For months, if not years, Tom Hardy has been telling us that he’s really not the big, tough badass that he projects on-screen. He’s said versions of “I’m just a little bourgeois boy” so many times. So when will we believe him? I don’t know. I guess we’ll believe him when we collectively stop fantasizing about Tom having his way with all of us. Since Mad Max: Fury Road comes out this week, Tom has some assorted new interviews and quotes making the rounds. He spoke to a UK outlet and here was the stand-out quote:

“People didn’t sit up and take any notice of me until I started putting on weight, kicking people and being aggressive! The trouble with Hollywood is they want you to be something, then they think you’re who they wanted you to be. I’m not a fighter. I’m a petite little bourgeois boy from London. I was told very clearly, “You go down that road, Tom, you won’t come back.” That message stayed with me clearly for the rest of my days. I am f***ing lucky to be here. I would have sold my mother for a rock of crack.’

[From Metro]

Tom has been in recovery for years now, but I always thought his addictions were more about cocaine and alcohol. I didn’t know he was smoking crack as well. That does make me see him differently. And to me, that sounds HARD. Like, being wild and smoking crack is a pretty hard life.

Tom also has a new interview with Vulture – you can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

He’s always covered up on-screen: “No one recognizes me for sh-t. I can’t get a free Coca-Cola in this city! Which is a good thing — I don’t deserve a free Coke, I’m just an actor. But maybe things will change.”

Off the set, Hardy hangs out with the crew: “And I’m another very small part of that machine. I’m a bit shy in that sense, and I like to keep to myself. I think, innately, that’s always going to be more of a characteristic to me than the need to be anything more. When push comes to shove and the bottom falls out and there’s no money left — and we do end up in an apocalyptic world — no fame’s gonna save me from being eaten!”

On fame: “Nothing really lasts forever, does it? Today’s news is tomorrow’s toilet roll, and I’m in the business of humiliation. It’s key. If you’re not failing, you’re not f–king doing your job properly. To find characters, one has to always play. You have to be open to rejection, failure, and humiliation, and one has to be brave in that sense. There’s two kinds of acting: There’s convincing and not convincing. And I’m guilty of both!”

[From Vulture]

Where are these magical places where Tom Hardy is never recognized? Are they the same places where Idris Elba goes unrecognized? I’d like to think that Tom – and Idris, for goodness sake – would be recognized everywhere. Sigh… I would give Tom a free Coke. I would give him a free meal. He could live in my pants for free too.

Some photos of Tom at Heathrow earlier today:

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.