charlidos

Tom Hardy with Paul Sklar, double for Patrick Stewart, on the set of Star Trek Nemesis.

(Source: imdb.com)

A young Tom Hardy in HQ! :)

Tom Hardy & Gates McFadden at the premiere of Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002.

I love that goofy hide-your-teeth smile. :)

An old interview with baby!Tom, back in his Star Trek days. This was originally in Italian (I’m getting really good at Italian! *g*) so the translation may be lacking.

Thursday, May 15, 2003

Did you watch Star Trek as a child?
Honestly, I didn’t. Or at least, only when I was six or seven years did I watch the series with William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy a few times. I could only watch it now and again, because, mostly, I was sent to my room at six in the evening, when my mother forced me to do homework. I have never, however, watched The Next Generation. Even though I knew perfectly well what what it was. I was fifteen and I usually preferred to do things that a teenager in general wants to do; to go out of the house with friends. However, I made up for that when I did “Nemesis” as I watched all the episodes of the series and the movies on DVD. I enjoyed it very much and I appreciate very much what I saw.

Was it helpful not knowing the series?
Yes, because if I had been a fan I would never have been able to pass the audition. I would have been terrified of being rejected by a world that I loved so much and I would have been more paralyzed than I already were. Today I am amazed to be part of this great franchise, … I was very frightened, I never made a movie so important before this, I’ve never worked in Hollywood for a big production company, or with this kind of pressure and exposure to the media. But let me add one thing: not knowing Star Trek is not possible. Or rather, you can be a fan or not be, or not see it occasionally, but you would not know what it is and - above all - it’s impossible to not be fully aware of the importance of this saga. Star Trek is part of our culture.

What kind of experience was it?
It was wonderful, even though I was very scared. The only safe way to work in a Star Trek movie is to not think about what you’re doing and the damage you can do to the series. I only concentrated on my character and the artistic result that I wanted to achieve.

What was your technique?
If you can’t hide your emotions and your fears, you’d better use them, because the camera will find out. And that’s why you feel the tension between me and Patrick Stewart on the set. I was excited and I poured this feeling into my part, into my nervousness. It wasn’t enough trying to convince myself by saying: “Come on just do your job, you’ll be fine …” because when you are on a set face to face with Patrick Stewart you can’t hide. Before you is an actor who has years and years of experience. You know that they can’t go wrong. I was terrified and tried not to think about it, focusing only on my work. Besides, I wasn’t at ease even in costume. I used this feeling to give a voice to the repressed Shinzon.

In what sense?
When I read the screenplay by John Logan I was fascinated by Shinzon and the script was beautiful. But it’s one thing to read a part on the written page in the bathtub or in the privacy of your home. It’s another thing entirely to go out on a set and show the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of another human being. In this sense, the costume was very helpful. It seemed extraordinary to me, but - at the same time - it demanded a certain kind of pose. There are certain costumes that require an actor to actively manage the space made for his character. This is what the costume of Shinzon was for me, because I had to do a kind of ballet performance which balanced things.

(Source: film.35mm.it)

Notmyhairitsapalm recently reposted this quote from Tom’s friend Vincent Cassel:

[Tom]’s a handsome man who isn’t afraid of making himself ugly, like a Brad Pitt who boxes. I’m convinced he’s going to be a superstar.”

Truer words were never spoken. Tom is such a handsome man indeed, but right from the very start of his career, he’s never balked from playing the ugly  and/or disturbing characters, and doing so with complete dedication.

Part 3 of the interview with Tom Hardy from Lodown magazine. This is about drugs, Star Trek, Stuart and stage work.

(Part 1 Part 2 Part 4) Part 3:

The first time we met was for Star Trek Nemesis, you were going through personal difficulties at the time…
TH: Massively, I was high as a kite! [Breaks out laughing.] I wasn’t even on the fucking planet! That’s not put a finer point on it – I was on it, New Jack City style. Let’s make no bones about it, I was on rocket fuel. Man I was fucked. And I thought that film was going to make me a superstar. How wrong was I?

But at the same time…
TH: Still in it to win it, mate.

You managed to carry on doing theatre and getting plaudits at the same time. It wasn’t all about chasing highs; you were grounded in some respects in your work.
TH: Somebody up there must like me and I must be doing something right.

For example, doing the play recently with Philip Seymour Hoffman (who directed Hardy in The Long Red Road by Brett C Leonard) he won’t just work with anybody.
TH: No, you’re right and I’m very grateful for that. I spent 10 weeks with him in Chicago hanging on his every word and working with to a place where he’s my friend as well. I do love what I do. I’m lucky enough to have a skill set and certain amount of talent, to be able to do and move with certain people to do certain work, and that’s a sort of secured level of self-esteem, desire, ambition and need to fulfill certain criteria.

I must admit at the time of Nemesis it was apparent you had the goods to bring to the table, but what was your state of mind to your work? Did you have an inner confidence? Did you compare yourself to other British actors to gain confidence?
TH: That’s interesting. That’s low self-esteem manifesting itself as looking at others and saying I can do better than this cant here, which manifests itself as false pride and ambition in the wrong place. I was off-centre. When I pointed the finger of blame at people, there were three pointing back. Naturally, growing older and wiser with experience, it’s no longer “I want to be the best”, which was quite immature and an arrogant defect, but now I just want to be the best that I can be. I want to be part of a team. I’ve had a limited amount of experience where I’ve had a certain amount of success and interest from people whom I deem to be very fucking good at what they do. They’ve validated my prescence by saying come in, Tom, we want to work with you.

You haven’t been shy in playing characters that in many ways reflect the way you were – Sammy in the Philip Seymour Hoffman play and the character of Stuart.
TH: We know Stuart and Sammy. Stuart is not far from where I’ve come from. I’m not Stuart, but I identify hugely. The message is in the fact that I find these people’s struggles, epic struggles, on a molecular basis and a very individual basis  - they may not be the President of the United States of America – this is a guy struggling in Cambridge to fucking live. That is intrinsically important and vital for me to be a part of, the message of care, love and understanding, and to give a voice to that make up, that individual, because I get it. Other actors have desires to be other characters, but I search out these because I find them more fascinating because I identify with them. It’s cathartic as well. It’s also partly coming to the project with some kind of experience of sorts and then manifesting it into the acting. I’m an artist as well. It might sound wank, but I do see myself as an artist. I don’t say it a lot, but at the end of the day, I am.

Well, it’s proper “acting”, so to speak.
TH: Absolutely. The meat and potatoes of good film are with those individuals and teams like say the Coen brothers, who manifest great pieces of work and ultimately art, who observe and reflect society on a level which is incredibly apt and specific. [Laughing.]

Here’s a video I’d KILL to see:

When Tom Hardy won the role of Shinzon, he beat the likes of Michael Shanks and many other prominent young actors. However, it was still not a sure thing, as he relates. “I met Mr Stewart, the director Stuart Baird and some others. I must admit that my screen test was appalling - a terrible experience, and I came a long way to blowing it. Luckily, I did some filming of myself earlier in the day, so that whatever happened in the screen test I could show what I was like in a more relaxed environment.”

But that videotape had a few other ‘extras’ that Tom didn’t initially plan to include. “There was footage of me walking around my hotel room in boxer shorts, eating my breakfast and walking into the Jacuzzi. I’d never been to such a large hotel room before, so I filmed it to show my friends. So, as well as my audition piece, Rick Berman got the whole experience of this strange child from South London who had hit the big time and was enjoying it very much. He says that when he saw my tape he thought I was the most bizarre and odd person they’d ever seen. Then he showed this tape to his wife and they both laughed hysterically at it, apparently even on the second time around. I imagine that I looked like a complete idiot - but maybe that’s what did it?” Hardy becomes philosophical for a moment. “Ah well, you never really find out why you get some jobs, do you?”

From Starburst magazine, 2003. (Photo with which I mean to illlustrate ‘most bizarre person’. *g*)

Tom is a man with a mission. He’s just completed a read-through in London for new horror film LD50, and is prepping for the massive press juggernaut that will precede Nemesis’ release. Today, however, his focus is on something that we all can relate to. “I get to see my action figure for the first time”, he beams. “It’s every boy’s dream. In fact, one of my friends has just given me a Reservoir Dogs figure of Steve Buscemi’s characters and said, ‘When your character comes out, they can fight each other in the bath.’ Of course, my mum wants one too.”

Haha! They want to slash Shinzon with Mr Black. In the bath!

From Starburst magazine, 2003 (not available online).