The “hero” actor Tom Hardy has “stolen everything” from
In terms of English acting legends of the 21st century, they don’t get much more prominent than Tom Hardy. The London-born actor has made transformative performances in the likes of Bronson and The Dark Knight Rises, turning his body into a hulking titanic figure whilst simultaneously delivering emotions of the most rousing nature.
Wherever Hardy seems to offer up his services, he delivers quality, and his filmography reads out as a list of movies of the highest order. From Venom to Mad Max: Fury Road, Hardy’s always been at the top of his game and has inspired countless young actors since his arrival on the scene. But when it comes to Hardy’s personal hero actor, only one person fits the bill.
“Gary Oldman is my hero, that’s it. He’s right up there,” Hardy once said. “When I went to drama school, everybody used to quote him in all of his films, you know, State of Grace right through to doing impressions of him in Leon and whatever. And I’d sit there really quiet and think, ‘No, you don’t know, I’m more of a Gary Oldman fan than you are’.”
He added: “They’d do an impression of him, and I’d think ‘Sacrilege’. So to work with him, for him to look me in the eye and talk to me and acknowledge me like I exist was, you know – because I’m not starstruck with people, but Gary… he took the wind right out of me.“
Oldman has worked with Hardy on a number of occasions, which will have been a great delight to the younger actor. They’ve performed alongside one another in 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by Tomas Alfredson, in Christopher Nolan’s final Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises and in the 2015 movie Child 44.
Hardy had been speaking around the release of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and he admitted to Oldman being the actor that he’d always aspired to be, noting, “I was shocked that I was actually working with him. To work three times with him, this is crazy; this is a man that I’ve stolen everything I’ve done from.”
“From Bronson, Stuart: A Life Backwards, that’s me trying to emulate what Gary’s done,” Hardy added. “To work with him makes me feel like I don’t have any characters of my own.” Evidently, the love that Hardy has for Gary Oldman runs true and deep, and he’s perhaps the actor he owes his career to.
