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Tom Hardy
Born	Edward Thomas Hardy 15 September 1977 (1977-09-15) (age 31) East Sheen, London, England
Years active	2001-present

Edward Thomas "Tom" Hardy (born 15 September 1977) is an English actor.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Career 3 Filmography 4 References 5 Further reading 6 External links

Early years

Hailing from East Sheen, London, Hardy began his career in war dramas. He studied at Reeds School, Tower House Prep School for Boys, the Drama Centre London and subsequently at Richmond Drama School before winning the part of United States Army Private John Janovec in the award-winning HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. He made his feature film debut in Ridley Scott's 2001 war thriller Black Hawk Down.

Career

In 2002, Hardy appeared the independent film Dot the i, sharing the bill with Gael García Bernal. He then travelled to North Africa for Simon: An English Legionnaire, a story of the French Foreign Legion. In the same year, he gained some heavy international exposure as the Reman Praetor Shinzon, a clone of USS Enterprise Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) in Star Trek Nemesis. He returned to England to feature in the 2003 thriller LD 50 Lethal Dose.

Hardy was awarded the 2003 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his performances in Blood and 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 in the aforementioned production of Arabia, We'd All Be Kings.

Hardy appeared in the 2005 BBC miniseries The Virgin Queen as Robert Dudley, a childhood friend of Elizabeth I. The miniseries portrays them as having a platonic, though highly romantic, affair throughout her reign over England during the 16th century. Hardy featured in the Richard Fell adaptation of the 1960s sci-fi series A for Andromeda, on BBC Four.

In 2007, he appeared in the BBC Two 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 suicide. In September 2008, he appeared in director Guy Ritchie's London gangster film, RocknRolla. He played the role of gay gangster Handsome Bob, one of the members of the criminal gang, the Wild Bunch, led by One Two (Gerard Butler), whom Bob has a crush on. Hardy will reprise the role in Ritchie's sequel The Real RocknRolla.

Later on, in the new year he appeared in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, playing the part of Heathcliff, the classic love character who falls in love with his childhood friend Cathy - "the love that destroyed everything it touched".

In early 2009, Hardy starred in the film Bronson, about the real life prisoner Charles Bronson, who has spent almost his entire life in solitary confinement. For the film, he put on three stone of muscle and did 2,500 press-ups a day for five weeks.¹

In June 2009 Hardy starred in the Martina Cole written 4-part TV drama The Take on Sky One as a drugs and alcohol fuelled gangster.

He is signed to play the son of Nick Nolte in the 2010 film Warrior, about a washed-up mixed martial artist. He will be the main protagonist in the film.²

Hardy has co-written two television shows with writer Kelly Marcel. "Candy Chops" was sold to Rob Brydon's production company - Arbie and "Kickapoo Dust" is owned by Left Bank.

Filmography

• Band of Brothers (TV miniseries) (2001)
• Black Hawk Down (as Twombly) (2001)
• Star Trek Nemesis (2002)
• Simon: An English Legionnaire (2002)
• Dot the i (2003)
• The Reckoning (2003)
• LD 50 Lethal Dose (2003)
• Layer Cake (2004)
• Colditz (TV series) (2005)
• EMR (2005)
• The Virgin Queen (TV miniseries) (2005)
• Sweeney Todd (TV) (2006)
• A for Andromeda (TV) (2006)
• Gideon's Daughter (TV) (2006)
• Minotaur (2006)
• Marie Antoinette (2006)
• Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006)
• Flood (TV) (2007)
• Stuart: A Life Backwards (TV) (2007)
• WΔZ (2007)
• Cape Wrath (TV series) (2007)
• Oliver Twist (TV miniseries) (2007)
• Sucker Punch (2008)
• RocknRolla (2008)
• Wuthering Heights (TV miniseries) (2009)
• Bronson (2009)
• The Take (TV series) (2009)
• Warrior (2010)

References

Further reading

• Dempster, S (2007-09-22). "Tom Hardy tastes the hard life". TV & Radio (The Times). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article2484313.ece. Retrieved on 2007-10-03. 

External links

• Tom Hardy at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Hardy at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Tom Hardy Details at The Handbook
• Tom Hardy as Freddie Jackson