Tom Hardy is an incredibly talented and perhaps one of the most well-recognized British actors in Hollywood. He has made a name for himself with his skill and ability to immerse himself in whatever role he plays, being exceptionally versatile, as shown through his work on projects like the Venom franchise, Inception, Dunkirk, and his work in Mad Max: Fury Road. Outside of this, however, Hardy’s most notable work has to be Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises.
Starring alongside Christian Bale’s Batman as Bane, Hardy gave an incredibly memorable performance as the character. However, despite being surrounded by so many famous actors, including Bale and Morgan Freeman himself, the actor that Hardy was most excited to work with was British cinema legend, Gary Oldman.
Tom Hardy Idealize Gary Oldman
Tom Hardy has been quite vocal about how much Gary Oldman means to him and his career. He has mentioned in interviews, on multiple occasions, that he would look up to the actor in his early years as an actor and wanted to follow in Oldman’s footsteps in terms of his career. He then went on to say that this proved to be a problem when Hardy had to work alongside Oldman in the Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
“Gary Oldman is my absolute complete and utter hero,” Hardy said. “He’s the f***ing man. I look at him and I want to be like that for my generation — I want to have that same quality. He’s incredible. And there is a definite ‘hang on a minute [moment], but I’ve got past the star-struck part now.” he went on, “I spent my entire experience with Gary staring at him and not returning any lines because I think he’s God,”
Hardy revealed that he was unable to focus on his task at hand, which was saying his lines and acting, as he was too busy being star-struck by the Oscar-winning actor. He added that he kept on forgetting his lines and spent quite some time simply staring at Oldman, which he explained by saying that the Harry Potter actor was basically like a God to him. This did, however, get better when the two collaborated on The Dark Knight Rises.
Tom Hardy Had A Tough Time Working With His Idol Gary Oldman In The Dark Knight Rises
Tom Hardy’s behavior towards Gary Oldman was much more different when the two worked together on The Dark Knight Rises. Oldman played James Gordan, who works alongside Batman, whereas Hardy played the villain of this movie. This is why the Venom actor joked that during the filming process of this movie, his behavior towards Oldman was quite opposite to his behavior in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
“The second time [on The Dark Knight Rises] I was playing God, so I ignored him. Kicked him a bit, that kind of thing. Gary Oldman is one of my heroes, I did nothing but gleam from him,” Hardy recalled.
The actor revealed that while he did think of the Oscar-winning actor as his God, he was playing a character who thought of himself as a God. So, to fit the role, he ignored Oldman and went as far as to kick him during fight scenes. He then finished by adding that despite this behavior, he had nothing but respect for Oldman, calling him one of his heroes.
Source: CheatSheet
