“I find crying difficult”: Tom Hardy Nearly Killed Own Career by Trying Sentimental Role in $156M Rom-Com Produced by Will Smith Before Christopher Nolan Saved Him

With a repertoire that consists of films like The Dark Knight Rises, Venom, and Mad Max: Fury Road, Hollywood star Tom Hardy has proven himself to be a bankable action star. The actor has also been part of sci-fi thrillers like Inception and the critically acclaimed The Revenant with Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio. His martial arts training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu started after his role as an MMA fighter in 2011’s Warrior.

The film earned Hardy a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his emotional depth that added to his physicality. His success in performing intense roles prompted the star to try his hand at other genres including rom-coms which unfortunately did not yield desired results.

Also Read: “You’re just not it”: Tom Hardy, Who Conquered Hollywood With His Intense Looks, Was Considered Too Ugly for $121M Movie With Keira Knightley

Tom Hardy Failed To Impress In This Means War

With the success of his martial arts film Warrior, British actor Tom Hardy proved that he had the acting chops to go along with his penchant for hardcore action. The star who faced a new challenge in tapping into his emotional side, spoke of his experience saying,

“I find crying difficult…and I won’t know what will send me [to tears]. If my son tells me he loves me, that will make me cry…Bambi would probably do me. Or Shrek.”

The Venom actor who was encouraged by his Academy Award nomination for the film, decided to try his hand at other genres by signing up to play one of the lead roles along with Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon in the rom-com This Means War. The film which was produced by Will Smith, unfortunately did not find favor with critics and audiences.

Tom Hardy too suffered the same fate as the film with the actor’s performance being subjected to harsh criticism, leading him to confess that the rom-com genre completely threw him into the deep end. He stated that despite wanting to try his hand at attempting something different, he would never do a romantic comedy again as he was totally out of his element as an actor and performer. Hardy moved on quickly from the debacle to sign on the marquee role of Bane in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises which got him back on track as an action star.

Also Read: “It’s an extraordinary performance”: Christopher Nolan Compares Tom Hardy With Marlon Brando, Claims The Dark Knight Rises Actor is Not Appreciated Enough by Comic-Book Purists 

Tom Hardy Almost Did Not Do Inception For This Reason

Christopher Nolan’s cult sci-fi blockbuster Inception catapulted Tom Hardy into the big leagues as a prominent commercially successful actor. Hardy who played the smooth-talking flirtatious character Eames in the film, rubbed shoulders with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Cillian Murphy amongst other stars. But the Mad Max: Fury Road actor almost did not bag the role due to a skill that he did not possess.

Upon arrival on set, Hardy was hit with the realization that he needed to learn how to ski for the climax of the film. The star was suddenly under immense pressure to learn the skill swiftly on set to be able to complete the shooting schedule. In an effort to expedite the process, the crew strapped him to the back of a ski-doo while he was in his skis to complete his action scenes. Despite enduring a tough time on set, Hardy claimed that he was motivated and inspired to take on the challenge and do justice to the role.

Also Read: In an Ironic Twist, Sony’s Venom 3 Makes Multiverse Jump into Zack Snyder’s Justice League as Tom Hardy Threequel Bags Snyderverse Cinematographer

Source: Factinate