charlidos

avenging-warrior:

An interview I scanned from this months Empire Magazine about ‘This Means War’ ;) Pics are in HQ!

Wonderful! Thanks. It’s hilarious. :)

(Source: louderthanw0rds)

From Total Film - January 2012 about This Means War:

For [Tom] Hardy, McG wanted to “extract his inner Cary Grant”. Maybe so, but the Brit’s machismo was in full swing, the actor letting Witherspoon fire a paintball shot in his (albeit padded) groin for real. McG admits his starlet’s aim wasn’t always true, though. “She missed and shot him in the leg and fucked it up.”

It’s all pretty new to Hardy, too. Not that long ago, he was taking small roles in the likes of Marie Antoinette and Layer Cake. Post-Inception, though, he’s officially in the big league. “It’s interesting”, the actor marvels, “because all of a sudden the people that I normally see in magazines or on TV are working in the same room as me.”

So, who’d win in a fight between Bane and Kirk? Well, War’s behind-the-scenes antics show just how hard Hardy is, as he and McG both use their bare bums as point-blank paintball targets. “It was a badge of honour”, laughs McG, whose ass is still bruised 10 months on. “I think it’s permanent damage. So thank you, Tom Hardy.” Is there nothing that fazes him? 

Another interview from an Italian magazine - this one’s called Io Donna. And it’s another brilliant collaboration between me and google… *g* (Please do help if you know Italian!)

When you meet him there’s a surprise: at the beginning he seems to be as secretive and introverted as his character on screen, but then he opens up and shows vulnerability and sensitivity. “I grew up in a middle class family”, he laughs. “My father is a writer who graduated from Cambridge.” His father get mentioned in particular, for him he wants to return to stage plays, to grapple with William Shakespeare and Anton Chekhov. For him, after years of excessive intake of alcohol and drugs (just like his character in the film), he wants to become a reliable man. This film is just the beginning. Tommy Conlon is a Marine with a violent past, an alcoholic father (played by Nick Nolte) and a brother he’s not seen for 15 years. In short, a bleak life.

It can’t have been easy getting into that dark and desperate world.
It may surprise you, but as sad as the subject of the film is and how the character of Tommy is even sadder, I felt immediately at home. These are things that I have experienced first hand. When I turned to Nick and I discussed with him about alcoholism and dysfunctional families, we wanted to tak off.

Was it painful?
No, if anything it was cathartic! Somehow I feel a responsibility to tell the truth to those who suffer: I do my part, open a window on that world. The hardest part - it will seem strange - was the physical training, eight hours a day boxing, Muay Thai, Jiu-Jitsu, weight-lifting … I am one who goes up with the dog appears to the corner for milk … (Io sono uno che al massimo va col cane fino all’angolo per compare il latte - I’m not sure what this expression is supposed to illustrate. Anyone?)

You continue to play violent characters, hard and superathletic.
Look, I spend my free time watching Fireman Sam - a children’s program - with my son Louis. And no one even knew I existed, on this side of the ocean, until they saw me in Bronson, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. That’s how I became the anti-hero, the villain, the one with a myriad of problems. I am grateful for this role: I always wanted to go to Hollywood.

You were expelled from every school, and has had to deal with law enforcement and drugs. What made you change direction?
My father. I am an only child and I always wanted him to be proud of me. And then I really like acting, every day is a discipline that teaches me something new.

On screen you are a true warrior. Are you a warrior in real life?
I love life and I’m living it to the full, I have a child and that is a continious struggle for me … I grew up in a nice residential neighborhood, but I’ve collected all kinds of experiences and I’ve lived in every kind of hole. The challenge is to not regress but to improve every day, going in a healthy direction and not to hurt my son. Ah … then I try not to read articles about me. Even if I don’t succeed. (Laughs)

You support the cause of homelessness. How come?
It dates back to when I did a film for HBO, which told the story of a writer who meets a homeless man in Cambridge. As it happens, University of Cambridge is my father’s university. Here, too, I guess I’m trying please Dad …

Did you talk with Nick Nolte, his father on the screen, about your common experiences of drugs and alcohol? Or was that a taboo subject?
I can talk about alcoholism for hours and hours … but of course not with everyone. Talking with Nick has been liberating, I knew he’d understand the dysfunctionality of a family with alcoholism and the issues of abandonment.

You have several tattoos.
And I must always cover them when I work! A pain, you know what I mean? I was 15 when I made the first one: it was a Irish leprechaun , in honor of my grandmother. At 17 I added another because I wanted to have two. And then I had some turbulent years and every time I add a new one to remember where I was, what I had before.