10 Years after TDKR, Tom Hardy Faces Consequences of Becoming Bane
The resulting transformation was impressive, but the price ended up being quite high. Rapid transformation took its toll: even now, years after, Tom Hardy is still experiencing some consequences of unhealthy diet and being basically overweight.
"I was overweight, joints that click that probably shouldn't click."
Tom Hardy has revealed to his fans what it was like to transform for his character Bane in The Dark Knight Rises directed by Christopher Nolan.
Hardy said he needed to look bigger and he had to eat a lot and sometimes not healthy. That's not to mention exercising in gym three times a day for the sake of putting up as much muscle as possible. Over the course of pre-production, Tom Hardy gained 30 pounds of mass. Sounds impressive.
Still he said he was not bigger that Batman ( Christian Bale ) but he just looked bigger because the crew was shooting from low. Naturally, Christopher Nolan's production team behind The Dark Knight Rises knew what they were doing and used certain movie tricks to make the illusion of Bane being that huge.
The actor had to admit that all the junk food and pizzas that he used to eat to transform quickly took some toll on his health and on his heart; he did struggle maintaining such an unhealthy diet. At the same time, he admits that any transformations in an older age come with a price.
"It was alright when I was younger, to put myself under that kind of duress, but I think as you get into your 40s you have to be more mindful of the rapid training, packing on a lot of weight and getting physical, and then not having enough time to keep training because you're busy filming, so your body is swimming in two different directions at the same time," Tom Hardy told The Daily Beast.
Actually, gaining mass fast was something Hardy also did for the crime drama Bronson (directed by Nicolas Winding Refn), a movie about a bare knuckle boxer who, while in jail, has attacked over 20 guards and fellow prisoners and took 11 people hostage. Apart from working out in gym Tom Hardy followed a high-calorie diet, which consisted of pizza (what else!), Häagen-Dazs and Coca-Cola in addition to routine chicken and rice.
He went on to say that after the shooting is over and you are older and you have to change your shape again and go back to your normal size for the next film your body is not that cooperative. Hardy added that he did not damage his body, but he is certainly a bit achier than he used to be.