Tom Hardy is known for playing the fiercest, bold, and brooding characters. His rough and tough roles have earned him quite a name, from being a despicable villain to being an unlikely hero. Hardy can often be found in the action-crime-thriller genres, but there was once a time he desperately wanted to play a romantic lead.
His effortless portrayal of intense and on occasion vile characters have earned him a reputation. So, imagining him as a romantic lead seems as probable as running in the quicksand. However, Hard revealed how hurt he was when he lost out on an iconic romantic role he had really wanted.
Tom Hard Felt Really Hurt After Losing Iconic Role
Pride and Prejudice is a favorite of many. An unlikely classic, it is one of the most famous and widely adapted ones. While most notable actors have tried their hands at the role of the classic’s lead Fitzwilliam Darcy, there is a unanimous conviction that Matthew MacFadyen‘s portrayal is the closest to the book Darcy. However, many would be surprised to know that Tom Hardy had once tried hard to get Darcy’s role in Pride and Prejudice, 2005. The same role that inevitably went to MacFadyen.
“That hurt, that really hurt. I’d worn a blue shirt and jeans and a blue blazer and been doing my best Hugh Grant impression. But now I was back to playing the wonky skewiff-teeth kid with the bow legs.”
Despite putting on a great Hugh Grant impression, Hardy lost the role. When he asked why he was rejected, Stacey Snider, Universal Studios’ head, replied,
“Every woman in the world has an impression of who Darcy is and you’re just not it.”
Well, we can hardly blame Snider, since it is impossible to imagine Hardy in a romantic genre despite being such a versatile and talented actor he is.
Tom Hardy Realised He Is Not Made For The Romantic Genre
After Tom Hardy lost the most iconic and romantic roles of all time to Matthew MacFadyen, he seemed to have accepted that his fate did not, at all lie in the romantic genre. Since then he is known for his remarkably dark characters and carved himself a name in the action-crime-thriller genre.
As portraying such deep characters can be quite challenging, both physically and emotionally, The Dark Knight star wanted to explore other lighter and less challenging roles. In 2012 he did try his hand at This Means War, a romcom, but apart from that his plan to star as a romantic lead did not work out.
“I was like, ‘Fair enough.’ I’m obviously not a romantic lead, so I’m not going to focus a lot of my attention on being something that I’m not. I like to play people who’ve got a bit of range on them: a little bit of dark and a little bit of light.”
It would have been interesting to see Tom Hardy as a romantic lead but for now Hardy seems to have given up on the romantic genre altogether.
You can stream Pride and Prejudice on Amazon Prime Video.
Source: CheatSheet
