Tom Hardy has become one of the most acclaimed and in-demand actors of his generation.
But when Patrick Stewart worked with the English star in one of his first roles for 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, the veteran stage and screen star didn’t think Hardy would amount to much.
But now the 46-year-old Hardy has been nominated for an Academy Award for The Revenant and has starred in big-budget films directed by Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk, The Dark Knight Rises) and in blockbusters such as Mad Max: Fury Road and Venom.
In his new memoir, Making It So, the 83-year-old Stewart admits that even though he was wrong about Hardy’s career prospects, he’s glad he was “so wrong” about his former co-star, according to Insider.
Stewart, who enjoyed only moderate success before his starring role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation took his career to heights he never imagined, also spoke about his unhappy time working on Nemesis.
Oops! Patrick Stewart, 83, admitted in his memoir Making It So that he thought his 2002 Star Trek: Nemesis co-star Tom Hardy wouldn’t amount to anything, according to Insider; seen in April in LA
Detached: Hardy, 46, played the villain Shinzon, who was a clone of Stewart’s character Jean-Luc Picard. Stewart said Hardy was “strange” and “lonely” and did not connect with the cast; still from Star Trek: Nemesis
He called it a “particularly weak” film in the long-running series.
Part of Stewart’s rejection of Hardy’s career prospects was related to his supposedly distant attitude on set, and the veteran star writes in his memoir that they never developed a strong relationship during filming.
Ironically, Hardy played the film’s villain, Shinzon, who was a clone of Jean-Luc Picard, but that on-screen connection didn’t translate into a behind-the-scenes rapport.
“I didn’t have a single exciting scene to play, and the actor who played the film’s villain, Shinzon, was a strange, lonely young man from London,” Stewart wrote. “His name was Tom Hardy.”
The Logan actor added that Hardy was more interested in spending his free time with his girlfriend rather than building connections with the veteran group of actors in the cast.
“Tom wouldn’t want to interact with any of us socially. “He never said ‘Good morning,’ never said ‘Good night,’ and spent the hours he wasn’t needed in his trailer with his girlfriend,” he continued.
But even though Stewart described his interactions with Hardy as cold, he also made sure to make it clear that the Inception actor was never explicitly rude or difficult.
“He wasn’t hostile at all; it was just a challenge to build a bond with him,” he wrote.
Happy for him: Stewart said that when Hardy wasn’t needed on set, he was “sitting in his trailer with his girlfriend.” But he made it clear that it gives him “nothing but pleasure that Tom has proven me so wrong”; seen in 2002 in London
What a career! Hardy would collaborate repeatedly with Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, Dunkirk), earn an Oscar nod for The Revenant and star in blockbusters (Mad Max: Fury Road, Venom); seen in September 2021 in London
When Hardy left hastily after completing his work on the film, Stewart did not hold back in his negative assessment of his career prospects.
“On the night Tom wrapped his role, he typically left without ceremony or pleasantries, and simply walked out the door,” Stewart wrote. “When it closed, I said quietly to (starring Brent Spiner and Jonathan Frakes), ‘And there goes someone we don’t think we’ll ever hear from again.’
But he didn’t hope that Hardy would fail in any way.
“I’m just pleased that Tom has proven me so wrong,” he added.
But what Stewart interpreted as coldness from Hardy may have been that the young actor was simply embarrassed and uncomfortable on set.
It was only his second feature film – after landing a role in Ridley Scott’s critically acclaimed war drama Black Hawk Down – and his only other major role before that was a small role in HBO’s hit WWII miniseries Band Of Brothers.
While you’re talking to Total film in 2014, Hardy said he was “terrified” about working on Nemesis.
“Every day on that set I was terrified,” he said, before clarifying that his fear “worked for the character anyway.”
The End: Stewart recently wrapped up his Star Trek character earlier this year with the third and final season of Picard; seen in September 2021 in LA
‘You can’t hide that, the camera picks it up. “I was really out of my depth,” he continued. ‘The whole thing was, “How can I do this?” I took it very seriously.’
Hardy will next be seen in the biker gang drama The Bikeriders, starring Elvis’ Austin Butler and The Last Duel’s Jodie Comer, and directed by Jeff Nichols.
The film premiered as the opening film at this year’s Telluride Film Festival and will be shown again at AFI Fest in Hollywood later this month before hitting US cinemas on December 1.
Stewart recently reprized his X-Men role as Charles Xavier in a small role for last year’s Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, and he wrapped up the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard earlier this year.