A short interview with Tom Hardy from the Italian magazine Ciak. I must have been done a while back, because of the P-nut thing… Translated by google (and me).
“Before I started to kick people in the face and punch them in the balls, no one was interested. If I were an intellectual, I’d have good material in order to dissect the values of our society, but luckily I’m an actor. “ Tom Hardy says, pretending to be simpleminded.
“After the flop of Star Trek I had a nervous breakdown and ended up in hospital. I have to be thankful that I wasn’t successful then, I wasn’t ready. Today, yes, because I remind myself that it can end at any moment.”
Have you ever happened to think like some starlet would: I want to be hired for my brain, not just for my body?
Strange as it may seem, the most interesting side of Bane is not his muscles, but his mind. Extremely precise, sharp, to the point. His actions may seem brutal, but his thinking is sophisticated.
When he revealed that you would spend the whole movie with your face hidden by a mask, director Christopher Nolan made two great compliments. He spoke of the sorrow of covering “one of the most beautiful mouths in film”, but also of the pleasure of proving that you can act only with expressive eyes.
All that Nolan thinks and does for me is right. With Inception he was my benefactor. The thing with the mask was no problem, except in my early scenes with Christian Bale, when I realized that both of us were wearing a mask.
In The Dark Knight you are 10 kilos heavier than in Warrior, which was already 10 kilos more than usual. In order to gain weight and lose weight, are you copying the methods of Christian Bale?
I am more naive, less theoretical and more practical. My secret is called Patrick Monroe, known as P-Nut, a former Marine from the Bronx who helped my metamorphosis. We decide the objective together and then he guides me to the finish. He also acts as a nurse and psychiatrist. Each time it obviously becomes more difficult, because between one movie and the other I never go to the gym, but I eat fast food and I spend time with my son lying on the sofa placed in front of the tv.
Are you growing tired of playing troublemakers?
I’m peaceful in real life. I think I choose these parts, not because I’m physically afraid, but I because I feel I can create an authentic character.
Your life has been pretty hectic…
I know: alcoholism, drugs, a few days in jail. All things in the past. I’m not proud, but at least it’s useful when I put one of my characters in some dark hole.
How many tattoos do you have exactly?
I have never counted them, and I often transform them by adding words or drawings. They are my memories.
(Hardy is Catholic, as is shown by the portrait of the Virgin Mary on his left shoulder.)
