The actor that Tom Hardy called “God” and became his ultimate hero
Tom Hardy is one of those rare actors who has managed to shine in almost everything he has worked on, whether it be mainstream productions like The Dark Knight Rises or arthouse projects such as Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson.
It’s a difficult task to remain both commercially viable and critically sound, but Hardy has managed to pull off such a feat through sheer determination. Throughout his body of work, Hardy has displayed an unrivalled dedication to his craft.
Of course, when moving through such a career, there are bound to be some paycheque-driven pitfalls that make huge money but damage your career and, likewise, some artistic endeavours which gain widespread acclaim but only offer pocket change returns. This delicate dance is one that Hardy has been pulling off throughout his filmography. Moving from one foot to the other, effortlessly toeing the line between the edges of the cinema’s tectonic plates.
While Hardy’s filmography is undoubtedly stacked, one of his major successes was the Cold War spy thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Starring alongside the likes of Colin Firth, John Hurt and Gary Oldman, Tomas Alfredson’s 2011 work is a highly effective film – set in 1970s London – which revolves around the search for a Soviet secret agent.
Over the course of his illustrious career, Hardy has had the privilege of working with some of the biggest names in the industry. However, he’ll never forget his experience on the set of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy because it gave him the opportunity to see Gary Oldman in action.
While talking about the film, Hardy said (via Digital Spy): “With Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the first time I worked with Gary Oldman, I had to watch him because we had to re-shoot… because my beard fell off while I was talking. So we had to go back and re-shoot the entire scene that I had with him in that, in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.”
According to Hardy, the arduous production wasn’t a big deal since he learnt a lot from studying Oldman’s approach to the craft. Of course, the efforts eventually paid off since Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy became a huge critical and commercial success. For his flawless performance, Oldman also picked up a Best Actor nomination at the Oscars.
When asked about the re-shoots, Hardy claimed that he didn’t mind them at all “because I spent my entire experience with Gary staring at him, and not returning any lines, because I think he’s basically God, you know?… Gary Oldman is one of my heroes, completely. I did nothing but glean from him.”
However, while Oldman may have exuded confidence while on set, some of his finest work almost didn;t happen through sheer stage fright. “I’d never really experienced it,” Oldman reflected. “In York [Samuel Beckett play] after 37 years, I was chomping at the bit to do it, and I don’t know whether it is nerves or adrenaline or whatever, it’s excitement. There’s a difference between being paralysed with fear, which stage fright is, and that. There’s a difference between that and being energised and excited to get out there.”
However, on Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Oldman confirmed: “It was bone-crushing. I wouldn’t want to experience it again. What had happened with it was that most of the time, and most of the role I have played, I have gone into them kicking and screaming.”
It deeply affected Oldman, “It got to me to the point where I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep. It terrified me.” Thankfully, Oldman’s producing partner would step in and come to the set with Oldman on the first day to help him through his first scenes with Tom Hardy. When the actor got on set he soon realised “I know where I am, what’s all the fuss about?“
