From playing a rogue agent in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy , to taking on the role of villainous Bane in Batman: The Dark Knight Rises —an in-depth look the versatile and edgy actor   With his raw talent, edginess, and ability to utterly inhabit the characters he plays, Tom Hardy is well on his way to becoming the finest actor of his generation. With a host of critically acclaimed performances under his belt, Tom's star is undoubtedly in the ascendant. Born into an idyllic, middle-class, suburban life, by his teenage years Tom had grown restless and started to rebel. Bad behavior in the form of alcoholism, drug abuse, and criminal activity ensued and, after a brief stint working as a model, fate intervened and he found his way into an acting course at a local college. Having been plucked from drama school to appear in Band of Brothers , by 2003 his addictions had got the better of him and he collapsed in Soho. Rehabilitation followed, as did a rare second chance at hitting the big time. It was Hardy's stand-out performances as Stuart Shorter in BBC TV's Stuart, A Life Backwards  and as Britain's most notorious prisoner in the film Bronson which really made audiences and critics sit up and take notice. Since then, he has earned himself a reputation as a shape-shifting actor with the skill to slip effortlessly in and out of contrasting characters such as Eames in the blockbuster Inception and Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights . This biography explores his wayward youth, his drama school years, his burnout, and his complex route to eventual success. With a host of major films in 2012 and beyond, he is clearly Hollywood's hottest property. James Haydock is a biographer. Tom Hardy Rise of a Legend By James Haydock John Blake Publishing Ltd Copyright © 2015 James Haydock All rights reserved. ISBN: 978-1-78219-756-0 Contents Title Page, Epigraph, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, CHAPTER 1: THE MEAN STREETS OF EAST SHEEN, CHAPTER 2: SOLDIER, SOLDIER, CHAPTER 3: THE GUTTER AND THE STARS, CHAPTER 4: THE PLAY'S THE THING, CHAPTER 5: THE BOY FROM THE BEEB, CHAPTER 6: TOUGH GUY, CHAPTER 7: TOM: A CAREER TRANSFORMED, CHAPTER 8: YOU MUSTN'T BE AFRAID TO DREAM A LITTLE BIGGER, CHAPTER 9: THE YEAR OF TOM HARDY, CHAPTER 10: HOLLYWOOD, CHAPTER 11: LOCKED & LAWLESS, CHAPTER 12: HIGHS AND LOWS, CHAPTER 13: FAMILY AFFAIRS, CHAPTER 14: MAD MAX AND BEYOND, Plates, Copyright, CHAPTER 1 THE MEAN STREETS OF EAST SHEEN At was the summer of 1977 and the mood was one of celebration. Throughout the land, red, white and blue bunting fluttered in the warm breeze as the people of Great Britain threw street parties to honour the Queen's silver jubilee. The joyous mood intensified when the country was presented with another, very different, reason to put the flags out: Virginia Wade clinched the Women's Singles title at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships, in a welcome display of British sporting achievement. The dying days of the Labour government and the winter of discontent were still some way off and, for now, the nation was on a high. During these summer months, Edward and Elizabeth (née Barrett) Hardy were preparing for the birth of their first – and, in the event, only – child. Elizabeth, who goes by her middle name of Anne, had grown up in the north of England and was descended from a large Irish-Catholic family. Edward – or 'Chips', as he is better known – was born in Ealing, London. A propensity for the creative arts was present in both parents: Anne is an artist and painter and Chips, having read English Literature at Downing College, Cambridge, from 1969 to 1972, became a successful advertising creative who, in his career, has notched up some award-winning campaigns. In 2006, for example, he was the creative director on the campaign for the health supplement Berocca, which won the Best Fashion, Beauty and Healthcare award in the Campaign Media Awards. Chips is also a successful author and playwright who specialises in comedy writing – he has collaborated on numerous comedy projects and even won a British Comedy Award for his work on The Dave Allen Show. His plays include There's Something in the Fridge That Wants to Kill Me, a black comedy that was staged both in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The entertaining biography of Chips that appears on his literary agent's website gives some clues as to his family history: it declares that 'recent contributions to his gene pool include an Ealing Studio Fire-chief who rounded the horn aged 12'. Delving further back in time, it states that his ancestors apparently include 'river men, pirates, horse-breeders in England and France ...' On 15 September 1977, Chips and Anne's son, Edward Thomas Hardy, made his entrance into the world. Like his mother, he goes by his middle name – and perhaps by doing so has avoided the confusion that can occur when a father and son share a first name. Though born in Hammersmith, West London, it was i