Edward Thomas Hardy (popularly known as Tom Hardy) is a London born English actor, producer and screenwriter. Having made his film debut with the action flick Black Hawk Down in 2001, Hardy has climbed the ladder of success with effortlessly portraying tough-guy roles in his movies. Some of his most memorable performances were seen in movies such as Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), Bronson (2008), Inception (2010), Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), and The Revenant (2015). He is also a popular face among the television audiences. Some of his notable TV appearances were in shows like Band of Brothers, The Virgin Queen, and The Take. He is one of the rare actors who has performed on American as well as British stages, with his popular acts being In Arabia We`d All Be Kings and The Man of Mode.

Early Life
Tom Hardy was born in the Hammersmith region of London, UK. His father, Edward Hardy, was a novelist and comedy writer, while his mother, Anne (Barrett), was a painter. He completed his studies from different schools and colleges inclusive of Tower House School, Reed`s School, and Duff Miller Sixth Form College. He took special coaching to fine-tune his acting skills at the Richmond Drama School and Drama Centre London.

Personal Life
Hardy has been married twice. After five years into his first marriage with producer Sarah Ward, he ended it in 2004. He was then in a relationship with actress Linda Park from 2003 to 2004. He then had a long-term relationship with Rachael Speed, an assistant director for his TV show The Virgin Queen. They have a son named Louis Thomas Hardy from their romantic affair born in 2008, but the couple eventually broke up in 2009, after being together for four years. The actor started dating Charlotte Riley in 2009, whom he met on the sets of Wuthering Heights, and got married to her in 2014. He has a kid with Charlotte.

Movie Career
Tom Hardy ventured into cinema with his debut film being the war thriller Black Hawk Down in the role of SPC Lance Twombly. His next big step was when he was cast in one of the Star Trek movies titled Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), which gained him international recognition. In the film, he starred in the role of Shinzon opposite Patrick Stewart. In the next year, the actor played his namesake character Tom in the psychological thriller dot the i. He followed it up with an appearance in the British crime thriller film Layer Cake in 2004. He was part of several movies like Minotaur (2006), Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006), and Flood (2007). However, his most unique character portrayal was that of a gay gangster Handsome Bob in the gangster movie RocknRolla in 2008.

Tom Hardy was next seen in the British biographical crime movie Bronson, based on the real life of notorious prisoner Charles Bronson. A breakthrough performance was delivered by Hardy in Christopher Nolan`s sci-fi thriller Inception (2010), starring Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead, for which Hardy won the BAFTA Rising Star Award. He appeared in movies like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Warrior in 2011. Hardy reunited with Christopher Nolan in 2012 for the superhero film The Dark Knight Rises, in which he played the role of the villain Bane. He was the central character in the highest grossing film of Mad Max franchise titled Mad Max: Fury Road (2015). In the same year, he essayed the role of a secret police agent in the movie Child 44, which turned out to be a box office failure. 2015 also saw Tom Hardy reunite with the Inception star Leonardo DiCaprio for the epic semi-biographical movie The Revenant. He got an Oscar nomination in the `Best Supporting Actor` category for his performance in this movie.

Television career
Hardy started off in the world of television in 2001, the same year he began his movie career. He rose to fame among the television audiences with his role of US Army Private John Janovec in the HBO-BBC miniseries titled Band of Brothers. In the year 2005, Hardy appeared in yet another BBC miniseries on TV, titled The Virgin Queen. He was then seen television films such as A for Andromeda, and Gideon`s Daughter, and TV series like Cape Wrath and Oliver Twist. However, he gained huge praises for his performance in the TV movie Stuart: a Life Backwards (2007), which also got him nominated at the BAFTA TV Awards for Best Actor category. The versatile actor explored the role of a drugs and alcohol fuelled gangster in the TV drama series The Take in 2009, along with a lovable character in the show Wuthering Heights. His other successful TV series include Peaky Blinders and Taboo.

Theatre career
In 2003, Hardy kick-started theatre acting by playing the character of Skank in In Arabia We`d All Be Kings, at Hampstead Theatre. He received the 2003 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his theatre performances in Blood and In Arabia We`d All Be Kings. His other notable plays include Festen, The Man of Mode and The Long Red Road. His 2018 release includes Venom.