‘I felt very much at home with the sadder side of Tommy, but it’s not a territory I need to dwell in,’ he told the Daily Telegraph. He went on to explain that, as well as finding the process of playing Tommy a cathartic one, he also felt that, by using his experiences to bring authenticity to the character, he might just be able to give audiences an insight, via Tommy, of the pain of this world that he himself had inhabited.
Edgerton’s character, Brendan, while having his own issues with his family’s ruptured past and undergoing his own personal crises, is a stark contrast to Tommy. While Tommy escaped his past life by joining the armed services, Brendan has chosen instead the path of suburban domesticity and has created the kind of family that his own never was. Brendan has a responsibility to his new family, both emotionally and financially. The actor proved a fit with the role and, according to O’Connor, he has ‘integrity in spades. Joel, as a person, is a dynamic actor and you root for him and you like him.’
So far, so good – two actors had been found who could each turn in a performance which would highlight the divide between the two men who Tom Hardy has referred to as ‘very different brothers. Cut from the same cloth, but very different.’
The next challenge was to get the two actors looking completely credible as MMA fighters – anything less would have done the film a disservice and been a distraction from the story. They both had to set about transforming their bodies and undertook rigorous training so that they would look authentic when sparring in the cage. This was no mean feat and required a great deal of dedication, determination and energy from the pair.
Originally, the characters in the film were to have been heavyweight fighters but it would have taken too long to get the actors bulked up to a degree where they would look like genuine heavyweights. Instead, they were cast as middleweights and had to increase their bodyweight to a mere 84kg!
Tom is no stranger to transformation and much had been made of the extreme change he had undergone when switching between the roles of Stuart Shorter and Charles Bronson. As we know, Tom didn’t find bulking up for Bronson too difficult but attaining the right kind of shape for Warrior was to be a very different prospect. Tom has made no secret of the fact that he found it a tough part of the preparation. ‘Getting into a gym is something I’m not comfortable with at all, to be honest, so I was quite concerned by the whole thing. I was alarmed at the amount of exercise this demanded, and athleticism and discipline and structure. It wasn’t up my alley at all,’ he told ITN.
The process started 10 weeks before the cameras rolled, and to say it was demanding would be a huge understatement. Training was a full-time occupation and took place six or seven times a week. A typical day would consist of fight training at the gym from 7am until mid-afternoon; after lunch, there would be training in boxing, ju-jitsu as well as weights work and choreography – all of which would continue late into the night.
The actors have stated that they were ‘side by side always’ while they were in training and, as ever, Tom also had his great friend and personal trainer Pnut to assist him. It was Pnut who had helped Hardy to bulk up for Bronson and he now had an even greater task on his hands. ‘Pnut had to pick me up off the floor after I finished Bronson and I had to strip away a load of fat and pack on muscle as fast as possible,’ Tom told Men’s Fitness magazine. True to form, Pnut was just the man Tom needed in his corner – he knew exactly what was required not only to get Tom physically in shape, but also to give him authenticity on screen. ‘I didn’t want to train Tom to look like he could fight – I wanted to train him to fight.’
Indeed, one of the key elements to the success of the film was that the fighting was as realistic as it possibly could be. To this end, training was also undertaken with MMA coach Greg Jackson and some UFC fighters too. Edgerton spent a good deal of time with Jackson and has credited him with being ‘a real advisor for the integrity and detail of the sport’.
The stunt team, too, were a vital part of the operation and have been described by Tom as ‘the glue for the fighting scenes of the film’. Martial artist JJ Perry, renowned for his work on a host of films including Iron Man and Avatar, was the stunt co-ordinator. Also on the team was fighter and stuntman Fernando Chien, who Tom states was ‘responsible for the authenticity of the interactions that we had’.
Just as the two screen brothers have contrasting lives and personalities, so they have different fighting styles, which seem to reflect how they are as people. Tommy’s fighting style is out-and-out aggressive and he often flattens opponents in just a few moves. Brendan, on the other hand, has to work harder for his victories and consequently spends a lot more time in the cage. This being the case, Edgerton was required to take on quite a bit more ju-jitsu and choreography training than Tom was.
Once on set, things proved no less exhausting. Long days of filming required just as much – if not more – energy and focus. It would apparently take about two days to film one of the rounds of fighting, so as well as having to dig deep physically, they also had to focus on maintaining the appearance of the aggression during the fight. At this point, the actors were also carb-depleted, sticking to a regime of eating chicken and broccoli every few hours, something which Tom has admitted wreaked havoc with his mood. Between takes, instead of resting, they had to get themselves in gear for the next round of fighting and could be found doing press ups, hitting pads or running up and down the stairs. And, while the rest of the crew broke for lunch, there was no such luxury for the two leads: you guessed it, lunchtime equalled another workout. There’s no denying that the fighting was tough and took its toll. During the course of making the film, Tom broke a toe, two ribs and tore the ligaments in his right hand.
Did such an intense and testosterone-fuelled atmosphere on set lead to any kind of competitiveness off set? It would appear that quite the opposite happened and the two lead actors seemed to enjoy a happy working relationship and developed a mutual respect. They claimed, too, that due to the combative nature of the scenes they were filming, any negative emotion could be channelled into the fight, rather than displaying itself in other ways. ‘There was no peacocking in the gym,’ said Tom. In the inevitable press junkets the pair were subsequently required to undertake together, they appear totally at ease with each other and share a laddish, knockabout sense of humour. Edgerton has also generously described Tom as ‘an exceptional actor’.
2011 marked the first annual Cinema Con exhibition in Las Vegas. The purpose of the event is to bring together cinema owners and operators from around the world and, with so many industry high-fliers together in one place, is the perfect opportunity to promote your film and get a buzz going around it. It was at CinemaCon that Warrior had its first public screening and it certainly initiated a flurry of activity on film websites and blogs. It wasn’t yet the finished film that was screened but that didn’t prevent it from causing a stir. Firstshowing.net called it ‘incredible’, while slashfilm gushed that it was one of the best films that they had seen that year. In the UK, meanwhile, where Tom had been recognised as a rising star for quite some time and was hardly lacking in a female fan base, excitement was growing at the sight of Warrior promo posters featuring the actor sporting a well-sculpted torso and looking menacing.
It helped that, by the time that promotion began apace, both actors were becoming names on Hollywood’s lips. Tom in particular seemed to fascinate fans and critics across the pond – people wanted to know more about this Brit actor with the intriguing past who directors seemed to be clamouring to sign up for their films. Everyone wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
With this positive buzz behind them, Lionsgate went all out to get their film talked about amongst cinema-goers in the USA. The studio set up a nationwide series of free screenings of the movie, with tickets being made available from 12 August. The promotion was deemed a success and the cinemas involved in the screenings reported good attendance rates, with the film being seen by over 17,000 people as a result of the sch
eme.
Warrior has firm ties to the US military because of the character Tommy’s history as a US Marine, and the script had in fact been vetted by a Marine Corps liaison officer. In addition, though, the military were directly involved in the shooting of the film, and 200 real uniformed Marines appeared as spectators to Tommy’s fights, backing their boy. In the summer months of 2011, prior to the film’s release, Camp Pendleton in California hosted a screening of the film for the Marines based there. Tom was in attendance at the screening and took the time to sign autographs and meet some of the Marines at the base. He has spoken of how the presence of the real Marines in the crowd of spectators while filming the fight scenes helped him to get fired up for the scene ahead.
It’s fair to say that the film had a mixed reception. Most agreed that, in plot and structure, it was somewhat flawed. It was definitely a film that was split down the middle, with the first half committed to painting the characters and their relationships; the second half committed to the unfolding of the brothers making their respective ways to the MMA tournament. Nicholas Barber wrote in his review in the Independent on Sunday that: ‘For the first half of Warrior, you might be fooled into thinking that it’s a gritty, blue-collar drama in the musclebound mould of The Wrestler, but once its heroes start their obligatory work-out sessions, it’s clear that you’re watching the most formulaic of Hollywood sports movies.’ Indeed, once the contest in Atlantic City got under way, there was a strong sense of inevitability about how the second half of the film would play out.
There was one thing, though, on which critics were all agreed: barring any criticism of the film itself, the actors in it all turned in fantastic performances which were, arguably, its saving grace. Tom in particular was singled out for his outstanding portrayal of Tommy. It was widely agreed that he had succeeded in creating a character who, despite his out and out aggression, never loses the sympathy of the audience because we can see that underneath the hostile exterior lies a fragility. Barber referred to Tom as ‘sensational’ while Screen described him as ‘arrestingly intense’.
Some critics went even further than that. The performance prompted several to compare him to a young Marlon Brando – and he had certainly shown he shared some of the brooding intensity and depth of Brando. When asked to respond to such comparisons, Tom was typically self-effacing and grounded about it all. Speaking to Inquirer Entertainment website he said, ‘You’re going to hate me. I’ve never watched On the Waterfront. I’ve seen Apocalypse Now. I thought he was wonderful in that. I feel a bit embarrassed when I’m compared to him. Marlon Brando is Marlon Brando. It’s a tremendous honour to be compared to him. But I don’t think I’m very good at what I do. I want to work harder at it.’
As 2011 drew to a close, it seemed as if Gary Oldman’s predictions about Tom were coming true. He was turning in critically acclaimed performances; his openness, sense of humour and down-to-earth nature were gaining him fans the world over; and on a personal level, he seemed to be more than content: he was providing for his son and was settled in a happy relationship with fiancée Charlotte Riley. Now noted for his transformations, it seemed that our home-grown success was about to transform into a star of global proportions.
CHAPTER TEN
HOLLYWOOD
‘I’ve got to earn my pipe and slippers and cardigan. The zenith of my attainment would be to be in a rom com and actually be passable.’ The irony of this comment that Tom Hardy made to Jonathan Ross on his BBC1 chat show in 2010 lay in that, just weeks later, it would be announced that he was to star alongside Reese Witherspoon and Chris Pine in This Means War, a romantic comedy. While Tom’s performance in the film may have been perfectly passable, unfortunately the film itself was far from it – in fact the premise and direction of the movie seemed to squander the considerable talent of those who starred in it.
Tom Hardy had been busily carving out a niche for himself as the best of baddies, but he was also trying to make a name for himself as a headline star – so the choice to act alongside one of Hollywood’s hottest leading females in a film directed by the man behind Charlie’s Angels, McG, seemed like a sensible step in the right direction. Tom’s comedy roles on celluloid had been few and far between but he’d often brought humour to his more formidable roles in an attempt to present his characters as more complete and relatable.
Hardy fans would have had mixed feelings about the news that he was to star in This Means War. While it would be great to see him do something that, for him, went against the grain, everyone fervently hoped that it would turn out to be a film that showcased his diverse skill in a positive way. It would also be refreshing to see Tom looking his natural, handsome self as opposed to taking on the guise of a hard man.
This Means War is part action movie and part romantic comedy. In fact, at times, it doesn’t seem to really know which genre it wants to fall into. The rather clunky and implausible story involves two best-buddy secret agents (Tom Hardy as Tuck and Chris Pine as FDR – yes, he is known by initials rather than by name) who happen to fall for the same woman – Lauren Scott, played by Reese Witherspoon. When they discover that she is the object of both of their affections, they try to outsmart each other in order to win her over. Being spies, they have a whole arsenal of tricks up their sleeves, which they utilise in an effort to gain the upper hand over the other. They end up spying on Lauren – and on each other when with her – which led many who saw the film to question its morally dubious storyline. It was certainly a bit of a questionable direction in which to take the story. One scene in particular which was commented upon is when Lauren is dancing around her apartment scantily clad, unaware that the two spies have broken in and are darting around planting secret cameras and bugs. The scene is played out for laughs in a comical, farcical style, but there is something decidedly offkey about it.
All of this monkeying about is building up, of course, to Lauren having to decide which man she wants to have a relationship with – which leads to another problem. Would this woman really have a quandary? Faced with the muscular, gorgeous Tom Hardy and the loaf-haired, wiry Chris Pine, in reality would there really have been a choice to make? Perhaps if the leading men had been more evenly matched we might have believed she was torn between them. There was also criticism of the way in which the film veered off into giving copious amounts of screen time to the ‘bromance’ between Tuck and FDR.
Director McG had admired Reese Witherspoon’s work for a long time and knew that he would love to have her as his leading lady. She had just finished filming Water for Elephants when she got the call from Fox, telling her about his new project. She had admired McG’s Charlie’s Angels and was keen to know more about the film. When she read the script, she was attracted to the fact that it was a fun action movie and therefore something new for her to try her hand at. McG was clear from the outset that he wanted to present a different kind of Reese Witherspoon in this movie. Her usual characters are wide-eyed, sweet, girl-next-door types but McG wanted the world to see her sexier side. Recounting what he said to her at the time to USA Today, he said, ‘I told her, “You’re America’s sweetheart. Women love you. Men like you. I want men to covet you.”’
Having secured Witherspoon, McG set about finding his two leading men, who would need to be handsome and sexy enough to attract female cinema-goers to the film. He was clear about the kind of dynamic he wanted his leading men to have, too; it was to be a classic buddy-style partnership in the same vein as Butch and Sundance or Maverick and Goose from Top Gun. He also knew he wanted a blend of the classic American CIA agent (think Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible or Jason Bourne) and the archetypal ice-cool British spy such as James Bond.
McG’s meeting with Chris Pine took place at LA’s A-list hangout of choice Chateau Marmont. Pine had thus far been best known for his role as the young Captain Kirk in the rebooted Star Trek movie of 2009. In Pine, the director knew that he had found an actor with the right qualities for his FDR: he needed to be supremely confident
but ultimately likeable too, assets he’d shown he possessed in abundance when he played Captain Kirk. Speaking to website Movieclips.com, McG said of the actor: ‘By his own admission, he does everything in a sort of decidedly self-assured way. The ability to do it with such self-assuredness and still be charming, that’s a real gift; most people can’t do it. Chris Pine, he’s a young actor who has that rare skill set.’ Witherspoon echoed these sentiments, describing Pine as having ‘a Cary-Grant-type quality, sort of effortlessly charming’.
Onwards McG went with the search to find Pine’s British counterpart, someone who would be contrasting yet complementary. Though Tom has legions of fans who consider him to be the sexiest man on the planet, he doesn’t quite fit the Hollywood mould for a leading man. Handsome, yes, but in a rather un-American way – and there was still the age-old wonky teeth dilemma. But McG knew that Tom had what he was looking for as the flipside to the all-American Pine. ‘He was the only choice for Tuck,’ he later confirmed. The director travelled to London to speak to Tom about the part and to show him some initial scenes. He knew that Tom’s catalogue of past work was quite different from what he was proposing, but felt he’d found his ruggedly charming man. ‘The guy’s a monster. We know what he can do with his acting… he looks like the love child of Marlon Brando and Paul Newman,’ McG said to USA Today.
Tom Hardy Page 18
