Get exclusive deals, product news, reviews, and more with the Mental Floss Smart Shopping newsletter. “[It splattered] all over the wall. At some point, Van Damme expressed irritation that Seagal had previously claimed he could best Van Damme in a fight. You’d have to be needed, if you know what I mean. 1998 seems like a different world. Denise Van Outen. That aforementioned modeling contest wouldn’t be the only time Hardy expressed his admiration of Gary Oldman. How much do we all love Tom Hardy? There's the fashions of the time (grim), the model walking, the looks to camera, Johnny's description of Hardy reading like a Blind Date profile (he's a Virgo drama student who loves Eddie Izzard etc.) "'OK, Jean-Claude, what’s he doing?' ", When asked about how he ended up pursuing a career in acting, Hardy said that, “In the end there was nothing else I could do. TIME dubbed it one of the great performances of the year. In one six-minute monologue, Van Damme lays himself bare. Technically, Tom Hardy’s onscreen debut came in 1998, when he took part in a modeling contest on the British morning show The Big Breakfast. His candidness and casualness (remember these MySpace images) is always refreshing and we’ve just uncovered the BEST video of him, ever because back in 1998, a 20-year-old Tom Hardy joined Johnny Vaughn and Denise Van Outen on The Big Breakfast for a modelling competition. Since making his onscreen debut in 2001, the London native has gone on to collaborate with some of the world’s most talented filmmakers, including Ridley Scott, George Miller, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Sofia Coppola, and Christopher Nolan. that the producer of the film was attempting to divert funds from Double Impact to 1991’s Stone Cold, an action vehicle for NFL star Brian Bosworth. —Michele Debczak, Senior Staff Writer, John Ajvide Lindqvist’s 2004 Swedish novel chronicles the friendship of a young boy named Oskar and his enigmatic new friend, Eli, who happens to be a very old vampire. —Jake Rossen, Senior Staff Writer. But now I was back to playing the wonky skewiff-teeth kid with the bow legs.”. In the year 2001, Black Hawk Down which was directed by Ridley Scott. In this book, Orsk, a Swedish furniture store in Cleveland, Ohio, is the scene of some very paranormal activity, which spurs a handful of employees to brave an overnight shift to find out the origins of these malevolent spirits. In 2012, a statue paying tribute to Van Damme debuted in Brussels, Belgium in front of the Westland Shopping Center. —Ellen Gutoskey, Staff Writer. One day, he found himself crossing paths with B-movie producer Menahem Golan. And yes, he won. Tourism takes a horrific turn in this unsettling potboiler about a group of American tourists who find that an ancient Mayan site isn’t too welcoming to visitors—and neither are the acidic vines that singe both skin and soul. He’s the sh*t!,’” Hardy told The Daily Beast. But he was the best actor in the school.” (Fassbender, too, landed a role in Band of Brothers.). You don't have to be a Hollywood insider to know that Tom Hardy is widely considered to be one of the most talented actors of his generation … and that he has a reputation for not always being willing to play by Hollywood’s rules. It revolves around a teenage outcast named Carrie White who gets bullied at school and has to deal with an abusive mother at home. “I went in thinking I’d do it for a little bit until I can go out and drink and people forgive me. They have since worked together on three more films: Lawless (2012), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), and Child 44 (2015). Johnny Vaughn. —J.S. Another part of it is when I was younger I remember being frightened a lot—of being small and skinny and vulnerable and feeling that I could have been preyed upon easily. Watch him model for the old TV show and win everyone's hearts. Hello necklace and combat trousers! Bloodsport went on to make $65 million, turning Van Damme into an overnight star. Even the biggest stars have to start out somewhere, and for Tom Hardy one of those starts was taking part in The Big Breakfast's (RIP) male modelling competition which is cringe for several reasons that you'll see for yourself below. King's debut novel from 1974 still ranks among his best. Just order your lunch and come along! That was the sum total of work [I] had to do.”, Hardy made his big-screen debut in 2001 as well, playing Twombly in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. Hardy joined Drama Centre London in September 1998, and was taken out early after winning the part of US Army Private John Janovec in the HBO-BBC mini-series Band of Brothers. “I was a mess after Bronson,” he told ShortList. I don’t know how people do that every day. Or Shrek. I found some self-esteem and thought, ‘I’m actually quite good at something.’”, Over the years, Hardy has developed a reputation for being an intense collaborator—and not always in a good way. When discussing his role in 2011’s Warrior, in which he plays the son of an alcoholic former boxer played by Nick Nolte, Hardy told ShortList that, “In the [alcohol abuse] scenes with Nick Nolte, if you’ve been to those depths, experience allows you to think ‘this is right’ or ‘this is wrong’ and know how to react. I was a good schmoozer, simpatico and no incident happened.”. The spirit of EC Comics and its lurid horror anthology titles lives on in Image’s Ice Cream Man. Promoting his Amazon Prime series Jean-Claude Van Johnson in 2017, the actor joked about the generic flavor of the films. “There's only one thing worse than being talked about and that's not being talked about in this game so I'd rather it be that, I guess. The Belgian-born actor and martial artist used his flexibility to great effect in action classics like 1988’s Bloodsport, 1989’s Kickboxer, and 1994’s Timecop. “There is a definite ‘hang on a minute’ [moment], but I’ve got past the star-struck part now,” Hardy said of getting the chance to act opposite Oldman. All I want to do is move on.” Ever since, fans and the media have been discussing who could be the next James Bond. “I didn’t want anyone to know I was out of control, but I couldn’t hide it,” Hardy said in 2014. The towering sculpture depicts Van Damme in a martial arts posture, ready to strike. Sudden Death, March of Death, Dead Dead Dead, and Double Dead, and what was the last one? Partners: beaut.ie |  thesportschronicle.com | familyfriendlyhq.ie, Watch: Here's a 20-year-old Tom Hardy winning a modelling competition on the Big Breakfast, Guy creates world's first functioning plasma lightsaber, Enjoy these Aussie commentators trying (and failing miserably) to say 'Portlaoise', If this dog can wear a mask while out and about, so can you. Acting channeled me into something. In 2019, Van Damme told Yahoo! In August 2017, Craig confirmed that he will be returning for Bond 25. Van Damme demanded Seagal follow him outside to settle it, which Stallone claimed Seagal avoided. With Hugh Jackman’s run as Wolverine winding down, MTV UK asked the actor who he thought might be able to fill his mutant shoes. Seizing the opportunity, Van Damme began launching kicks at Golan, stopping short of connecting. Indeed, several years before making his film debut in Black Hawk Down, a slimmed-down, virtually unrecognisable Tom Hardy was crowned the winner of The Big Breakfast… After shooting Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), Hardy checked himself into rehab. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. They’ve got nothing to draw upon apart from a life of working, so you need to go out and catch up and then come back in again.”, Hardy auditioned to play Mr. Darcy in Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice, starring Keira Knightley. For more on the “Muscles from Brussels,” including his competitive fighting background and why he once challenged Steven Seagal to a real fight in Stallone’s backyard, read on. Hardy first gained international attention for playing the title role in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Bronson (2008), an in-your-face biopic about Michael Gordon Peterson, who has been called both the “most violent prisoner in Britain” and “Britain's most notorious prisoner.” He gained 42 pounds to play the role. The role ultimately went to Matthew Macfadyen, while a studio head told Hardy that, “Babe, every woman in the world has an impression of who Darcy is and you’re just not it.”, “That hurt, that really hurt,” Hardy told The Telegraph in 2009. At around 200 pages, it's a quick read—and when you're done, you can fire up one of the novel's TV and film adaptations to keep the creepiness going. 1998 seems like a different world. Obviously you're going to rub people the wrong way … and I've been a dick. We’re also loving that 90s fashion. “He was a really serious method actor and we used to watch him and think, ‘F**k, man! Maybe one day that would work out. “I find crying difficult,” he told ShortList. ", When discussing his penchant for playing villains, Hardy told The Hollywood Reporter, “I play a lot of scary blokes, and there are probably a few reasons why. I’ve always been a liar, always been able to manipulate. “It takes a long time for me to go. I had a busy head and I didn’t really want to do things that I found boring. Many Van Damme films have some variation of “death” or “dead” in the title, a fact Van Damme is well aware of. Bambi would probably do me. “I was always attracted to ballet because of the dexterity, the stretching, the grace, and the fact that you are able to control without showing any pain on your face,” Van Damme told the Chicago Tribune in 1993.