Sir Patrick Stewart has admitted that working with Tom Hardy in the early years of the future Oscar nominee’s career proved to be an “odd” experience.
The two actors worked together more than 20 years ago in the film Star Trek: Nemesis, in which Sir Patrick reprised his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Tom played Shinzon, a clone of the iconic character.
In an excerpt of his new book Making It So, published in Insider, the X-Men star reflected on his time on the set of Star Trek: Nemesis, and admits that Tom struck him as “odd” at the time.
“Nemesis, which came out in 2002, was particularly weak,” he recalled. “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.”
Sir Patrick continued: “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.”
On Tom’s final day on set, Sir Patrick wrote that 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’,” he continued.
“It gives me nothing but pleasure that Tom has proven me so wrong.”
Since those early days, Tom has had breakthrough moments in films like Rocknrolla, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Mad Max: Fury Road and Legend.
He also starred opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in the grisly drama The Revenant, for which he received an Oscar nomination.
Meanwhile, Sir Patrick recently reprised his iconic sci-fi role once again in the revival series Star Trek: Picard, which came to an end after three seasons earlier this year.