♦ More This Means War premiere and interview videos:

♦ Some new press photos of upcoming The Dark Knight Rises have been released, including Bane toys.

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From the LA Times and Collider.

♦ FLACK is having a fundraising event on Wednesday, the 8th with the Cambridge mayor and Councillor Ian Nimmo-Smith, with the possibility of a Skype appearance from Tom.  The evening will be cabaret style with film, music, poetry, stand-up and visual art showcasing the talents and potential of Cambridge’s homeless community.   Tickets are £8 and you can buy them here.

♦ For the Prince’s Trust, Tom spent an evening with Prince Charles and Adam Deacon.

♦ New Zealand Times Live report on Mad Max:

This week, members of the “Mad Max 4: Fury Road” production crew declined to disclose details of the movie, saying everyone involved had been forced to sign confidentiality agreements. But on Thursday a South African crew member said skilled stuntmen were undergoing training in Cape Town.

It’s also believed that Theron and Hardy are being subjected to rigorous training.

Oscar-winning director George Miller recently told ABC News in the US that “the reason the movie is so big is that it’s got just a huge number of stunts, and we’re trying to do stuff that I believe people haven’t done before”.

The secret location has already been transformed into a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

In a recent interview, Hardy said the production was shrouded in secrecy.

“These things are always binded to secrecy, and I think that’s a good thing for the film anyway.

“I’m not allowed to give away anything,” he said.

♦ Tom on Gary Oldman’s Oscar nomination:

“I think it’s amazing, it’s about time actually. The official answer is that I’m 110 per cent behind him, I think he deserves it. The other side of it is that he doesn’t need an award because he is the best actor ever.”

♦ Another premiere interview snippet:

Poor old Hardy revealed to us that he was suffering from manflu, having dropped out of the press junkets earlier that day, and was feeling a bit battered from having jabs. He also mentioned he was off to Siberia (then going quiet, so that’s intriguing), before preparing for his role as Al Capone in Cicero. With such a diverse filmography with strong roles, why did he pick a light-hearted film, as a CIA agent warring with his best friend and colleague (Pine) over the same woman? “It’s taken a long time to get here, and now I have the opportunity to work in a romantic comedy with the queen of the romantic comedy.” He also engaged in a potentially interesting debate with the press pen, after the suggestion that the current crop of exciting actors all come from privileged backgrounds. Time was against him, but he argued that it wasn’t the case, citing the likes of Paddy Considine.

♦ This Means War‘s director McG on Tom:

“Tom, and of course he’s known for Bronson and his character in Warrior and now he’s doing Mad Max. He is so physical and powerful and intense… but he’s also got a brilliant mind. Just from speaking to him that he’s very kinetic, very clever, that his mind is moving at a thousand miles an hour. There’s the broad level the film plays on, but also the more subversive level for those who care to look more closely. I think people need to understand his dimensionalized ability and performance range. He was very game and he’s great – I can’t imagine anyone other than Tom and Chris for these roles,” concludes the director on working with Reese, Chris and Tom.

♦ On Tuck:

“With FDR and Tuck, we were going for the classic movie special agent,” says McG. “What’s sexy about that world is it’s life and death; it’s international; and it’s the antithesis of what most people experience in their everyday lives. I think we all want to travel around the world, go to exotic locations, drive fancy cars, fire guns, and be romantically irresistible. We’re having fun with that, and FDR and Tuck are incredibly proficient in that world. But when it comes to affairs of the heart, they’re just like everyone else. Clueless.”
…
“Tuck, however, comes from a more serious school of espionage,” Chris Pine continues. “Tuck is complicated, interesting, and internal. He’s the spy existentialist while FDR enjoys the bacchanalian universe of being a spy. The infuriatingly talented Tom Hardy plays Tuck. Tom is super charismatic and handsome as all hell and he brings a complicated nature and an English sensibility to his role.”

The filmmakers’ long search to cast the role of Tuck ended when they saw Hardy’s performance in the box office hit Inception. “Tom had everything we wanted,” recalls producer-screenwriter Simon Kinberg. “His sense of humor had a much different tone than Chris’. Tom has an aura of danger, which we really wanted for Tuck. He was very physical, conveyed the character’s complexities, and was perfect for the role.”

Though Hardy seemed to become an overnight sensation with his breakthrough work in Inception, he has also turned in much lauded performances in the recent dramas Warrior; Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Bronson, and RocknRolla. So his role in THIS MEANS WAR, a big comedy-action film, was a substantial departure from his earlier work. “Tom is an actor who loves challenges,” observes Kinberg. “He had done heavy drama and action, so I think the challenge of playing THIS MEANS WAR’s humor and fun is what drew him in.”

Hardy concurs the film presented a very different kind of opportunity than his previous work. “Comedy, in itself, is not an easy thing to do,” he explains. “I thought it was going to be a walk in the park, but it’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I’m very grateful for the experience.” Hardy was also drawn by the opportunity to play opposite Witherspoon. “Working with Reese was like a master class in the comedy genre for me.”

♦ New clips from MTV:

♦ And behind-the-scenes clips:

♦ Tom recently filmed an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show and The Sun had this report going around:

The Bronson actor got the hump with the host after his show included footage of Tom winning a modelling competition on The Big Breakfast in 1998.

A source in the audience said: “Tom really wasn’t happy about the footage being shown and said he looked like a total idiot.

“After that moment the interview was a squirm-fest. Especially when Tom said he couldn’t talk about his part in the new Batman film.

“When the actor walked off Jonathan turned to the audience and said ‘He is genuinely p***ed off with me’.

“They did have a hug at the end though to show there were no hard feelings.”

But Jonathan Ross denied this, tweeting:

You can see for yourself this Saturday, the 11th at 9:15pm GMT on ITV.

♦ And a new Warrior interview with Tom and Joel Edgerton:

Related posts:

1. Tom Hardy: ‘It’s a normal human impulse to watch two people kick the hell out of each other’
2. On Handsome Bob: “I adored him”
3. “I’m still going to be buying a pint of milk by ­myself at the corner shop”
4. “The comedy that speaks to me the most comes from French clowns”
5. Tom Hardy at the ‘This Means War’ UK premiere