Tom Hardy is Bane, Bronson, Inception's Eames and the Mad Max reboot's Max Rockatansky. Or, in layman's terms, he's Tom goddamn Hardy, one of the most dedicated, sought-after actors in the world right now. And yet, Tom Hardy was also once Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis, the 2002 film that killed that incarnation of the Star Trek movies dead and left Patrick Stewart thankful he'd just invested in another science fiction franchise. Hardy, however, wasn't so lucky - he wouldn't get another high profile gig until Bronson came along in 2008. But before he re-emerged as the hulking proto-Bane in Nicolas Winding Refn's dastardly biopic, Hardy did his time by serving six years in rubbish television and taking barely-there bit-parts in independent movies like Layer Cake and Marie Antoinette, just to remind us he was still alive. Now, post-The Dark Knight Rises, he's Tom goddamn Hardy, and he sits comfortably alongside Michael Fassbender and Ryan Gosling as one of the most in-demand stars of his generation.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
