Another actor who has thoroughly impressed everyone in the FemaleFirst offices this year is the very lovely Tom Hardy.
Yes Hardy has taken it up a notch this year as he lead the cast in Warrior before joining the ensemble of the excellent Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy - and while it’s been a great 2011 for the actor 2012 looks set to be even bigger.
For me personally Warrior has been the best movie of the year, by some way it has to be said, it’s not all about kicking the shit out of each other it has a very human story at it’s heart.
Hardy led the cast list in the role of Tommy Riordan, ex marine and mixed martial arts fighter who is haunted by a tragic past that has put him at odds with his father and brother.
Hardy is simply magnificent in this role, really demonstrating why he is a British talent that we should all be getting super excited about.
It’s a very emotional performance as his character struggles to come to terms with the family struggles and difficulties of the past - which resulted in him being left alone to care for his dying mother.
But you can’t have a movie like this an not have some great fight scenes - and great they really are as hardy and Joel Edgerton appear to have gone above and beyond the call of duty when physically preparing for this role.
If you haven’t seen Warrior then it is a movie that you really should check out as it draws you in from start to finish - not only with some great action sequences but some really emotional relationships.
Hardy then backed that up with another great turn in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - the best ensemble movie of 2011.
Hardy plays a spy in hiding in the movie and turns to George Smiley, played by Gary Oldman, for help.
The movie was both a critical and commercial success as director Tomas Alfredson brought the John Le Carre novel to the big screen.
But 2012 looks set to send Hardy’s star rocketing further with some great projects in the pipeline. First up he stars alongside Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon in action/comedy This Means War - which is set to hit the big screen early next year.
However the movie that we are all looking forward to next summer is The Dark Knight Rises, which sees Hardy take on the role of Bane.
From early coverage of the movie Bane looks like one mean dude as he goes head to head with Christian Bale’s Batman.
The Dark Knight Rises looks set to be one of the biggest movies of 2012 - -watch this space!!
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Tom Hardy