Half Hour with ... Tom Hardy

by Gabrielle Donnelly for HELLO! Magazine

Famed for his on-screen transformations, the actor talks about putting his past behind him as he prepares for a hairy new role

He piled on the pounds for Bronson, muscled up for Warrior and The Dark Knight Rises and now Tom Hardy is getting into character for his next big project, playing Mad Max in the fourth outing of the futuristic franchise.

But before he picks up where Mel Gibson left off, we get to see him in his latest film, romantic comedy This Means War opposite Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine. The 34-year-old made his beg-screen debut in 2001 war thriller Black Hawk Down and starred in this year’s Oscar-nominated Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. But given Tom’s wild younger years, few would have predicted such success. Before reaching 20, Tom had become addicted to alcohol, was expelled from school, spent several nights in prison for disorderly conduct and was arrested for stealing a car and possessing a gun.

Now, however, he’s happily settled with his fiancée, actress Charlotte Riley. They met when they played Heathcliff and Cathy in the 2009 TV adaptation of Wuthering Heights. Tom has a son, Louis, four next month, from his relationship with assistant film director Rachael Speed.

Tom, how do you juggle travelling for work and being a dad?

I am very much aware of being a Skype father, which is really sad sometimes. But one reason I’m away so often is to secure enough finances, so that in the future I can choose to go away for shorter periods and command enough money to bring my family with me. At the moment I’m just doing what I have to do. And my little boy does have consistency because when I’m away he lives with his mother and her husband. His mother is pregnant actually, so he’s going to have a sibling.

Does being engaged to another actor mean you spend a lot of time apart?

Often, she will go to one side of the globe and I will go to the other. Lately, we’ve all been living together in a nice house we’ve been renting near London - us two and Louis and my dog Woodstock - and it’s been really nice. But I’m off to Namibia soon for Mad Max and we’ll all be apart again. I like to go no longer than three weeks without seeing a family member, but that’s not always possible. Still, it could be worse. In the military, you don’t get to see your family for much longer. So compared with them, we have it easy.

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