Tom Hardy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tom Hardy CBE
Hardy at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	Edward Thomas Hardy (1977-09-15) 15 September 1977 (age 47) London, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1998–present
Spouse(s)	Sarah Ward ​ ​ (m. 1999; div. 2004)​ Charlotte Riley ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	3
Relatives	Chips Hardy (father)
Awards	Full list
Signature

Edward Thomas Hardy (born September 15, 1977) is a famous English actor. He is also known as Tom Hardy. He has received a special honor called the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his acting work.

Tom Hardy started his acting journey at the Drama Centre London. His first movie was Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down in 2001. He played smaller roles in movies like Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and RocknRolla (2008). Later, he became a lead actor in films such as Bronson (2008), Warrior (2011), and Locke (2013).

In 2015, he starred as "Mad" Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road. He also played both Kray twins in the movie Legend. He was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Revenant. Tom Hardy has worked with director Christopher Nolan on three movies: Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Dunkirk (2017). More recently, he played the main character in the superhero movie Venom (2018) and its sequels.

Hardy has also appeared in many TV shows. These include the war mini-series Band of Brothers (2001) and the historical drama The Virgin Queen (2005). He played Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist (2007) and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights (2009). From 2014 to 2022, he played Alfie Solomons in the popular crime drama Peaky Blinders. He also helped create and star in the historical series Taboo (2017).

Tom Hardy has acted on stages in both Britain and America. He was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award for his acting in In Arabia We'd All Be Kings (2003). He also supports charities and is an ambassador for the Prince's Trust.

Early Life and Education

Edward Thomas Hardy was born in Hammersmith, London, England, on September 15, 1977. He is the only child of Anne, an artist, and Edward "Chips" Hardy, a writer. His mother's family is from Ireland. He grew up in the East Sheen area of London.

Hardy went to Tower House School and Reed's School. He later studied acting at Richmond Drama School and the Drama Centre London. He has said that actor Gary Oldman is his "hero." He even practiced scenes from Oldman's movies while he was in drama school.

Career Highlights

Early Acting Roles (1998–2010)

Hardy at the London premiere of Inception in 2010

In 1998, when he was 21, Tom Hardy won a modeling competition called Find Me a Supermodel. This led to a short contract with a modeling agency. He joined the Drama Centre London in September 1998. He left early because he got a role as John Janovec in the TV mini-series Band of Brothers. His first movie was Black Hawk Down in 2001.

In 2002, Hardy played Shinzon, a clone of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis. The next year, he appeared in Dot the i and LD 50 Lethal Dose.

In 2003, Hardy won an award for being a great new actor in plays like Blood and In Arabia We'd All Be Kings. He was also nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 2004. In 2005, he played Robert Dudley in the BBC mini-series The Virgin Queen. He also appeared in the science fiction TV film A for Andromeda.

In 2007, he starred in the BBC Two drama Stuart: A Life Backwards, based on a true story. That same year, he played Bill Sikes in the BBC's Oliver Twist. In 2008, he was in the thriller WΔZ. He also played Handsome Bob, a gay gangster, in Guy Ritchie's movie RocknRolla. In 2008, Hardy starred in Bronson, playing the real-life prisoner Charles Bronson. For this role, he gained a lot of weight.

Hardy in April 2014

In 2009, Hardy starred in the TV drama The Take, which earned him a Best Actor nomination. In August 2009, he played Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights. In 2010, he acted in the play The Long Red Road. That same year, he played Eames in Christopher Nolan's movie Inception, for which he won a BAFTA Rising Star award.

Becoming a Major Star (2011–2017)

Hardy (right) with George Miller and Charlize Theron at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival

In 2011, Hardy appeared in the movie Warrior. He played Tommy Riordan, a fighter trained by his father. Critics praised his performance. Hardy also starred in the romantic comedy This Means War (2012). He played the villain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises (2012), the last film in Christopher Nolan's Batman series. He also played a bootlegger in Lawless (2012). In 2013, he starred in the drama film Locke.

In 2014, Hardy was in the crime film The Drop. He also joined the cast of the BBC crime drama Peaky Blinders. He played Alfie Solomons, the leader of a Jewish gang. Many people loved his character, calling him "The Scene-Stealingest Character Of All Time."

Hardy starred in five movies in 2015. First, he played Leo Demidov in Child 44, set in the 1950s Soviet Union. Then, he played Max Rockatansky in the action film Mad Max: Fury Road. This movie was a big success and critics loved his acting. He also played both Reggie and Ronnie Kray, who were famous London gangsters, in Legend (2015). He won Best Actor at the British Independent Film Awards for playing the Kray twins. In The Revenant, he acted alongside Leonardo DiCaprio. For this role, Hardy received his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

In 2017, Hardy played a Royal Air Force pilot in Christopher Nolan's action-thriller Dunkirk. This movie was about the British military evacuation during Second World War. He also helped produce and starred in the TV series Taboo.

Recent Work: Venom and Future Projects (2018–Present)

In 2018, Hardy starred as Eddie Brock and the alien symbiote Venom in the movie Venom. This film was the first in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. In 2019, he was an executive producer for the mini-series A Christmas Carol. In 2020, Hardy played Al Capone in the movie Capone.

Hardy returned as Eddie Brock and Venom in the sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage and helped write the story. He is also set to play the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton in a movie about his incredible survival story. Hardy's production company is also involved in this film. In 2024, his Venom film series is planned to end.

Personal Life

Tom Hardy married producer Sarah Ward in 1999, but they divorced in 2004. He later had a son with assistant director Rachael Speed, but they separated in 2009. In 2009, he started dating actress Charlotte Riley, and they married in 2014. They have two children together, a son born in 2015 and another son born in 2018.

Hardy had a rescue dog named Woodstock, who even appeared in a PETA advertisement to encourage pet adoption. Sadly, Woodstock passed away in 2017.

While preparing for the movie Bronson, Hardy met the real Charles Bronson many times. They became friends. Bronson was very impressed with how well Hardy could act like him.

In 2018, Tom Hardy was given the honor of being a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his contributions to drama.

Hardy is also very good at Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He has won several competitions, including the UMAC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championships in 2022. He is a lead ambassador for the REORG Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Foundation. This charity helps military personnel learn jiu-jitsu to help with their recovery from physical and mental challenges. In 2023, Hardy was promoted to a purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Filmography

Key

Denotes productions that have not yet been released

Film Roles

Film roles of Tom Hardy

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Black Hawk Down	SPC Lance Twombly	Credited as Thomas Hardy
2002	Deserter	Pascal Dupont
	Star Trek: Nemesis	Shinzon
2003	Dot the i	Tom
	LD 50 Lethal Dose	Matt
2004	The Reckoning	Straw
	EMR	Henry
	Layer Cake	Clarkie
2006	Marie Antoinette	Raumont
	Minotaur	Theo
2007	Flood	Zack
	WΔZ	Pierre Jackson
	Stuart: A Life Backwards	Stuart Shorter
	The Inheritance	Dad
2008	Sucker Punch	Rodders
	RocknRolla	Handsome Bob
	Bronson	Charles Bronson / Michael Peterson
2009	Thick as Thieves	Michaels
	Perfect	Doctor	Short film
2010	Inception	Eames
2011	Sergeant Slaughter, My Big Brother	Dan	Short film
	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Ricki Tarr
	Warrior	Tommy Riordan Conlon
2012	This Means War	Tuck Hansen
	The Dark Knight Rises	Bane
	Lawless	Forrest Bondurant
2013	Locke	Ivan Locke
2014	The Drop	Bobby Saginowski
2015	Child 44	Leo Demidov
	Mad Max: Fury Road	Max Rockatansky
	London Road	Mark
	Legend	Ronald & Reginald Kray	Also executive producer
	The Revenant	John Fitzgerald
2017	Dunkirk	Farrier
	Star Wars: The Last Jedi	FN-926	Deleted scene
2018	Venom	Eddie Brock and Venom	Also executive producer
2020	Capone	Al Capone
2021	Venom: Let There Be Carnage	Eddie Brock and Venom	Also story co-writer and producer
	Spider-Man: No Way Home		Uncredited mid-credit cameo
	The Matrix Resurrections	Background role	Uncredited extra
2023	The Bikeriders	Johnny Davis
2024	Venom: The Last Dance	Eddie Brock and Venom	Also story co-writer and producer
2025	Havoc	Walker	Post-production; also producer

Television Roles

Television roles of Tom Hardy

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Band of Brothers	John Janovec	Episodes: "Why We Fight" and "Points"
2005	Colditz	Jack Rose	2 episodes
2005	The Virgin Queen	Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester	3 episodes
2006	Gideon's Daughter	Andrew	Television film
2006	A for Andromeda	John Fleming	Television film
2006	Sweeney Todd	Matthew	Television film
2007	Cape Wrath	Jack Donnelly	5 episodes
2007	Oliver Twist	Bill Sikes	5 episodes
2007	Stuart: A Life Backwards	Stuart Shorter	Television film
2008	Wuthering Heights	Heathcliff	2 episodes
2009	The Take	Freddie	4 episodes
2013	Driven to Extremes	Himself	1 episode
2013	Poaching Wars	Himself	2 episodes; also executive producer
2014–2022	Peaky Blinders	Alfie Solomons	13 episodes; supporting role
2017	CBeebies Bedtime Stories	Himself	5 episodes
2017	Taboo	James Delaney	Also co-creator and executive producer
2019	A Christmas Carol	N/A	Executive producer
2020	All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur	Narrator	Documentary
2022	Falklands War: The Untold Story	Narrator	Documentary
2022	Predators	Narrator	Nature series
2023	Great Expectations	N/A	Executive producer
TBA	The Associate	Harry

Stage Roles

See also

In Spanish: Tom Hardy para niños