Tom Hardy Biography

Tom Hardy is a British actor and producer. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about his life.

Image Credit

Quick Facts

Birthday: September 15, 1977

Nationality: British

Famous: Actors British Men

Age: 42 Years, 42 Year Old Males

Sun Sign: Virgo

Also Known As: Edward Thomas Hardy

Born in: Hammersmith, London, United Kingdom

Famous as: Actor

Height: 5'9" (175 cm), 5'9" Males

Subscribe to Riddle Puddle

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Charlotte Riley (m. 2014), Sarah Ward (m. 1999–2004)

father: Edward Hardy

mother: Anne Hardy

children: Louis Thomas Hardy

More Facts

education: Tower House School, Richmond Adult Community College, Drama Centre London

Continue Reading Below

Recommended For You

Subscribe to Riddle Puddle

Tom Hardy is a British actor and producer, well-known for his powerful performances in films like 'Mad Max: Fury Road', 'Inception’, and 'The Revenant.' He first discovered his passion for acting when he was a young boy, but his drug addiction and alcoholism held him back from fulfilling his dreams for a few years. Nevertheless, he enrolled himself in two acting schools, only to be expelled from one and leave the other behind to compete in a super model contest. Eventually he ventured into acting. Since his debut TV show, ‘Band of Brothers’, and debut film 'Black Hawk Down’, Hardy has never looked behind. Even as he fought his drug abuse through rehabilitation, he focused on acting with determination and emerged as one of the most exciting actors of his generation. He bagged several strong roles, including leading roles in films, television series, as well as in stage plays. Over the past few years, he has been starring in a string of successful films and TV series, to the extent that he actually did five films in a single year in 2015! He is completely dedicated to his profession and gets totally involved in the character he plays—he once starved himself to play a heroin-addicted character, and later the same year, he piled up some extra kilos for the role of a heavyweight boxer in a film that was eventually dropped.

Recommended Lists:

Virgo Actors

British Actors

Childhood & Early Life

Born on September 15, 1977, in Hammersmith, London, Edward Thomas Hardy is the only child of Anne, an Irish artist and painter, and Edward Hardy, a novelist and writer.
He attended Tower House School, Reed's School, and Duff Miller Sixth Form College, before he discovered his passion for acting, and pursued it at Richmond Drama School. He later joined Drama Centre London in September 1998.
From his teen days until his early youth, he suffered from drug addiction, alcoholism, and delinquency.
Continue Reading Below

Recommended Lists:

British Film & Theater Personalities

Virgo Men

Top

Career

Despite his turbulent youth, Tom Hardy won The Big Breakfast's competition ‘Find Me a Supermodel’ in 1998, at the age of 21.
His debut TV show was Steven Spielberg’s war series ‘Band of Brothers’ in 2001. A few months later he landed his debut film, Ridley Scott's war thriller 'Black Hawk Down’. Although his performance received positive reviews from critics, military officials and other groups criticized the film.
His next film ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’ in 2002 was a science fiction, wherein he portrayed Praetor Shinzon, the leader of the Reman warriors.
In 2003, he did the film ‘dot the i’, a psychological thriller, and soon after, he travelled to Morocco for ‘Simon: An English Legionnaire’, a film about a young Englishman during the French-Algerian conflict. In the same year, he did ‘LD 50 Lethal Dose’ a UK horror film.
In 2003, he appeared as Skank in a play, ‘In Arabia We'd All Be Kings’, performed in London. Critics reviewed his performance as “remarkable”; it also won him accolades.
In 2005, he was featured in the BBC miniseries ‘The Virgin Queen’, wherein he portrayed Robert Dudley, a childhood friend of Elizabeth I. In 2006, he appeared in BBC Four’s ‘A for Andromeda’, a remake of a 1961 TV series.
In 2007, he appeared in the lead role in BBC Two's ‘Stuart: A Life Backwards’, wherein he portrayed Stuart Shorter, a homeless man, subjected to years of abuse.
In 2008, he portrayed a drug-addicted rapist in the British crime thriller ‘WΔZ.’ In the same year, he appeared in ‘RocknRolla’ a British-American crime comedy film, in which he portrayed Handsome Bob, a closeted gay member of The Wild Bunch.
In 2009, he put on 19 kg to play the character Bronson/Peterson in the film ‘Bronson’, the real-life story of prisoner Charles Bronson. In June 2009, he portrayed a gangster in the TV drama ‘The Take’ on Sky One. In August, he starred in ITV's ‘Wuthering Heights’, wherein he played Heathcliff.
Continue Reading Below
In 2010, he portrayed Sam, an alcoholic, in the play ‘The Long Red Road’, performed at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. He won positive reviews for his performance. In the same year, he played Eames in Christopher Nolan's ‘Inception’, a science fiction thriller.
In 2011, he starred in the film ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’, an adaptation of the 1979 TV miniseries on BBC TV. In the same year, his portrayal of Tommy Riordan, in the film ‘Warrior’, earned him appreciations from critics.
In 2012, he starred in ‘This Means War’, a superhero film, wherein he played the supervillain Bane, for which he had gained 14kg. In the same year, he portrayed a bootlegger in ‘Lawless’, an American crime drama film.
In 2014, Hardy played Bob Saginowski, a bartender in ‘The Drop’, an American crime drama film, directed by Michaël R. That year, he also appeared in the BBC series ‘Peaky Blinders’ in its second series, portraying Alfie Solomons, the head of a Jewish gang.
In 2015, he landed five films. First, he appeared in ‘Child 44’, where he played Leo Demidov, a Soviet secret police agent. The film was critically and commercially unsuccessful, but his performance received appreciation.
His performance as Max Rockatansky in his next film ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ in 2015 was praised by the critics. The film was a smashing hit at the box office.
His third film in 2015 was the crime thriller ‘Legend’, wherein he played the dual role of the Kray brothers who are gangsters. His fourth film in 2015 was ‘The Revenant’ an American semi-biographical film.
In 2017, he appeared in ‘Dunkirk’ a war film. It was about the British military evacuation of the French port of Dunkirk during World War II. Hardy will also portray a war photographer in the film ‘Unreasonable Behavior’. He will feature in Josh Trank's Al Capone biopic ‘Fonzo’ as well.
On the TV front, as of 2017, he appears in BBC One TV series ‘Taboo’, which is created by Steven Knight, Hardy, and his father Edward. Hardy has written the story. He will also appear in ‘Venom’, which will be released in 2018.

Top

Major Works

The hit war film ‘Black Hawk Down’ is one of Hardy’s major works. His lead role as a villain in ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’ was well received by the critics. His performance in a unique role as a gay hoodlum in ‘RocknRolla’ was also praised. Some of his other notable films are ‘Lawless’, ‘The Revenant’, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, ‘Legend’, and ‘Inception’.
His major television roles include the acclaimed war drama ‘Band of Brothers’. His performances in ‘The Virgin Queen’, ‘Wuthering Heights’, and ‘Peaky Blinders’ also gained him critical praise.

Top

Awards & Achievements

Tom Hardy was awarded London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer in 2003, for his performances in the plays ‘Blood’, and ‘In Arabia We'd All Be Kings’. In 2004, he was nominated for Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his performance ‘In Arabia We'd All Be Kings’.
His performance in the TV series ‘The Take’ on Sky One gained him a Best Actor nomination at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards. For ‘Inception’ he won a Scream Award in 2010 and a BAFTA Rising Star award in 2011.
In 2015, he won the Best Actor award at the British Independent Film Awards for his dual role in ‘Legend’. In 2016, he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for ‘The Revenant’. That year he also won a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’.

Top

Personal Life

In 1999, Tom Hardy married producer Sarah Ward. They divorced in 2004 due to his drug addiction problems, after which he went to a rehab. In 2003-04, he was in a relationship with actress Linda Park, and lived with her for a year.
He has a son, Louis, with his ex-girlfriend Rachael Speed. After four years of togetherness, they separated in 2009. He and actress Charlotte Riley got married in July 2014. In October 2015, their first child was born.

Top

Tom Hardy Movies