Sexy beast — Tom Hardy hits ’em where it hurts as Hollywood’s hottest new tough guy

For the past few years, the movie biz has been desperately searching for that next square-jawed, powerful leading man, as greats like Clint Eastwood aged out of roles, and ’80s icons, such as Sylvester Stallone, became more hammy than hot. They stripped off his shirt and served us doe-eyed Jake Gyllenhaal in “The Prince of Persia.” They laughably tried foisting Taylor Lautner on us in “Abduction.”

Step aside, wusses. Tom Hardy is here to toss you one-handed through a plate-glass window.

In just a few short years, the 34-year-old English actor has become the go-to guy for brutish, physically imposing parts. He’s also become quite the sexy pin-up, if you’re so inclined. This is a guy who did 2,500 push-ups a day for five weeks to bulk up for his role as England’s most notorious convict in 2008’s “Bronson,” a guy who stalks around every movie looking like he might at any second decide to uncoil a sledgehammer punch. A guy who basically owns every scene he’s in through sheer strength and charisma.

“Initially I took on these kinds of roles [like Tommy Conlon, Heathcliff or Bane] to make a noise,” Hardy told the UK’s Telegraph. “No one’s ever sat up when I’ve played someone nice or easy to watch.”

[…] Runty LaBeouf has admitted that playing kin to “big boy” Hardy was intimidating. “Standing next to him, I felt like Josh Groban — meek,” he joked on “The Tonight Show.”

But Hardy is not all muscles and violence, says “Lawless” director John Hillcoat. “The most interesting thing about him is the contradictions,” he says. “He has this masculinity to him, physically, but there’s this real feminine side to him. He has these large lips. There’s a softness underneath it all.” Hardy wanted that softness to translate to his “Lawless” character. The actor saw Forrest, the eldest brother, as a matriarchal figure.

He modeled the character on Granny, the owner of Tweety from the “Looney Tunes” cartoons, who goes from knitting to a sudden burst of violence. He even suggested a scene in which his character darns socks, but Hillcoat nixed the idea.

[…] “You think of Michael Fassbender and Jeremy Renner and Ryan Gosling. There’s a whole bunch of these newer guys who are breaking in who play complex characters underneath these very masculine characters,” Hillcoat says. “Tom is part of that. He’s looking for [a career of the] Gary Oldman or Daniel Day-Lewis variety.”

And Hollywood, if you know what’s good for you, you best give him one.