Tom Hardy

Hardy featured in the BBC Four adaptation of the 1960s science fiction series A for Andromeda.

Edward Thomas Hardy (born 15 September 1977) is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter.

Edward Thomas Hardy was born in the Hammersmith district of London on 15 September 1977, the only child of artist and painter Anne (née Barrett) and novelist and comedy writer Edward "Chips" Hardy.

He is of Irish descent on his mother's side.

He was raised in London's East Sheen suburb.

Hardy attended Tower House School, Reed's School, and Duff Miller Sixth Form College.

He later studied at Richmond Drama School and the Drama Centre London, now a part of Central Saint Martins.

He has named Gary Oldman, with whom he would later work on Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, as his "hero" and added that he mirrored scenes from Oldman while at drama school.

In 1998, Hardy won The Big Breakfast Find Me a Supermodel competition at the age of 21 (although the programme said he was 20), earning him a brief contract with Models 1.

Hardy joined Drama Centre London in September 1998, and was taken out early after winning the part of US Army Private John Janovec in the HBO-BBC mini-series Band of Brothers.

During this time, Hardy also had a brief stint as a rapper and hip hop producer with his friend Edward Tracy (under the name "Tommy No 1 + Eddie Too Tall"), with whom he recorded a mixtape called Falling On Your Arse in 1999 that remained unreleased until 2018.

After studying acting at the Drama Centre London, he made his film debut in Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down (2001).

Hardy's television roles include the HBO war drama mini-series Band of Brothers (2001), the BBC historical drama mini-series The Virgin Queen (2005), Bill Sikes in the BBC's mini-series Oliver Twist (2007), Heathcliff in ITV's Wuthering Heights (2009), the Sky 1 drama series The Take (2009), and as Alfie Solomons in the BBC crime drama series Peaky Blinders (2014–2022).

He made his feature film debut in Ridley Scott's war thriller Black Hawk Down (2001).

He had supporting roles in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and RocknRolla (2008), and went on to star in Bronson (2008), Warrior (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Lawless (2012), This Means War (2012), and Locke (2013).

In 2002, Hardy appeared as the Reman Praetor Shinzon, a clone of USS Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: Nemesis.

The following year, he appeared in the film Dot the i, and then travelled to North Africa for Simon: An English Legionnaire, a story of the French Foreign Legion.

He was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his role as Skank in the production of In Arabia We'd All Be Kings (2003), and was awarded the 2003 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his performances in both In Arabia We'd All Be Kings and Blood, in which he played Luca.

He then returned to the United Kingdom to feature in the horror film LD 50 Lethal Dose (2003).

Hardy was awarded the 2003 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his performances in Blood and In Arabia We'd All Be Kings performed at the Royal Court Theatre and Hampstead Theatre.

He was also nominated for a 2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer of 2003 in a Society of London Theatre Affiliate for his performance as Skank in the aforementioned production of In Arabia We'd All Be Kings.

Hardy appeared with Emilia Fox in the BBC mini-series The Virgin Queen (2005) as Robert Dudley, a childhood friend of Elizabeth I.

Dudley's character has been described as an ambiguous young man who is torn between the affection of his wife (played by Fox), his love for Elizabeth, and his own ambitions.

He starred in the production of The Man of Mode (2007) and received positive reviews for his role in the play The Long Red Road (2010).

Hardy is active in charity work and is an ambassador for the Prince's Trust.

In 2007, he appeared in BBC Two's drama based on a true story, Stuart: A Life Backwards.

He played the lead role of Stuart Shorter, a homeless man who had been subjected to years of abuse and whose death was possibly a suicide.

The same year he played Bill Sikes in the BBC mini-series Oliver Twist, an adaptation of Charles Dickens's novel that aired on PBS Masterpiece Classic in the US.

In February 2008, he played a drug-addicted rapist in the British horror-thriller WΔZ.

In September 2008, he appeared in Guy Ritchie's London gangster film, RocknRolla; Hardy played the role of gay gangster Handsome Bob.

In 2008, Hardy starred in the film Bronson, about the real-life English prisoner Charles Bronson, who has spent most of his adult life in solitary confinement.

For the film, he put on three stone (42 lb or 19 kg).

In June 2009, Hardy starred in Martina Cole's four-part TV drama The Take on Sky One, as a drug and alcohol-fuelled gangster.

The role gained him a Best Actor nomination at the 2009 Crime Thriller Awards.

He has appeared in three Christopher Nolan films: Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) as Bane, and Dunkirk (2017).

He has since starred as Eddie Brock/Venom in the film Venom and its 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

In 2015, he starred as "Mad" Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road and both Kray twins in Legend, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Revenant.

He created, co-produced, and took the lead in the eight-part historical fiction series Taboo (2017) on BBC One and FX.

Hardy has performed on both British and American stages.

He was appointed a CBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to drama.