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Recently, Tom Hardy lost two stone in five weeks. The 28-year-old, London-born actor slimmed down drastically to ten-andahalf stone to play the title role - a heroin addict with muscular dystrophy - in the forthcoming film Stuart: A Life Backwards.
Over the next two months, he must put on four-and-a-half stone to play heavyweight boxer Glenn McCrory in Aisling Walsh's movie Carrying David.
To govern the weight fluctuations required by his film career, Hardy has the help of nutritionist Lisa Jeans, who runs the Complete Retreat spa resort in Spain and who helped Renée Zellweger put on the pounds for the Bridget Jones films.
For Stuart, Lisa Jeans put him on an exercise programme of running five to seven miles every day, and a diet that revolved around blueberries, boiled eggs, apples, salad and tuna.
He wasn't allowed caffeine or salt, took vitamin B supplements and Omega-3 oils, and was supposed to drink smoothies of cucumber and celery to combat water retention. "I ended up just eating them, because I don't have a juicer," he laughs. "But Lisa was brilliant, and I need all the help I can get."
He's not joking. As well as being an actor of remarkable talent, who won the Evening Standard's Most Promising Newcomer Award on his 2003 stage debut in Steven Adly Guirgis's In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings, Tom Hardy is a recovering addict whose self-destructive urges almost killed him.
"The problem for me is psychological," he says. "So I have to be careful about obsessing about anything. Food could be as dangerous for me as drink or drugs. I could either binge or starve. On a film set, I might have breakfast at 5am and just keep eating all day. Right now, I'm rehearsing a play, and I could easily go without meals for two days.
"And I could just as easily become a gym-junkie, too. Recently I went through a period where I was lifting a lot of weights, and I had to stop that, not just because I had to slim down to play Stuart, but because it was becoming addictive."
I meet Hardy at his girlfriend's mother's house in East Molesey, where he is rehearsing a play called Blue on Blue with his own new theatre company, Shotgun. The piece has been written by Tom's dad, Chips, who is also here.
Father and son are lovingly demonstrative with one another, and it's hard to believe that the polite, friendly young man before me was, while enjoying a hugely successful film career, also locked into a downward spiral that alienated his family, ruined his early marriage and nearly killed him. Tom Hardy assures me it is true.
"I come from a very nice middle-class family in East Sheen," he says. "I went to prep school and boarding school, then Kensington crammers - all the signs of a middle-class upbringing where every opportunity was provided for me to do well. You know, things were fine."
But for him, he says, "fine" was an acronym for "f***ed-up, insecure, neurotic and emotional. From a very young age I was flagrantly disobedient. I got involved in anything that was naughty. I wanted to explore all the dark corners of the world, partly to see if I could control it".
In his teens he sampled every form of bad behaviour "from tattoos through to drug abuse, drinking, violent behaviour, robbery, carrying guns - all symptoms of selfhatred".
He was arrested at 15, picked up joyriding with a friend and a gun in a stolen Mercedes. He started fights. Remarkably, he was never charged with an offence, and although he eased off on the violent behaviour in his teens, his predeliction for substance abuse stayed with him.
From the outside, his life looked charmed. He won The Big Breakfast's Find Me a Supermodel competition at 19 (and with it a brief contract with Models One) and the following year got a place at drama school to study the only thing that had ever appealed or mattered to him, acting.
In his second year he got married. "I met my wife, Sarah - who was a production assistant and is now a producer - on the street in Covent Garden, and three weeks later we were married," he says. "It was pretty crazy but very exciting at the same time, really intoxicating."
And although he was kicked out of drama school ("twice - for being a little s***, basically"), that year he was offered a part in Steven Spielberg's epic Second World War series, Band of Brothers.
"Everything was happening fast and it felt wonderful," says Hardy. Frightening, too. "I had never acted for the camera. It's a huge set, it's Tom Hanks, it's Steven Spielberg, and no expense spared. I felt very exposed, isolated and vulnerable. I had to do my first sex scenes, which were terrifying. But at the time I thought I should never ask for help, and I kept thinking: 'If I cock up, I'll never work again.'"
Hardy's obsessive personality made him a workaholic, so he took every job he was offered, and had 10 films (including Black Hawk Down and Star Trek: Nemesis) under his belt before he was 25. He also had a serious drink problem.
"I come from heavy-drinking stock," he says. "It's something I always felt comfortable around, and I began to drink heavily. Very heavily." He was also using drugs. Was it heroin? Cocaine? "It was everything. Everything. You name it. I wasn't fussy. But you can't sustain that, especially with work, and I was working all the time. You end up losing the people you love, and you become someone you're not."
In 2002, after completing filming on the Star Trek movie, he had a complete physical and mental breakdown. He collapsed one night in Soho and it was then that his rehabilitation-began. "Some people find themselves in India," he says with sour self-disgust. "I found myself in Old Compton Street, on a [crack] pipe, covered in blood and vomit."
It cost him his marriage. "It's not about blame," he insists. "I loved Sarah and I still do, and we married for all the right reasons. I feel she saved my life on numerous occasions. But in hindsight, we didn't have the best reasons to stay married, for the health of everyone involved."
So bad was his physical burnout he was briefly hospitalised, then moved back to his parents' house in Sheen and went into a recovery programme where anonymity and confidentiality are sacrosanct (he is doubly careful of talking about this, in case he backslides and prevents someone else from "getting well").
Part of the process involved "making restitution" to his parents and his ex-wife for everything he put them through, and realising he must now watch his every step. "I live with something that will kill me if I don't manage it," he says. "There's a huge gorilla in underpants running around the centre of my being wanting to smash things up to the detriment of my health. I can't deny that he's there, but I have come to terms with living with him."
He's got Lisa Jeans to steer him away from eating disorders, and has purposely cut himself off from the druggy milieu, as he did from the criminal fraternity in his teens. These days, he's more likely to be found back in East Sheen, where, "after years of trying to get away, I've bought a flat", than in Soho.
"If you hang around a barbershop for long enough you're going to get a haircut, so I don't go to bars," he says. "I know that I like a drink, but if I had hayfever I wouldn't go walking through a field full of hay."
The acting profession, especially films, though, is fuelled by alcohol. Surely wrap parties and boozy functions are hard to avoid? "Well, functions are for business, so I go along and do my business and then I leave," he says. "And I love the crews I work with, so I will always go to wrap parties, but by the time the real boozing has started and everyone's turning into vampires, I'll be at home with my girlfriend, watching telly."
Hardy says he has learned to appreciate simple pleasures - going for walks with his girlfriend Rachael Speed, an assistant director he met on the set of The Virgin Queen, or going running with his dog in the glorious parks around Sheen, Richmond and Hampton Court. Running, he says, is so much better without a hangover. The form of rehab he went through means "there is always someone I can talk to, day or night, and if I need to I do it".
He tries to watch what he eats without being obsessive, but castigates himself in front of me for drinking tea with sugar, and smoking. Twice a day, in the morning and the evening, he sets aside time for meditation - not so much a spiritual exercise as a method he's evolved for maintaining his equilibrium.
"It's all about balance. In the evening I just think about what went wrong that day, what went badly, and I concentrate on the things I can change and not the ones I can't," he says. "And in the mornings, it's just about getting my head straight and being thankful I'm still alive."
It strikes me that workaholism may be the addiction that saved Tom Hardy - that and the love he rediscovered with his family and his girlfriend. Aside from his myriad forthcoming film and television projects, not to mention a starring role in Man of Mode at the National Theatre in January, he's fizzing with enthusiasm about Shotgun.
Initially designed as a place where resting actors could continue to train and initiate "passion projects", it has already grown to embrace outreach work for inner-city schoolkids and inmates at HMP Send (where Tom's past experiences will give him a bit of insight) and its first professional production.
Chips Hardy tells me there's quite a lot of him and Tom in Blue on Blue, the tale of a wounded father and a driven, damaged son. "We've had our ups and downs over the years," he says, "but Tom wouldn't be such a good actor if he didn't have those things in him."
I ask Tom if he agrees with this, if he feels he's now able to channel his obsessiveness into his craft. "I don't know about that," he says. "I just know now that nothing is more important than peace of mind, and family and love and security. And work."
• Blue on Blue is at Theatre 503 above the Latchmere pub, 503 Latchmere Road, SW11, 7-11 November (020 7978 7040). Scenes of a Sexual Nature and Marie Antoinette are on general release.
Reader views (31)
Tom's Heathcliffe took my breath away, the very best portrayal that I have seen. The man is an exceptional actor and upon watching Stuart, A Life Backwards, my thoughts and feelings were confirmed. I cried... alot. Tom gets to the very depths of you with his own displays of depths of emotions and when an actor does that to you, you know that you are watching one of the very best.
And of course, he is gorgeous...such a deadly combination...extraordinary talent and beauty, what more could you ask for?
- Jackie, Cambridge, UK, 15/02/2010 18:05
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A great interview and beautifully written. Adictive qualities are paramount in my character , it.. (these adictive qualities) ..makes you think either..." i can't have too much fun" ...or ..."see what happens" ....its hard to control , but you have to !.....On great days , i go to work with the knowledge that i've beaten it again ..or (rarely) you think .."i cant " ...........................but you have to go anyway! ... . I feel this interview with Tom Hardy has definatly helped my mates understand ! jen
- Jen Parsons, Swansea (from Reading , UK), 04/02/2010 19:47
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The first time i saw Tom was in Wuthering Heights and boy he blew me away, I was captivated by his presence and his beautiful face let alone his acting, I was a fan immediately and that for me is something as I have never been that effected before by any actor or many people for that matter, I immediately went on the net to find out who this amazing person was now I have watched all his movies and I am a BIG fan. more movies for Tom please.
kimberley.
- Kim Blake, perth, 21/01/2010 09:32
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Have you seen him in the advert for Kleenex. Crying in front of the TV with his bulldog? He is such a good actor and so bloody lush it's untrue.
- Emma, Plymouth UK, 18/12/2009 14:14
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Tom Hardy was and is amazing. I enjoyed all of his films, that I've watched, and can't wait to finally see Bronson.
Tom, you are gorgeous and I love you!!
x
- Zoe Mcmahon, Milton Keynes, UK, 12/11/2009 20:22
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amazing actor. i knew it when i saw him in stuart. he was so moving in that i bought the bloody book.
- Keva, lurgan ireland, 10/11/2009 21:12
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Tom Hardy is an extraordinary actor with tremendous screen presence..I have seen him in a number of films since first seeing him in Wuthering Heights..I wish him much continued success..xx
- Rachel, Rochester USA, 07/10/2009 03:11
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Recently after watching The Take on sky and seeing a performance as believeable and addictive as Tom Hardy playing Freddie Jackson, I can honestly say he now has a life long fan. Its inspiring to see someone do so well in their chosen career and get through such tough times to be a promising talent and represent our homegrown in a truely positive light. I now own so much of his work and am inspired at how one person can really get into the minds of so many characters and bring them to such life. After reading about his experiences and seeing how he has changed his life it has inspired me to follow my exactly what i want to do in life, and i can truely thank him for that, as its a very special talent to make you believe that your dreams are not so silly after all
I wish Tom Hardy all the success he deserves!!!
- Callie, London, England, 28/09/2009 23:00
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Good Morning Tom,
Thank you for all your hard work. I enjoy watching you.
One day at a time,
Kathie
- Kathie, Chicago, IL USA, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I became aware of Tom Hardy as Heathcliff on PBS Masterpiece. He absolutely gave the best performance of Heathcliff that I have ever seen. I didn't want the piece to end.
- Lisa Banner, Scottsdale, AZ, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I've seen Tom in previous things such as Stuart a life backwards and Cape Wrath and thought what an amazing actor and so fit!! I saw some of Oliver and though it's that guy again he is sooo fit!!! I then watched The Take becasue it was "him" again and was absolutely blown away by his performance. Tom Hardy is the best actor I have watched in ages, he's so talented and absolutely georgeous with the best lips I've ever seen. Not seen Bronson or Wuthering Heights yet but looking forward to them and will get everything else Tom has been in. He is my idol of the moment and know he is going to be one of the best actors to come out of the UK. Good Luck Tom you are amazing!! X
- Lynne, Manchester, 28/09/2009 22:00
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ThankGod .....there`s hope for us all, enjoyed reading your piece. J.G
- Greenie, Wolves ENGLAND, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I just loved you in Bronson. Can't wait to see you in more movies. You rock!
- Mary Rupe, Tucson,Az USA, 28/09/2009 22:00
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A few months ago, I taped "Elizabeth 1 Virgin Queen. I've see all past movies on the queen with Betty Davis, Judy Densch, Helen Mirran, and Cate Blanchet and they were all brilliant productions. I watched your version with Anna Marie (can't remember her last name), and was so amazed at the quality of acting and felt far more involved with the characters that I had to watch all the way through again. You were fabulous .... now I find myself wanting to see all your other movies. Your a solid actor and you have an adorable playful personaiity. I should imagine you could play just about any part perfectly. I hope you make more American productions. You will go over big in America ... I am so looking forward to seeing you again soon,l
I was born in North London and raised in South London, across from Straitham Common and then moved out to Shirley near Croydon. After school I worked for the London Times. At age 22 I moved to America and while I love it over hear I still miss England
Good luck,
- Rosemary Ashley, Bay Area, California USA, 28/09/2009 22:00
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Someone once wrote that Tom Hardy is a chameleon and I agree totally. I think I've seen all his film and tv work. Just wish I could see him on stage.
I told a friend the other day that his eyes speak volumes more than the script.
I do think he will become one of the generations best actors and I hope he will be getting some of those awards Not for Stuart???????????????
Very happy he is now a dad and taking such pleasure in his son, Louis.
- Margo, Florida USA, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I was riveted to the seat watching 'The Take',I thought it was brilliant.
Surprised to read Tom Hardy is from a middle class background,just shows what a fantastic actor he is.I am going to check out his other work now and oh yeah,he's a sort !!
- Yvonne Furneaux, Norfolk, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I have just watched the last episode of 'the take' on sky1. I have read the book and although not my usual pick (book club!) and it wasn't a bad read. I have never seen Tom Hardy in anything but was aware of the great reviews of the bronson film.
His portrayal of Freddie was amazing. The menace, the downward spiral to enjoying too much of his own product, the emotionally stunted grief - he was superb.
this is my first time ever to submit an opinion but tonight i felt i just had to let people know how much of a talent i feel Tom Hardy to be.
Praise must also be given to Shaun Evans, his co-star in this show, great performance. Every one of these characters were brought to life and the entire cast are to be applauded.
- Lorraine Reilly, Dundalk Ireland, 28/09/2009 22:00
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Just watched Tom in The Take, absolutely amazing. I read the book first and couldn't wait to see the tv version. When I first saw Tom as Freddie, he was just how I had pictured him in the book. Casting was first class as was Tom's performance as Freddie. His glassy stare shook me to the core, his facial expressions and stance were timed to perfection. He is one first class actor and the only way is up for him, he will surely become one our best homegrown finest actors or I'll eat my hat!
- Lady Jane, UK, 28/09/2009 22:00
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Have just watched the take having read the book. What a brilliant actor Tom Hardy is. I was absolutely glued to the tv, only running to the kitchen during the adverts to make a very quick brew. I have seen many gangster films recently, but can I just say that Tom absolutely outshone every actor in the films Iv'e seen. It's so nice to see how someone can turn their life around after having a rough time (and has done it to pefection). Tom I hope you get to read this I would just like to say that you are one amazing actor, and I wish you all the very best for the future.
- Den Smith, farnborough, hampshire, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I havnt seen Wuthering Heights yet, but, will soon , after seeing you in The Take I am now one of your biggest fans and from now on will look forward to watching all of your movies, TV dramas etc. You are mesmerising! Thanks a million for sharing your outstanding talent.
- Anne Ottley, east kilbride scotland, 28/09/2009 22:00
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Watched Bronson & Wuthering Heights - what a truly amazing actor Tom Hardy is!!! So talented - I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of him in the future. Fabulous looking too - would love to draw him...
- Ceris Jones, Preston, 28/09/2009 22:00
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Loved you as Freddie in The Take - very cute too! Jo x
- Jo Hughes, Saddleworth, Manchester, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I am a 39 year old woman who has been in recovery since I was 32. I knew from the moment i saw Tom Hardy in Wuthering Heights on PBS that there was something incredibly special about him. It did now suprise me to hear that he is in recovery. It is the experience of living that painful exhistence of hating yourself and coming out of it with a little bit of God's grace that can take you to the next level in life. Tom is transparent with this in his acting and I am appreciative and grateful to be apart of it. RocknRolla a must have classic please give us more. more, more Handsome Bob' anxiously awaiting The Real Rocknrolla, did not see Oliver Twist or Stuart, Layer Cake, Star Trek, or many others but I am going back to see them now. That is what a incredible actor does they leave you wanting more. Thank you Tom for charm, wit, and talent---I think british actors are constantly outshining american actors and I am constantly finding new and interesting people to watch. Thanks to Tom Hardy for being one of those people.
- Victoria Hill, Tacoma Washington USA, 28/09/2009 22:00
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Tom, loved your work on Wuthering Heights. What a great movie. You really brought Heathcliff to life....dangerous, brooding, passionate, you made him scary & vulnerable at the same time. I really enjoyed your work & wish you continued success!
- Josie, Port St. Lucie Florida, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I loved Wuthering Heights. Tom Hardy and Miss Reiley were perfectionnovel. I was absolutely mesmerised. by the great acting tiful scenery. Out of all the Wuthering Heights films this is superior and natural. Pure magic. thank you for giving an old romantic a beautiful get-away. I wish Tom Hardy would have been cast as Alec Durberville. He would have been perfect. He can give Robin Ellis a run for his money. Keep on the narrow and straight . Want to see more of his talent doing the great roles.
- Patricia Engle, Groton, USA, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I have watched Wutering Heights several times and Tom Hardy is the best young actor to come on the scene since the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Peter O'Toole and Laurence Olivier. My God keep him well and in His hand. His talent is extraoedinary...and hopefully won't be wasted. Too many young actors get in over their heads.
- Jr Sweeney, Boston, MA USA, 28/09/2009 22:00
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My mother used to say that her favorite movie was Wuthering Heights, and after seeing it, I was able to uderstand her pain of her lost love. She died of a broken heart, it only took her thirty years. After watching the PBS version, I understood, at last, what her attraction was, she totally identified with Heathcliffe! Tom Hardy you are an amazing young man, wishing only great things for your future. Please invade my dreams.
- S Southard, windham, usa, 28/09/2009 22:00
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Tom, I think you were amazing in The Virgin Queen and Wuthering Heights! I haven't had a chance to watch any of your other films, but I think you have an amazing career ahead of you! Good luck to you!
Darlene - I think those two reviews had to have been from people that do not understand good literature or good films. Our culture is very stuck on the immensely superficial. When that's all they are exposed to, how are they to appreciate the raw emotion of Wuthering Heights?
- Elise, Rushford, MN, USA, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I saw you for the first time in Wuthering Heights on PBS. Earlier the same day I had read 2 bad reviews for the flick on amazon as I was browsing around. I wasn't sure that I wanted to watch the movie. Wanting to form my own opinion, I watched... you were most brilliant in that movie! The way you inhabited the character of Heathcliff was mezmerizing. Your personal story is very compelling and I would just say to you, God so loved the world He gave all He had to win YOU back. You are truly gifted & BLESSED!
- Darlene Wagner, Canal Winchester Ohio USA, 28/09/2009 22:00
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Congratulations Tom, Bronson is a great movie and has just won the Sydney film festival.
I am pleased to have met you 3 years ago and proud that you are related.
Cheers
Phil
- Phil Williams, Geelong, Australia, 28/09/2009 22:00
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I recently watched Tom Hardy in the TV series of Oliver Twist and thought he was amazing!
I've seen the series many times, and still cried at everyone of them! It's only the part at the end when Bill Sikes hangs himself, that I get worked up, because I know it's Tom Hardy doing it!
I think he is an amazingly talented actor, and he is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous!
- Ashleigh Cooper, Manchester, UK, 28/09/2009 22:00
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