Edward Thomas “Tom” Hardy is his full name.¹⁾

Edward “Chips” Hardy, his father, is a novelist and comic writer.²⁾

Hardy was born in the London borough of Hammersmith September 15, 1977.³⁾

His mother, Anne, is a painter and artist.⁴⁾

He received the 2003 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his roles in both In Arabia We'd All Be Kings and Blood.⁵⁾

He attended Tower House School and Reed's School before attending Richmond Drama School and the Drama Centre London.⁶⁾

He appeared in the 2007 production of The Man of Mode and garnered great reviews for his performance in the 2010 drama The Long Red Road, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman.⁷⁾

He made his cinematic debut in Black Hawk Down.⁸⁾

For his performance as Skank in the 2003 production of In Arabia We'd All Be King, he received a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Most Promising Newcomer.⁹⁾

The HBO military drama miniseries Band of Brothers, the BBC historical drama miniseries The Virgin Queen, ITV's Wuthering Heights, the BBC British historical crime drama television series Peaky Blinders, and the Sky 1 drama series The Take are among Hardy's television roles.¹⁰⁾

At the age of 21, Hardy won The Big Breakfast's Find Me a Supermodel competition in 1998.¹¹⁾

His other significant films include Star Trek: Nemesis, RocknRolla, the biographical psychological drama Bronson, the science fiction thriller Inception, the sports drama Warrior, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, the crime drama Lawless, the drama Locke, and the gangster flick The Drop.¹²⁾

He also played Bane in The Dark Knight Rises, “Mad” Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road, and both Kray brothers in the murder thriller Legend.¹³⁾

Hardy joined Drama Centre London in September 1998, but was let go soon after after landing the role of US Army Private John Janovec in the award-winning HBO-BBC miniseries Band of Brothers.¹⁴⁾

Hardy married Sarah Ward in 1999, but the couple divorced in 2004.¹⁵⁾