An interview about Tom’s travelling life from The Telegraph’s Ultratravel magazine, Spring 2013 —

How many holidays do you take a year?
If I’m lucky, one - for 10 days as a family - plus the odd weekend here and there. Before I got so busy, we went camping a lot, or on package holidays.

What do you do now?
We have a place in St-Rémy, in Provence, where we go for long weekends, It’s very romantic. We also love Como in Lombardy, northern Italy.

Any other favourites?
Avignon, Béziers, Nîmes, Sommières and Arles in the South of France, and Sarlat in the Dordogne.

Which parts of the world do you know best?
As a child, I grew up going to the South of France, to Burgh Island (off South Devon), Plymouth, Yorkshire and Florida with my parents. Now, most of my travels are work-orientated, so I get to look around the cities or countries we are filming in.

Your favourite city for a weekend away?
London, which is at its best around Christmas time and in summer. It has great people and great restaurants, and there’s so much to see and do.

Favourite spots in the capital?
For breakfast, I love the Monmouth coffee shop; for clothes, Alfred Dunhil in Jermyn Street. If we fancy a night in town, it has to be the Soho Hotel.

And for nightlife?
The Groucho Club, followed by the Karaoke Box in Soho and then Maroush II, the all-night kebab shop in Beauchamps Place, or Pala Kebab House in south-west London. They make a mean doner with chilli sauce, and the owner, Serge, used to look out for me growing up in that community. It’s a real hub for intelligence and information.

Favourite restaurants abroad?
When I’m in Los Angeles or New York, Joe’s Pizza.

Where would you like to go next?
Somewhere hot where the air is fresh and smells of pine, with good food, where I can spend lazy days by the pool or next to a cool river with a book. I need to chill, really, and take stock. A nice long swim in a lake would be fantastic, too.

The most glamorous room you’ve stayed in?
I went to Villa D’Este on Lake Como once, which for me was totally wow, and glam. Alfred Hitchcock used to spend his summers there.

And the most luxurious?
We once went to Lily Beach Resort in the Maldives, which was a first for us as a couple. We’re not used to being pampered like that. It’s a beautiful tropical-island hotel, with a suite on stilts in the lagoon, scuba diving and snorkelling, hot sun, sand you can pour like water from your palm, coral lagoons and massages every day by Balinese ladies who spoiled us rotten.

The most decadent perk?
A butler called Ishlal who droves us to and from breakfast, lunch and dinner on a little golf cart like the Popemobile and served us candlelit meals on the beach at night. We watched turtles, fed fish, rays and sharks with bread rolls from the pier. It really was out-of-this-world luxurious.

And your next trip?
Center Parcs with my son Louis!

What makes a perfect day on holiday?
A lie in. Plenty of sun, fun with loved ones, and a good book. Not touching the phone and not thinking about work at all would be a dream, but it’s almost impossible these days. Doing something new and special also gets my vote.

Do you like adventure holidays?
My work often involves adventure; films such as Dark Knight and Mad Max all have a personal adventure built in. And to prepare for a role, I’ll often learn how to use certain weapons and vehicles. Last year, I went on several trips to research issues on animal poaching. So, on holiday, adventure is not really what I need!

Have you been on safari?
We took Louis to Erindi game reserve, in Namibia, on a weekend off during the filming of Mad Max. We saw rhinos, crocodiles, elephants and cheetahs, among other things. It was amazing, watching giraffes licking salt by the waterhole one night. And the sight of Louis changing the tyre with Tim the ranger was pretty memorable.

What do you make of Africa?
I love it - from Morocco in North Africa to Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique and even Congo. It’s not just the abundant wildlife that thrills me. The skies the sunsets and the variety of people and music are incredible.

What’s the roughest you’ve travelled?
Backpacking and tents, I suppose, taking trains and staying in YMCAs as a student. It’s only recently that I’ve done anything really intrepid. When I do, I go with serious teams such as Olly Suzi Expeditions and Pligrims Group, who make sure I’m safe in some of the toughest spots.

The most remote place you’ve been?
Poli Charkhi prison in Kabul, which was just weird.

Do you travel light?
That’s always the idea. I say to myself, “I’m just going to take shorts, a toothbrush and a book.” And then it’s “Oh, and those jeans, and these T-shirts… oh, and those shirts and sneakers, too.”

Any specific make of luggage?
A Help for Heroes holdall, a big strong bag I can fit all my kit in - and which supports a great cause.

The best ariline in the world?
It used to be Virgin. But now I think all the people I work with agree that it’s British Airways. Air France has a great First Class cabin, too.

Charlotte Riley is doing some promotional work right now for her latest project The Town with Andrew Scott and was also asked by TV Choice about her every day life with fabulous fiancé Tom —

Both you and your fiancé Tom Hardy have worked in America. How have you found Hollywood?

LA is a very specific experience and, in small doses, it can be quite good fun. I don’t think LA is somewhere I’ll ever move, or we’d ever move to because it’s just too far away from Middlesbrough quite frankly! It’s really good fun and loads of lovely people go there, but it’s just not for me really. But you know, it’s grand to go out there and do the work and have fun. It’s funny people think I live there now and I’m like, ‘No’.

Do people assume Tom is over there, too?

Yes, but just because you’re doing Hollywood films, it doesn’t necessarily mean you have to live in LA.

Do you struggle to see each other if you’re on different continents?

We have a very strict rule that we see each other every two weeks. We’ve been lucky. The job I just did was very exhausting, so I took a long period of time off to spend time with my family and Tom, and he had some time off before. He’s doing Mad Max now, so we had six months together. We’ve been quite blessed really and we make it work.

Did you see him wearing the scary Bane mask for The Dark Knight Rises because he looks kind of frightening, doesn’t he?

Yes I did. Yeah.

How was that?

It was wicked. It was really cool. It’s interesting living with a person that’s bald and five times the size he normally is. I said to him last night, ‘When am I just going to have a normal boyfriend where you’re not either bald and huge?’ He had a beard for like six months for Mad Max and he’s just shaved it all off. Hurrahhhhh! I was like, ‘Oh my God, you have a face! Amazing! There you are, the person that I fell in love with.’

Are there any plans to work together?

Oh, I’m sure there will be, somewhere along the line when we are like 70. No, I’m joking. Yes, definitely. How could you not want to? We work very well together creatively.

Have you got any projects in mind?

No, not yet. But we will do I’m sure.

Any plans to get married?

Yes, I’m sure it will happen at some point soon.

Tom Hardy in Cannes, 2012

Topman GENERATION: What was the most important thing you wanted to convey in your performance?

What I care about is the character – whether you identify him, whether you like him and whether he can get away with doing some heinous stuff and you can still feel for him. Would you want to sit in a room with a man like knowing he has cut a man’s testicles off? Everybody should be taking care of their role, that’s why this film is so exciting – to be part of an ensemble like that.

Do you think that having a largely international cast and crew influenced the tone of the picture?
We’re just acting and telling a story and it’s meant to be fun, but it’s not easy to make a film. I think the international cast and crew does influence it because there’s a perspective that comes with that. But I think we all wanted the same thing – to do good work and make the film as successful as possible. 

What moments in the making of the film are you particularly proud of?
My proudest moment was when we got to Cannes, to be honest. The camera was panning along all of our faces and I remember thinking I’d just try to avoid it. I thought, ‘Well, I’m just going to be pragmatic. This is all far too overwhelming. I’ll just pretend to be security and get people to their cars…’ Then when I saw the camera get to John’s face and I saw him well-up, I saw the relief and the release of something in my friend and I realised how big a moment that actually was for him, and for me.I allowed myself some pride and then I quickly put it away because I’ve got a feeling that God will go: ‘That’s mine! You’re the wrong Tom Hardy!’ And despatch me into the blackness!

GQ: So it was surprising to learn that Tom Hardy apparently decided to play his character as if he was an “old lesbian”. Was that something you envisioned?

Nick Cave: Yes, in fact I thought all the characters were all old lesbians. [Laughs] No, he had a habit of coming up to you during rehearsals and whispering in your ear: “I’m going to play it like an old lesbian.” Then he’d walk off and you’d be left there going: “Did he just say ‘old lesbian’?” At first we didn’t know if he would be the best possible actor or the worst possible actor for the part because of all these ideas he had, but it became very clear that he had the long game in mind. He knew his character really well and he knew how effective it would be. He wanted scenes put in where he was darning socks, sitting on the porch knitting, all that sort of thing…

// Nick Cave GQ.com

A Finnish interview perfectly translated thanks to charlidos & rohkeutta —

[…] How do you make very exaggerated characters like Bane and Michael Peterson believable?

“You just have to rely on your own bullshit-meter,” Hardy says. ”Every day on the street you see guys like that and you wonder what the heck is that guy doing. If you act exactly the same way on stage or in front of the camera, the director will protest that, come on, people don’t act like that. The only risk for an actor is that it seems silly,” Hardy says.

”Just look at the fashion world, or the film business. Weird kids. So where can you draw the line? Peacocks, wild animals, nutters. You observe and imitate. The Bullshit Meter tells you where that line goes.”

Especially bad guys are a balancing act.

“A movie role is always artificial. Some of the audience believes your character, some do not. On the other hand for example, the real criminals are often exceptional individuals, strange types. This enables you to go a long way. Questions can be addressed. Even if there are no answers. The work is in the gray area. That’s it.” Hardy laughs. ”This is just acting, we’re not fucking saving the world.”

Lawless was made outside of the Hollywood system. The script was written by Nick Cave. The director is John Hillcoat who is also know for the films The Road and The Proposition. The investors want to put their dollars in superhero movies. ”Making Lawless was more difficult,” Hardy says.

Although the movie has a lot of violent action, like when the Bondurants clash with Gary Oldman’s gang of gangsters  and the sadistic henchman of the police played by Guy Pearce, it’s closer to realism than to Hollywood fairytales. Even the ending is unpredictable. Hardy is Forrest Bondurant, the toughest of the brothers. The character may be the harshest guy of all time to almost always wears a cardigan.

Jack Bondurant, the film’s actual protagonist is played by Shia LaBeouf. ”Shia is growing all the time as an actor. He’s breaking his own cage. He will be a man. He is 23, something like that, ten years younger than me,” Hardy says.

Compared to Shia, Hardy is like a block of muscle. But the thug himself doesn’t believe in physical strength. ”I think we’re ready for a new kind of masculinity. It is not machismo, or negligence. Caution is risk aversion. Courage is born out of fear,” Hardy says.

The actor himself is wearing a t-shirt promoting a Combat Stress organization. They raise money for mental health care for the British war veterans. “A lot of my friends are in the army. I don’t take a stance on why people fight, but I want to support the troops.” the actor says, when asked about his shirt. ”I don’t want to turn my back, even though I get paid to do so much lighter work, to pretend that I’m someone else.”

Supporting the soldiers might be taken as supporting the unpopular wars Britain has gotten into with the U.S. That is not the case. ”This is completely personal, not political. My friends have been killed at the front.” Hardy sighs.

Hardy himself is a film fan - a former one. ”I love films. They are my world. But I don’t have time to watch them anymore.” Hardy says. ”When you make movies, you don’t have time to watch them. You can’t make them and enjoy them at the same time.”

[read all]

Tom on Forrest:

“How could somebody be so violent, yet at the same time be such a little boy? And be so intrinsically innocent and naive and have such a heart, and yet do something on this side that is so incredibly horrifically… horrible… and yet — where the fulcrum is in the middle. [He is] somebody that by the end of the film I want the audience to .. have the ability to care about.”  /x

Flicks&Bits: How was it for you and your character going up against Tom Hardy and his Forrest character?

Guy Pearce: It’s so brilliant that Tom Hardy is playing the role, because he is the most exciting actor I’ve seen in a long time. He is just extraordinary. And he brings a weight, an integrity and a power to the screen that is incredibly compelling – and I have to go up against this guy (laughs). The first scene that we had together was me feeling like I’m running rings around this man, not being intimidated by him. And that was very difficult, because he’s like a mountain, a mount emotionally and physically. I think that will translate on screen and people will really see the power of Forrest Bondurant.

We have a beard situation here // Cannes interview with Tom Hardy & Jessica Chastain (x)

“I don’t think the blokes of HBO would like the idea of any actor bismarcking another.”

Tom talking about “The Long Red Road” and his work on stage

by the fabulous tomhardyspinky

pauriguts: first interview I watched of Tom Hardy and I’m quite fucking surprised by how humble and honest this man is

… reblog for the accurate comment, it could have been written by me over one and a half years ago. And reblog because still freakin’ favourite interview.

— watch also: part 1

(Source: norsevibes)