Actor Tom Hardy first stepped into the spotlight after his role in the miniseries Band Of Brothers (2001). Other major roles followed, including in the films Black Hawk Down (2001), Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Lawless (2012) and Mad Max: Fury Road (2014). Hardy received his first Oscar nomination for his role as John Fitzgerald in the drama The Revenant (2015), and went on to star in the Spider-Man spinoff Venom (2018).

Early Life

Edward Thomas Hardy was born on September 15, 1977, in Hammersmith, London, England. The only child of comedy and novel writer Edward Hardy and artist mother Anne, Hardy suffered from alcoholism, drug addiction and delinquency during his teen and early adult years.

Despite his demons, Hardy went on to pursue acting at the Richmond Drama School and the prestigious Drama Centre London. His intense commitment fine-tuned Hardy's acting skills. In a December 2002 interview with IGN, the actor stated, "When other schools would be doing, sort of, 30 hours, we were doing 60. And we'd be doing stuff that would prepare you in a very different way."

TV, Film and Theater Success

'Band of Brothers,' 'Black Hawk Down,' 'Star Trek: Nemesis'

Hardy came into the limelight in 2001 with his first role in the acclaimed war drama miniseries Band Of Brothers. That same year, he acted in the hit war film Black Hawk Down, playing a soldier left behind. Breaking out of military dramas, Hardy won the role as the lead villain in the film Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), starring opposite Patrick Stewart.

'Stuart: A Life Backwards'

Over the next several years, Hardy starred in several film and television projects. In 2006, he collaborated with Shotgun director Robert Delamare to launch an underground theater company. He directed Blue On Blue, a play written by his father, and his role in Stuart: A Life Backwards (2007) garnered him a best actor nomination from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

'Bronson,' 'Wuthering Heights,' 'Inception'

In 2008, Hardy was cast in a unique role as a gay hoodlum in the film RocknRolla, directed by Guy Ritchie, and won a British Independent Film Award (best actor) for his turn as Britain's most violent prisoner in Bronson. He tackled playing Heathcliffe in Wuthering Heights the following year, and gained more fame for his portrayal of Eames in Inception (2010), a surrealist blockbuster helmed by Christopher Nolan.

'Lawless,' 'The Dark Knight Rises,' 'Mad Max: Fury Road'

In the summer of 2012, Hardy starred as a bootlegging brother in the Depression-era drama Lawless and as Batman's nemesis Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. He appeared as Alfie Solomons in the British gangster series Peaky Blinders, which premiered in 2014, before landing the headlining role of the much-lauded Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015. That same year he starred in Legend, playing both roles of infamous British mobster twin brothers Ronnie and Reggie Kray.

'The Revenant'

Also in 2015, Hardy co-starred with Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, a harrowing 19th-century drama focusing on two men who become bitter enemies in the wilderness. Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the project earned 12 Academy Award nominations, with Hardy receiving his first Oscar nomination in the category of supporting actor.

'Taboo,' 'Venom'

Hardy returned to the small screen in 2017 in the British series Taboo, which he co-created with his father and Steven Knight. The following year, he starred as the titular anti-hero of the Spider-Man spinoff Venom, a film that drew a middling response from critics but performed well enough at the box office to send a sequel into production.

Philanthropy

In 2010, Hardy became an ambassador for the Prince's Trust, a UK youth charity which provides training, personal development, business start-up support, mentoring, and advice. In 2012, he and his then-girlfriend (now-wife) Charlotte Riley became patrons of Bowel Cancer UK. Prior to the inaugural Invictus Games held in London in September 2014, he, along with other entertainers and athletes, read the poem "Invictus" in a promotional video.

Personal life

Hardy married producer Sarah Ward in 1999, and they divorced in 2004. He met and began dating assistant director Rachael Speed on the set of The Virgin Queen in 2005, and they later had a son before separating in 2009. That year, he began a relationship with actress Charlotte Riley after they met on the set of Wuthering Heights, and they were married in July 2014. Together, they have 2 sons. They had two rescue dogs, Max and Woodstock, and Hardy appeared with Woodstock in a PETA advert to promote pet adoption. Woodstock died on 5 June 2017 due to an aggressive case of polymyositis.

Hardy has suffered from dysthymia, and spent much time in his youth drinking alcohol and using crack cocaine to cope with it; he has said that he was going "out of control" with his drink and drug use before deciding to seek psychological help when he was 20 years old.

While portraying prisoner Charles Bronson during the production of Bronson, Hardy met Bronson several times and the two became friends. Bronson was impressed with how Hardy managed to match his muscularity and how well he could mimic Bronson's personality and voice; stating that he believed Hardy was the only person who could play him, he also shaved off his trademark moustache and sent it to Hardy in the hopes that Hardy would wear it in the film.

Hardy appeared on a 2016 Debrett's list of the most influential people in the United Kingdom. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

An avid practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Hardy has been seen training at Roger Gracie's affiliate schools and with John Danaher. He has won a number of jiu-jitsu competitions, with one such occurrence being at the UMAC Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championships in September 2022. He is the lead ambassador for the REORG Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Foundation, a Royal Marines-backed charity allowing current and former military personnel to learn the martial art as part of their recovery and to combat physical and mental challenges. Hardy was promoted to purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu on June 19, 2023.