Tom Hardy is one of those talents whose on-screen endeavors reflect the type of challenges that the English actor is willing to undertake. Through many instances, audiences have witnessed the Mad Max: Fury Road alum effectively embody characters of a varied nature, in intricate, well-written narratives. His nuanced and powerful performances have the power to give his acting endeavors a colorful shade of complexity and depth.
While the actor has engaged himself in multiple pursuits that required a strenuous, arduous level of mentally burdening hard work, he admitted in an old interview that the one project that felt particularly laborious happened to be a Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg-produced war-drama miniseries. This venture, titled Band of Brothers, marked the talent’s first TV role and allowed Hardy to step into the world of Hollywood spotlight.
Tom Hardy’s Unfaltering Dedication To Challenging Roles
The relentless and untiring dedication exuded by the actor towards most of his acting jobs becomes blatantly obvious when we take into account the number of times Tom Hardy has willingly undergone shocking transformations. Almost akin to his former Batman co-star Christian Bale, the actor’s keenness in embodying his characters beyond the spectrum of psychological motivations, emotions, and mere facial gestures is admirable. As a result, Hardy remains unfazed by the physical demands and requirements of conventionally difficult-to-portray roles.
Take for example his portrayal of Bane in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises. Fans of the actor deemed him completely unrecognizable. For the character, Tom Hardy put on around 30 pounds of muscle mass. This on-screen metamorphosis left audiences dumbfounded. However, to achieve the stupefying and remarkable physique, the talent had to undergo a grueling, back-breaking training period that involved working out 4 days a week. This, accompanied by eating “lots of pizza”, continued for almost 3-4 months.
At the end of it, Hardy ended up weighing around almost 200 lbs. This, he later admitted, took a toll on him. “I think you pay the price with any drastic physical changes … to go from one extreme to another has a cost,” he stated on the matter.
Despite the burdensome implications of such physically (and emotionally) taxing roles, Hardy has never once shied away from partaking in toilsome endeavors. However, one of the more notable instances where an acting job brought forth an intimidating sense of pressure and stress for the Venom alum was when he landed his television debut role in Band of Brothers.
Tom Hardy’s Experience Of Working In Band Of Brothers (2001)
Band of Brothers, which had a budget of $125 million, was a 2001 HBO war-drama miniseries that was based on a non-fiction book of the same name, penned by Stephen E. Ambrose. Created by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the Emmy-winning show, besides starring Hardy, also featured actors such as Kirk Acevedo, Eion Bailey, Damian Lewis, etc. On Rotten Tomatoes, the 10-part miniseries has a Tomatometer rating of 97%. This astounding assessment proves the brilliance of its narrative.
In an interview with IGN, the Legend alum was questioned about his involvement in the Hanks and Spielberg-created show. This was, as alleged by Hardy himself, the actor’s first job. Therefore, recounting back on the days of his inexperience and naïveté, he stated the following:
“Band of Brothers was my first job so I was virtually out of the frying pan and into the fire, really. I’d not had previous experience with working in front of the camera, so there was dealing with that.”
The actor went on to detail the approach he took to embody the character of Private John Janovec. Despite Tom Hardy’s screen-time constraints and lack of lines, he deemed it his responsibility to precisely and accurately encapsulate the essence of the overarching storyline. Following is what he had to say:
“I had the research material, not that I’d need it. I mean, I was in two episodes and had twelve lines. That was the sum total of work had to do. But nonetheless, I would work just as hard trying to portray someone whose relatives are still around. Obviously, nobody wants to go out there and say, “This is my big moment.” and I’m playing John Janovec, who is dead. He died for freedom. So, yes, you have to approach that.”
To conclude, the English actor affirmed that the “pressure was enormous” when taking into consideration the responsibility he was given. However, in such moments, it was important for Hardy to ground himself. “You cannot think, ‘This is my big moment’ at all,” clarified the Inception alum. Instead, his efforts towards the show were centered around his willingness of trying to do the “right work.”
This marked the start of Tom Hardy’s continuous progress, as he evaluated what worked and what didn’t, in hopes of self-improvement. What we can ascertain is that the actor’s diligence and efforts paid off. He’s now one of the most noteworthy names in the Hollywood industry with an unforgettable filmography under his belt.
Band of Brothers is available for streaming on Max.
Source: IGN
