Tom Hardy Talks Wrestling With ‘The Revenant’ Director
Tom Hardy is known for taking his acting to the next level, but you don’t hear about an actor physically wrestling with his director. According to Entertainment Weekly, that’s exactly what happened on the set of The Revenant.
The Revenant is a gritty revenge western about a man (Hugh Glass) who sets out on a journey of vengeance to capture those that left him for dead after a gruesome bear mauling.
Tom Hardy, along with method actor Leonardo DiCaprio, filmed in harrowing conditions for The Revenant, which was directed by Alejandro G. Iñárritu. Although we’ve heard about DiCaprio sleeping in raw carcasses, we haven’t heard much about supporting actor Hardy until now. Hardy recently opened up wrestling Iñárritu while on set.
Go behind-the-scenes of Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s ‘The Revenant’ with new images: https://t.co/T87SbO4zoz pic.twitter.com/o3KTzECwX5
— The Film Stage (@TheFilmStage) October 30, 2015
Funny enough, Hardy referred to what some may say was a physical altercation as a “cuddle.”
“When things get a bit too serious, I go, ‘Why don’t we have a cuddle in front of all these people here? It ends with both of us falling down in the snow. I think that’s a good thing. If I’m the naughty boy for doing that, then I’d rather be the naughty boy and release that tension.”
As for the harrowing conditions on set, according to the Guardian, unnamed sources said that being on the set was a living hell. That said, Tom Hardy wasn’t divulging anything to the Guardian about the atmosphere.
“I’d rather be the naughty boy.” Tom Hardy talks wrestling Iñárritu on ‘The Revenant’ set: https://t.co/T87SbO4zoz pic.twitter.com/1nwGE5JV6i
— The Film Stage (@TheFilmStage) October 30, 2015
Hardy’s reputation over the years has been talked about, as he’s known to be quite an intense actor. He’s also known to be difficult to work with because of this, but the Birdman director sees his working style from a different perspective.
“On the surface, he can look inaccessible or difficult, but he is just a beautiful human being. He’s incredibly sensitive and lovable.”
Hardy’s unique sensibilities don’t stop there. Hardy went on to compare the relationship between him and the director to a famous cartoon.
“He had the affability to me of the donkey from Shrek and I’m Shrek,” the actor said.
These hard times might pay off as DiCaprio and Hardy’s performances are being talked about for awards season.
All things considered, Hardy didn’t leave the best impression on his Mad Max: Fury Road colleagues. It’s rumored that he didn’t get along with co-star Charlize Theron and didn’t make it easy on the crew even though he had practically zero dialogue in the film. However, it looks like Hardy tried to right his wrongs prior to release. The actor apologized to director George Miller for being “frustrated” with his role on set.
Hardy mentioned the difficult time during a press conference at Cannes Film Festival.
“For seven months, I think the most complicated or most frustrating thing was trying to know what George wanted me to do at any given minute so I could fully transmute his vision.”
Hardy continued, “I have to apologize to you [looking at Miller] because I got frustrated. There was no way that George could have explained what he could see in the sand when we were out there… I knew he was brilliant, but I didn’t quite know how brilliant.”
Prior to working with Hardy, Miller rang up Christopher Nolan to get his advice on Hardy’s demeanor on set. The director had heard that the actor was difficult to work with. At the time, Nolan assured Miller that he was a complete professional.
As for the Revenant director, we have yet to hear about his side to the wrestling story.
[Image via 20th Century Fox]
