Patrick Stewart reveals in his new memoir that he didn’t realize what an acting tour de force co-star Tom Hardy was destined to be.
Acting icon Patrick Stewart is delighted to eat his words about his Star Trek: Nemesis co-star, Tom Hardy. Twenty-one years ago when the fourth and final Star Trek: The Next Generation feature film hit theaters, Hardy was a virtual unknown in Hollywood. And Stewart didn’t think too highly of his young colleague’s acting abilities or attitude. Stewart said in an excerpt from his new memoir Making It So (per Insider):
On the evening Tom wrapped his role, he characteristically left without ceremony or niceties, simply walking out of the door. As it closed, I said quietly to Brent [Spiner] and Jonathan [Frakes], ‘And there goes someone I think we shall never hear of again.’ It gives me nothing but pleasure that Tom has proven me so wrong.
Hardy portrayed the clone of Captain Picard, which was created by the Romulans, known as the Praetor Shinzon. Looking back, virtually no one could have predicted what an A-list talent Hardy would become. But in 2002, the actor portrayed a lackluster villain in what turned out to be TNG’s worst outing financially on the big screen.
Star Trek: Nemesis made only $67 million worldwide. By comparison, its predecessor Star Trek: Insurrection made $70.2 million in the United States alone on its way to a global haul of $112.6 million. But, as both we and Patrick Stewart now know, Star Trek: Nemesis was the beginnings of a major Hollywood talent for the now Academy Award nominated Tom Hardy.
Tom Hardy Did Not Impress Patrick Stewart
Sir Patrick Stewart might not have thought much of Tom Hardy back in 2002, but the young actor certainly came into his own over the last two decades. Hardy gave a mesmerizing performance as the Batman’s (Christian Bale) adversary Bane in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and he’s become one of the brightest spots in Marvel’s recent on-screen entries as the symbiote Venom, as well as delivering captivating performances in the likes of Inception, Bronson, Warrior, The Drop, and more.
In fairness, Stewart wasn’t thrilled with the Star Trek sequel that featured Hardy as the villain either. Stewart said in the same interview:
“Nemesis, which came out in 2002, was particularly weak. I didn’t have a single exciting scene to play, and the actor who portrayed the movie’s villain, Shinzon, was an odd, solitary young man from London. His name was Tom Hardy.
Tom wouldn’t engage with any of us on a social level. Never said, ‘Good morning,’ never said, ‘Goodnight,’ and spent the hours he wasn’t needed on set in his trailer with his girlfriend. [He] was by no means hostile. It was just challenging to establish any rapport with him.”
Since breaking the Batman’s back in The Dark Knight Rises, Hardy has made memorable appearances in The Revenant, Dunkirk and, of course, in Mad Max: Fury Road. But for many Marvel fans, Hardy is and will forever be the charismatic anti-hero Venom. And on July 12, 2024, the untitled Venom sequel is slated to hit theaters with Hardy returning as the slick-talking symbiote and his investigative-reporting host, Eddie Brock.
Tom Hardy can next been seen in The Bikeriders, which is scheduled to be released in the United States on December 1, 2023.
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