Patrick Stewart Never Thought His Famous Star Trek Co-Star Would Last In Hollywood
Patrick Stewart’s revealing new memoir has the man behind Picard sharing insights about his experience working with a young Tom Hardy, according to Variety. The memoir, entitled Making It So, talks in-depth about the making of 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis, and how Stewart and the rest of the cast weren’t able to build a rapport with Tom Hardy on set due to his solitary nature. Hardy portrayed the movie’s villain, Shinzon, and unceremoniously left the set after production, leading Stewart to tell Brent Spiner that they’d probably never hear from Hardy again.
Since working with Patrick Stewart and co. on Nemesis, Tom Hardy has starred in Bronson, Warrior, Locke, Mad Max: Fury Road, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of John Fitzgerald in The Revenant.
In the same passage, Patrick Stewart goes on to say that Tom Hardy wasn’t hostile by any means but often locked himself away in his trailer when he wasn’t needed on set. Stewart also mentions that he’s glad that Hardy has proven him wrong and has had quite the run since their time working together on Nemesis.
This seems like a far cry from the extroverted and approachable Tom Hardy that we know and love today, but we’re talking about one of his earliest roles when he was breaking into Hollywood.
Since working with Patrick Stewart and co. on Nemesis, Tom Hardy has starred in Bronson, Warrior, Locke, Mad Max: Fury Road, and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of John Fitzgerald in The Revenant. He’s also starred in three Christopher Nolan films: The Dark Night Rises, Inception, and Dunkirk.
Most recently, Tom Hardy has been donning a symbiote suit with his portrayal of Eddie Brock/Venom, and has been quite busy with no sign of letting up any time soon.
In his new memoir, Patrick Steward discusses working with Tom Hardy in Star Trek: Nemesis and how he didn’t think the young actor would make it in Hollywood.
Though Patrick Stewart never truly got to know Tom Hardy, it’s worth noting that Hardy wasn’t a high-profile actor at the time that Nemesis was filmed. It makes sense that the Bronson star may have wanted to keep to himself because the Star Trek crew had a long history working together, and he wasn’t part of the regular cast.
Tom Hardy also suffered from dysthymia, and had a history of substance abuse that started when he was just a preteen, lasting until he was 25 years old. He has talked publicly about both his struggles and his recovery since entering a 12-step program in 2003, just one year after working with Patrick Stewart on Nemesis.
Hardy could have very well been working through some personal issues and just wanted to keep things professional as he was just starting out.
It makes sense that the Bronson star may have wanted to keep to himself because the Star Trek crew had a long history working together, and he wasn’t part of the regular cast.
These days, Tom Hardy is a prolific actor and a household name, something that Patrick Stewart wouldn’t have anticipated based on his experience working with the star over 20 years ago. As of this writing, Hardy has a full release slate, and can be seen starring in The Bikeriders, and Havoc, which are slated for a late 2023 and early 2024 release, respectively.
The untitled Venom: Let There Be Carnage sequel is also in active production and slated for a July 24, 2024 release as of this writing.
