Tom Hardy is reassessing his priorities as an actor while raising his three children.
The Oscar-winner, who is father to a 13-year-old son, five-year-old daughter, and two-year-old son, said in a new interview with Esquire that, as a father, he is finding there is "less reason to work."
The topic came about while discussing his hardened, bad guy characters.
"I think all the baddies and all those sorts of ‘grrrr’ characters that I’ve played, I’m not that. The whole acting thing has been kind of peacock-ish, counter to what I am," he said. "What’s most indelible on my memory are things that are shocking or scary so it’s very easy to mimic them. It’s actually much harder to mimic things that are soft and nice and intimate if you don’t grow up in that way. Now I’m getting older these things are becoming less scary."
Hardy explained that he has reached a point now where he does not care so much about what people think.
"I think there’s less reason to work, ultimately, because the life-drive is to be with the kids and to be fit and healthy and eat well and stuff," he continued. "If you’ve got a roof over your head and a bed underneath you and food in the fridge, how much is enough? Because it’s not a dress rehearsal, life, is it? It’s going out live. This is one-time."
Looking ahead, Hardy admitted that, despite aging, acting will "probably still be there for me." There will always be a role for him to play.
"So who knows? You might see me do some horrendous romcoms. And never see me again," he joked. "Because I’ve made my decision, you’ll go: ‘Oh, he made a choice. You ain’t seeing him again. He’s f***ing gone. He’s worked out what’s important. And he’s off."
Hardy admitted that he was not worried about disappearing. It was important for him to be heard as opposed to invisible when he was younger, but those things have changed. After establishing himself in the industry, Hardy said he found he could "stop making that much noise."
"Because you’re here now, what are you going to do? And what is enough? What do you need? What do my family need?" he added. "So that is very relevant. I think everybody needs a little bit of their own thing that they do. I like jiu-jitsu and sourdough. That fulfills me."
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