10 Notorious Star Trek Urban Legends

2. Nemesis Nearly Ended Tom Hardy's Career

Eddie Murphy Star Trek
Paramount Pictures

It seems strange to consider now, with his career being an unprecedented, worldwide success, but there have long been stories that the disastrous performance of Star Trek: Nemesis not only derailed Tom Hardy's career, but his entire life with it.

Despite being cast as a relative unknown at the time, Tom Hardy grew up a huge Star Trek fan and saw the part as the realization of a boyhood dream. He threw everything into the role, getting into the perfect shape for the villain and meticulously studying Patrick Stewart's mannerisms to replicate them onscreen. He was convinced this would be a career-defining, breakout role for him but, in the end, his performance was picked out as one of a number of glaring problems with the movie.

The response devastated him. His marriage collapsed, he began drinking heavily and, as he later admitted in an interview, he even contemplated suicide. Thankfully though these feelings eased over time and Hardy eventually had his longawaited eye-catching performance in Bronson some years later. The rest is, as they say, history.

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