Tom Hardy and his inspiration for Forrest in Lawless:

Tom Hardy’s reticent, hulkily charismatic, cardigan-wearing Forrest Bondurant cuts a fresh mould of masculinity for the crime genre’s doomy heroes. “Forrest is a matriarch, he’s a mother,” says Hardy, of his weirdly adorable bruiser who growls more than he speaks. “I don’t think it’s being macho, I don’t think that’s what masculinity is.” 

Arriving off the back of his juggernaut turn as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, it is a performance that proves Hardy can do more with a gnawed cigar, threadbare woolie and a few grunts than most actors can do with an Aaron Sorkin script. So how does one of Brit acting’s leading talents go about crafting a complex character like Forrest? Delving through the history books? Living in the wood for weeks? “No, I watch Come Dine With Me!,” he beams. He’s not joking. “I really do like Come Dine With Me,” he says earnestly. “It’s great people-watching. I’ll steal characters from Come Dine With Me. Because they’re real people. I take something from everybody. I’ll steal you at some point…”

“[Rakes] is a predator and we’re in the wild,” muses Hardy, stroking the giant beard he’s grown for his upcoming role as Mad Max. “I don’t think animals talk about what’s on Come Dine With Me. They’ll just eat you.”