If any of you who are new to Tom Hardy-world haven’t seen Stuart a Life Backwards… Don’t wait another minute! Definitely one of his - and anyone else’s for that matter - best performances.
“Stuart was the best role I’ve ever had – probably ever will have,” he says, solemnly. “I could stop now, technically. I’m not going to, because I love the craft, I love playing, I love acting. But that is as good as it gets, for me. So I can’t say what will happen next. Even though I know there’s no such thing as perfection, I’m still looking for it. It drives me. But I have a fear of success and a fear of failure. Self-sabotage is in my make-up. It can be debilitating. I can’t stand being in my head, that’s why I have to get out of it. That’s where the drugs and drink came in. I don’t do any of that any more, though. That’s why I have to act.” He pauses, frowning. “D’you know what I mean?”
“I love Stuart,” Hardy says. “I love him. I feel for him, his pain, d’you know what I mean? There’s more pain in him than there is in me,” reflects Hardy, “and there’s a gratitude there in some ways, because I think, ‘Well at least I’m not in as much pain as this poor guy.’ I don’t want to make it sound sentimental, though. Alexander has written something that sings. I fell in love with the piece. I could hear the music of it.”
