He’s come a long way from Star Trek: Nemesis
The Queen’s Birthday Honours list has been announced, and there are some big names on it, including Bournemouth striker Jermaine Defoe and Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish.
One name has really stood out to us though.
Over the last 15 years or so, Tom Hardy has established himself as one of the UK’s greatest working actors. The range of roles he’s played is incredible. He had early supporting rolesi n films like Layer Cake and Black Hawk Down, and Band of Brothers on TV, but it was truly Bronson that put him on the map. His snarling portrayal on Charlie Bronson, Britain’s longest serving prisoner, was both hilarious and terrifying, and totally broke the mould for British true crime movies.
And that only lead to bigger projects. He first teamed with Christopher Nolan in Inception, and then again playing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, where he turned a character who was previously just a ‘roided up maniac in a luchador mask into an enigmatic Shakespearian villain. He will switch from playing a formidable MMA fighter in Warrior, to being completely convincing as a stressed out Welsh dad in Locke. He easily matched Leonardo DiCaprio’s overacting in The Revenant. And perhaps his most astonishing performance came in Legend, where he played both of the Kray twins – the film as a whole is a bit by the numbers, but Hardy plays both Ronnie and Reggie as completely different, completely three dimensional people.
Therefore it’s fair to say he’s pretty deserving to see his nameo n the Honours list. Hardy will be made a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire – a CBE – for his services to drama.
Other actors announced on the list from the world of entertainment include actors Keira Knightley (CBE) and Emma Thompson (MBE), singer Ms Dynamite (MBE) and BBC documentary present Stacey Dooley (MBE).
