tomhardyvariations:

Several brilliant people offered to translate the Glamour Russia article and this is the first one submitted. Many thanks, wendyloulou. As you say, there’s nothing new for a Hardy fan. But it’s intriguing to see how different countries approach “Uncle” Tom (a term of endearment that you’d not see in a UK or US magazine!), and what quotes get pasted in. :)) Spasiba…

Uncle Tom’s Career

Englishman Tom Hardy is a new exceptionally versatile Hollywood star whose acting range encompasses everything from action movie toughs to romantic beaus.

Hardy’s profile at an average American movie website would usually begin as: “With his breakthrough performance in ‘Inception’…” Oh please, you make fans who have been following the career of the plush-lipped Englishman since the very beginning laugh! His main breakthrough had happened almost a decade before, when young Tom was entrusted with the role of the main villain in ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’. The role of the evil clone of Captain Picard made him famous among the cinephilettes who took notice of Hardy’s promising good looks in spite of the uglifying make-up. It’s not surprising that by the age of 19 Tom had been a model contest winner and even signed a couple of contracts.

A few years passed and the bony Lich of ‘Nemesis’ transformed himself into a stout, short-legged, gold-toothed chav trying to score a black girl on the lawns of Hyde Park in ‘Scenes of a Sexual Nature’. Another couple of years later Tom turned into a sugary sweet gay gangster, named Handsome Bob, dancing a slow dance with the manly One-Two, played by Gerard Butler, during the ending sequence of Guy Ritchie’s ‘Rock’n’Rolla’. The audiences had barely got used to Hardy as another handsome Ewan McGregor clone, delivered by the never-failing assembly line of the British cinema, when ‘Bronson’ appeared, filmed in mere months. The protagonist — the ruthless prisoner, the middle-aged bull of a man – was played by yet again completely unrecognizable Tom Hardy.

The important part is not the fact that Hardy gained more than 20 kg of body mass for the role on a diet of protein shakes and a regimen of 2500 crunches a day. The important part is that Hardy is a real human transformer, having no fixed age, height, or body type. He is the British equivalent of Sergey Bezrukov (*a talented, though controversial Russian actor –WL) who could play any character – be it a school boy, a thug, or a monster. An actor of excellent physicality and mercurial psyche. These qualities are the most apparent in his video interviews – for every minute he’s got a different facial expression, a different gesture, a different joke… Go to youtube, find the video ‘Tom Hardy Laughs’ and admire the variety of laughs his trained vocal chords can produce.

One cannot say Hardy didn’t attempt to become a romantic hero. He did and he got very close to bagging the role of Mr. Darcy opposite Keira Knightley in 2005’s “Pride and Prejudice”. He was turned down at the last moment: “Babe, every woman in the world has an impression of who Darcy is and you’re just not it.” , he was told by the head honcho lady at Universal. “That hurt, that really hurt,” Hardy recalls now. “I’d worn a blue shirt and jeans and a blue blazer and been doing my best Hugh Grant impression. But now I was back to playing the wonky skewiff-teeth kid with the bow legs.”

Hollywood that has finally set its greedy eye on Hardy is inclined to offer him roles of ethically ambiguous characters – apparently, the actor is not straight-laced enough to play a good guy. His character in the political thriller ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ is no exception – a spy pumping the information out of a pretty Soviet Citizeness by using the least respectable means: that of sex. (they wrote “the bed” in the article WL) In the new action comedy ‘This Means War’ he plays another CIA operative who ruins his best friend’s romantic night by shooting him with a vial of sedative. The eagerly awaited Batman installment ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ sees Hardy as a violent, masked jock terrorizing the city of Gotham. And finally, ‘Warrior’ gives us Hardy as an MMA fighter, the real smashing machine. “When I first read the script…Tommy did have a very long hair and he went swimming every morning with rocks in a rock sack. I thought, ‘You need Chuck Norris’.” Hardy laughs.

His only character that could be called more or less of a ‘positive influence’ is Eames, the dream thief of ‘Inception’. But the famous scene of Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster where his character advises his colleague: “We mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling”, and then proceeds to shoot the neighboring building with a grenade launcher — is seen as carrying a homoerotic subtext.

Tom himself is to blame for the rumors. In the summer of ‘Inception’ premiere he said in an interview: “As a boy? Of course I have [had sexual relationships with men]. I’m an actor for ****’s sake. I’ve played with everything and everyone. I love the form and the physicality, but now that I’m in my thirties, it doesn’t do it for me. I’m done experimenting…”

One could definitely say that Hardy who grew up in the family of an artist mother and a script writing father had a very turbulent youth. In the beginning of 2000’s he was guest of many rehabs. (this is the only actual example of churnalism in this whole article imho. the writer girl got reeeeaaaaly carried away here so I toned her down a bit. Lol. She wrote: “Before the beginning of 2000’s he traveled from one rehab to another.”) However, now he has settled down and is going to marry actress Charlotte Riley who played his love interest in a TV adaptation of ‘Wuthering Heights’. He is also raising a child he has with his ex-girlfriend, production assistant Rachael Speed. Three-year-old Louis with his plush lips and playful eyes is a spitting image of his father, and Hardy’s new girlfriend looks a lot like the previous one – she is, too, a glowing brunette. (this article speaks the truth. lol.) Svetlana Khodchenkova who played opposite Hardy in ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ describes him as a wonderful person who talks a lot about his son. She could never understand why the interpreter kept telling her: “Sveta, stay away from him. Everybody knows he’s a dangerous type.”

The skinny, unimposing guy who turns into a mountain of muscle on screen. The prince who turns into the beast. The family man who is breaking hearts. We should probably stay away from him as well. But we can’t help wanting to come closer…

Kind translation by wendyloulou, who comments: 

It really does not say anything new to a Hardy fan. But there are not so many people in Russia who are aware of Hardy’s existence at all. His main vehicle there is probably going to be ‘This Means War’ that most kids will see because of Reese. And later, TDKR. ‘Warrior’ was never in wide release in Russia, I believe. And in ‘Inception’ Hardy was dubbed by a very nice voice-actor, who nonetheless managed to ruin the impression Eames should make. For example, when I saw ‘Inception’ dubbed in Russian, – and I saw it long before the English version — I had the impression that Eames was a middle-aged meany who for some reason hated the Arthur-character. End of story. Lol. When I saw it in English, however…Also I remember seeing Hardy in Layer Cake back in 2005 and trying to find any other movie with him – zero. ‘Inception’ is pretty much the only Hardy movie that the general public saw in Russia. Upon seeing it, all I could think about was jgl, all my friends talked about was Leo. My elder sister on the other hand became a Hardy-fangirl, so you can do the math…