Hardy talks weight gain, almost missing out

Whilst promoting Warrior, Tom Hardy has once again spoken about playing Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.

This time he spoke about gaining 87kg for the part: "I feel heavy. This size is not real. I only feel strong in short stints of times. If I needed to get across the room and throw someone through a door, I could do that, but...as soon as I’m done shooting, I’m dropping the weight."

Hardy spoke about about his dedication to Christopher Nolan, whom he worked with on Inception: "Chris rings and says, 'I’m not sure if it’s your sort of thing because it would mean wearing a mask. How do you feel about wearing a mask as an actor?' How do I feel about wearing a mask? I’d wear a plastic bag over my head for Chris! I’ll do anything for him. I did not see that coming. I never, ever thought I’d be in Batman."

He also talked about his troubled past where he struggled with addiction: "I’m 10 years into being aware of my addictions and in those 10 years, my life has gotten fortuitously better and better. I can’t use, I can’t drink. So that means I can’t go out and dance and be comfortable doing it because I feel stupid and embarrassed. And I’m embarrassed doing karaoke because I haven’t had a beer. You win a few, you lose a few. I can’t have beer, but I can have a fight with Batman. At the end of the day, who’s complaining?"

On September 16, Hardy will be seen in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy alongside his Batman co-star Gary Oldman. The film is based on a novel by John Le Carre and directed by Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In). It features an ensemble cast including Colin Firth (The King's Speech, A Single Man), John Hurt (The Elephant Man, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2), Toby Jones (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Captain America: The First Avenger), Mark Strong (Kick-Ass, The Green Lantern), Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC's Sherlock, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), Ciarán Hinds (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance), David Dencik (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, War Horse), Kathy Burke (Nil by Mouth, Kevin & Perry Go Large), Stephen Graham (This is England, Boardwalk Empire), Svetlana Khodchenkova (The Little Moscow, Five Brides), Simon McBurney (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, Jane Eyre) and Roger Lloyd-Pack (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Only Fools & Horses). The film has received rave reviews, some calling it the best film of the year. Hardy plays Rikki Tarr, a role which was originally going to be played by Michael Fassbender, who dropped out to play Eric Lensherr/Magneto in X-Men: First Class. Curiously, the music used in the trailer in "Frankenstein's Monster", the theme associated with Magneto in that same film.