the Madding Crowd,’ and played the role of ‘Sergeant Francis Troy.’

At 18 years of age, he obtained training at the ‘Royal Central School of Speech and Drama,’ and later, graduated with ‘Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Acting.’

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Career

Hardy began his professional acting career with a role in Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s play, ‘The Physicist,’ at the ‘Donmar Warehouse.’ In 2012, he got to play the character of ‘Arthur Wellesley,’ a hotel staff member, in David Hare’s play ‘The Judas Kiss’ at ‘Hampstead Theater,’ London. This role required him to appear fully naked on the stage, which, according to him was quite nerve-raking experience.

After a short run at the ‘Hampstead Theater,’ the play toured around Bath, Richmond, Brighton and Cambridge. The play was well-received and got a good response. In January, 2013, it was transferred to the ‘Duke of York’s Theater,’ at the ‘West End.’

Hardy made his TV debut in 2013, when his name was announced as the next actor to play the role of ‘Peter Beale,’ in the ‘BBC’ soap opera, ‘EastEnders.’ During the long run of this show, a number of actors had played this role and the last one before Hardy was Thomas Law, who essayed this character from 2006 to 2010. Hardy was quite excited to play the character with so much history. His first appearance in this show was on June 7, 2013. His portrayal of this role fetched him nominations for ‘Best Newcomer,’ and also, ‘Sexiest Male,’ at the ‘British Soap Awards.’

On November 19, 2014, it was declared that Hardy would not continue with ‘EastEnders,’ for some undisclosed prospects. His last appearance on this show was on February 24, 2015.

In 2016, he got an opportunity to make his film debut with Bryan Singer’s Hollywood superhero movie, ‘X-Men: Apocalypse.’ Hardy played the role of the winged mutant Angel, ‘Archangel.’ The opening to work in the ‘X-Men’ movie proved a great boost for his career, as he got auditions and also, new job opportunities.

In Haifaa Al-Mansour’s period romance film, ‘Mary Shelley’ (2017), Hardy portrayed the character of writer John William Polidori, with Elle Fanning and Douglas Booth playing the protagonists.

His next film, Joseph Kosinski’s action-drama ‘Only the Brave,’ co-starring Josh Brolin and Miles Teller was released in September 2017. The film was based on the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, Arizona, where 19 firefighters of ‘Granite Mountain Hotshots’ died fighting the wild fire. In this film, Hardy played the role of ‘Wade Parker,’ one of the firefighters who lost his life during this incident.

Hardy essayed the character of drummer Roger Taylor in the 2018 Freddie Mercury (Of ‘Queens’) biopic, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ This performance fetched him a nomination for ‘Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture’ at the ‘25th Screen Actors guild Awards.’

He played the main part of an art teacher, ‘Walter Hartright,’ in ‘BBC’s’ 5 part TV adaptation of Wilkie Collins classic Victorian mystery, ‘The Woman in White.’ This psychological drama was aired on BBC from April 22, 2018. His forthcoming project is Michael Bay’s ‘6 Underground,’ which was shot in Italy.

Family & Personal Life

Hardy lives with his long-time girlfriend and actor Katriona Perrett in West London.

Besides acting, he enjoys photography and creating music. He invests considerable time in physical fitness.

Ben Hardy Biography