Happy 40th birthday, Mr Hardy!

We’ve developed a bit of a soft spot for Tom Hardy since we first saw him in his role as James Delaney in Ridley Scott’s Taboo (first and only on Showmax) – in which he plays a man who notoriously lacks soft spots. Delaney returns to London in 1814 after a stint in Africa, where everyone he knew him assumed he had died. But no, he’s very much alive, and has come back to gatecrash his father’s funeral. He’s willing to fight tooth and nail – sometimes literally – to keep the spit of land in North America that his father left him. His enemies, who want to get their hands on the valuable territory, start closing in, and if there’s one thing you don’t want to do to James Keziah Delaney, it’s back him into a corner. Watch now »

Here’s what the Guardian had to say about Tom Hardy in Taboo:

Hardy’s performance never falters. This is a deliberate interpretation in which the theatricality is intended to disguise what lies beneath, just as Delaney himself uses his reputation as a monster to hide a cold streak of pragmatism.

Which is fairly complex and clearly very deep, but let us just say this: Tom Hardy in Taboo is unnervingly good. It’s part of what makes the show so addictive, and, to quote the Guardian again, so “wild and weird”. Watch Taboo on Showmax now »

To celebrate this milestone birthday, here is a gif of Tom Hardy with a puppy. You’re welcome.

via GIPHY