“And actually I was halfway through filming when I kind of found out that Gavin had his own battle in casting Tommy and I, because when you think about it, at the time when this movie was made, neither of us really had the right to be there when you think about Hollywood being the stockmarket that it is, completely driven and fuelled by decisions based on money. TOM HARDY: “They wanted Jake Gyllenhaal and Hayden Christensen. JOEL EDGERTON: “Yeah, yeah, that’s who the movie should have been, so............ TOM HARDY: “No-one wants them. Really, they want them in the ring, to watch it really go down, but not on the film. God, no, you wouldn’t do that.
You have a really touching scene with Nick Nolte, who plays your father. Was that harder to play than the physical stuff? TOM HARDY: “No, because that’s where I come from, that kind of background. You know what I mean, it’s like drinking stock. That was me doing the bit that I’d done years of training on already, before I arrived on set. “Not being flippant, genuinely, but the whole addiction/abuse storyline to me is not a shock and it’s not far from home, or friends and family and understanding addiction. Understanding addiction and living with addiction, it’s not something that’s difficult to access or facilitate.
“I’m nine or ten years going on sober now anyway, so I’m a long, long, long way away from my last drink but I know people in and out of recovery and I know people who’ve died, so that territory for me is actually a space which I feel responsible, to be part of work that’s involved in that, because actually I’ve got something that I can use.
Do you feel it’s quite important to speak out about it? TOM HARDY: “I think it’s relevant. I think one has to be very careful how much you talk about it, because it’s one of those things unfortunately whereby it takes lives. It’s not to be taken for granted – it’s not a fashion accessory, alcoholism and addiction, it’s a really fucking dangerous illness, it kills people. “If you have it, it’s something that needs help, you need help and the help is there. So yes, to be aware of it is one thing, to promote it is bad taste, but I think it’s important to be part of where you’re from and participate in life on life’s terms. And addiction is part of my story, so it would be futile to ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist, because part of living with addiction is being part of it. “So it’s nice when it comes up in a story where you can do some justice with it. I think those scenes were – I really enjoyed doing them and I thought Nick was brilliant in them. And when I watched it, I cried, actually, because I’d been in places
like that, and I was just very glad that what we were doing made sense. When I watched it back I was like, ‘yeah, okay, cool. Tick the box, so we can feel like we lived it,’.
The scene by the slot machines with Nick – he’s very reactive and you get the sense he’s simmering and you’re chucking coins at him. How was it to do and what was it like working with Nick Nolte generally? TOM HARDY: “Nick Nolte is like carved from the rock of actors. He’s as prevalent in my life as a Digestive biscuit. He quintessentially exists. [To Joel] In England, Digestive biscuits are like a staple part of a child’s diet – you know it’s there, you know the brand, like Marmite or something. “Nick Nolte is the American – he’s like an American brand of type of actor, he’s the craggy faced, this lived-in hard cop, you know, tough guy, been through the fucking mill, working class with a huge heart. “Huge grizzly bear with a thorn in his side but a huge sensitive child-like clown inside and he is as wonderful to work with as he is to watch. And he is mercurial and funny and enigmatic and full of life as he is when I watch him on screen, and he is as troubled as you can imagine he probably could possibly get at times too. “And probably the most exciting thing – apart from working with Joel – the most exciting thing about working on Warrior.
And for you, Joel? JOEL EDGERTON: “Who’s Nick Nolte? TOM HARDY: “He worked with Eddie Murphy.
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JOEL EDGERTON: “Oh yeah, that one. No, everything he said. I don’t know if I could ever put anything as eloquently as Tom can, but there’s a lot of privileges that come with being an actor and having special lives, you get to enter these worlds and we get to live the life of a fighter..........