As an Academy Award® nominated actor and producer, Tom Hardy CBE has quickly become one of today’s most versatile and sought-after talents, earning widespread acclaim and recognition over the years from critics and audiences alike for his transformative performances and extensive range across a variety of mediums, including film, television and theatre.
Hardy earned his first Oscar® nomination in 2016 for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as 19th Century frontiersman John Fitzgerald in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s epic drama The Revenant, for which he also garnered a Critics Choice Award nomination. That same year, Hardy also received a Critics Choice Award for his performance as the iconic "Mad Max Rockatansky” in George Miller’s critically acclaimed hit Mad Max: Fury Road, as well as a British Independent Film Award for Best Actor in Brian Helgeland’s crime drama Legend, which saw Hardy tackle dual roles as notorious identical twin British gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray. As a result of his collective work in 2015, the London Critics’ Circle went on to honor Hardy with their prestigious British Actor of the Year award on behalf of all his performances that year.
In 2018, Hardy received the most significant box office success of his career when he landed the title role in Sony Pictures’ highly anticipated Marvel Comics-based franchise Venom. Performing in the dual roles of “Eddie Brock” and “Venom,” Hardy helped lead both Venom (2018) and its sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) to become worldwide hits with fans and box office numbers alike. Earning over $855 million worldwide, Venom evolved into an international sensation that currently sits as the eleventh highest-grossing superhero film internationally and nineteenth highest-grossing superhero film globally of all time. The sequel’s release was equally impressive, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage breaking records for films released during the international pandemic as it became the second highest October domestic opening of all time and the third highest-grossing domestic film of 2021.
Hardy most recently wrapped production on Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders, starring alongside Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Michael Shannon and Boyd Holbrook in the 1960s period drama inspired by Danny Lyon's book of the same name, following the rise of a fictional Midwestern motorcycle club. Hardy will next appear in Netflix’s action thriller Havoc, directed by Gareth Evans and co-starring Forrest Whitaker and Timothy Olyphant. Hardy is also attached to star in the third installment of the Venom franchise series, which is currently in development.
Hailing from Great Britain, Hardy was studying at the prestigious Drama Centre London when he was offered his breakout role in HBO’s award-winning World War II miniseries Band of Brothers, executive produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. His feature film debut came shortly after when he was cast in Ridley Scott’s war drama Black Hawk Down (2001), followed by Stuart Baird’s sci-fi adventure Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). In 2008, Hardy garnered global attention for his captivating on-screen transformation as a real-life, notoriously violent convict in the title role of Nicolas Winding Refn’s drama Bronson, winning the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor on behalf of his performance. The British Academy of Film and Television Arts further recognized Hardy’s achievements by honoring him with their Rising Star Award in 2011. The actor’s subsequent film credits went on to include lauded roles in Christopher Nolan’s Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Dunkirk (2017), Gavin O’Connor’s Warrior (2011), Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), John Hillcoat’s Lawless (2013), Steven Knight’s Locke (2014), Michaël R. Roskam’s The Drop (2014) and Josh Trank’s Capone (2020).
On television, Hardy most recently starred as “James Keziah Delaney” in the 2017 FX and BBC One series Taboo which he also co-created and produced, as well as in a recurring role on Steven Knight’s award-winning BBC series Peaky Blinders as the character “Alfie Solomons.” In 2008, Hardy earned a Best Actor BAFTA nomination for his performance in the HBO movie Stuart: A Life Backwards. He also portrayed “Heathcliff” in the 2009 ITV production of Wuthering Heights. His small screen credits also include the telefilms Oliver Twist, A for Andromeda, Sweeney Todd, Gideon’s Daughter and Colditz, as well as the BBC miniseries The Virgin Queen.
On stage, Hardy has starred in numerous plays on the London West End including Blood and In Arabia We’d All Be Kings, winning the ‘Outstanding Newcomer Award’ at the 2003 Evening Standard Theatre Awards for his work in both productions and a 2004 Olivier Award nomination for the latter. In 2005, Hardy starred in the London premiere of Brett C. Leonard’s Roger and Vanessa. His stage work also includes Rufus Norris’ adaptation of Festen (Almeida), The Modernists (Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre), The Man of Mode (National Theatre) and the 2010 world premiere of Leonard’s The Long Red Road, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (Chicago’s Goodman Theatre).
In addition to performing, Hardy is also the Founder and CEO of UK production company Hardy Son & Baker (HSB), which he formed in 2012 with partner Dean Baker. HSB most recently teamed with Ridley Scott’s Scott Free Productions and writer Steven Knight on a six-part adaptation of the coming-of-age classic Great Expectations. The limited series is the second installment in a planned series of adaptations of Dickens’ novels commissioned by the BBC and FX. The first installment – A Christmas Carol – was released in December 2019 and also co-produced by HSB and Scott Free Productions. The Dickens projects mark the second collaboration for HSB, Scott Free and Knight, following their work together in 2017 on the acclaimed Emmy®-nominated and BAFTA®-winning drama series Taboo, also for BBC One and FX. The company’s feature projects in development include the dramatic thriller Wildlands, written and directed by Kim Mordant and starring Matthias Schoenaerts as an unruly bomb disposal specialist in one of the world’s most heavily mined countries, Once Upon a Pilgrim, a gripping thriller based on the celebrated novel written by ex-SAS soldier James Deegan and in collaboration with Working Title, Unreasonable Behavior, directed by Angelina Jolie and based on the life of legendary British war photographer Don McCullin and Shackleton, written by BAFTA-winning writer Peter Straughan and centered on the exploits of Ernest Shackleton, the renowned British explorer who lead multiple expeditions to the Antarctic. Television projects in development include the second season of the award-winning drama series Taboo, written by Steven Knight and produced for BBC One and FX. Several additional developments are currently in the works across both film and television with an array of singular filmmakers, writers, and artists.
In 2018, Hardy was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in recognition for his services to drama. Hardy currently serves as an Ambassador for The Prince's Trust, the Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund (RMCTF), Battersea Dogs & Cats Home and Help For Heroes. He is also a Trustee for REORG Charity, a UK-based non-profit organization with a mission to help veterans, servicemen and servicewomen through the life-changing art and community of jiu-jitsu. In addition, he is the President of Hari Budha Magar’s Gurkha Everest Expedition, as well as a Patron for Expedition 8848, which aims to educate today’s youth on the effects of climate change and protecting the planet’s future.