Tom Hardy had tongues wagging and, erm, drooling recently after his near-nude scenes during new BBC drama Taboo. However, he's now said his career of transforming his body for roles has left it "damaged".
The 39-year-old actor was pretty slim during his early career in films such as Layer Cake and HBO's Band of Brothers, but as his career burgeoned, so did his muscles.
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He was asked to bulk up to play Charles Bronson, an MMA fighter in Warrior and Bane in 2012's The Dark Knight Rises. Still the actor feels his brutal training might have scarred him for life.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, the Mad Max star said that his new mobster role might mean he'll have to pack on the pounds, explaining: "It's not the classic Al Capone that you necessarily envision with the silhouette.
"I don't want to give too much away about it, but there's definitely a transformation with that role.
"I don't know if it's as drastic as Bane. I've probably damaged my body too much. I'm only little. If I keep putting on weight I'll collapse like a house of cards under too much pressure."
Tom, who recently discussed his chances of playing James Bond, blamed the fluctuations between different weights for his new aches and pains.
He continued: "After the film I'm tired, and you maybe have to change your shape again and go back to your normal size for the next film. To go from one extreme to another has a cost.
"I'm certainly a bit achier than I used to be... I certainly have joints that click that probably shouldn't click, you know what I mean? And carrying my children is a little bit harder than it used to be — but don't tell them."
Tom, who has a son named Louis from former girlfriend Rachael Speed and another from his wife Charlotte Riley, took some time out from getting naked and piling on muscle to read the bedtime story on CBeebies at the end of last year. Bless.
And while we're on the topic, we pulled together a compilation of other actors who transformed their bodies for roles, including Tom Hardy's Batman co-star Christian Bale and Jake Gyllenhaal. *Flexes muscles into bicep and points at this link*
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Laurence Mozafari (he/him) is a multi-award winning journalist, editor, and presenter. A former Editor-in-Chief of Digital Spy, Laurence previously held roles as the site's Editor, Deputy Editor, and Associate Editor focusing on news, social, and video. Laurence hosted the BBC Sounds podcast Obsessed with Peaky Blinders in 2019. He also hosts his own podcast production, Time of My Life, where he interviews fascinating elders about their life lessons, including Only Fools and Horses' Sir David Jason, Star Trek’s George Takei and Bridgerton’s Adjoa Andoh.
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He is also a visiting lecturer at various universities teaching journalism, including City, University of London, Nottingham Trent, Staffordshire University and London Metropolitan. Laurence has won numerous awards in his journalism career, including the BSME Talent Award’s Best Deputy Editor, the PPA's 30 Under 30, and the New Editor and Editor of the Year at the AOP and BSMEs. He led Digital Spy to win PPA's Digital Content Team of the Year twice, along with the British Media Awards’ Brand of the Year in 2021.
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Laurence has been lucky enough to interview numerous celebrities, actors, and musicians throughout his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger loved his hair, Jimmy Carr loved his coat and Antonio Banderas gave a shout-out to his mum. Laurence has covered set visits for The Witcher on Netflix and Marvel’s Inhumans, he got Daisy Ridley to do a Chewbacca impression and loves Marvel, PlayStation, Glastonbury and craft beer. Linkedin
