Tom Hardy

A future on the catwalk seemed to beckon for London-born Tom Hardy when, aged 19, he won a modelling competition and signed to a top agency. Deciding his true passion lay elsewhere, however, he enrolled at London's Drama Centre and went on to score his first professional job in WWII drama Band Of Brothers - before he'd even graduated. Since then the work offers have continued to flow in, allowing Tom to notch up an impressive list of screen credits. These include appearances in army flick Black Hawk Down, gangster movie Layer Cake and historical drama Mary Antoinette. He's enjoyed similar success on the small screen, appearing in TV adaptations of Sweeny Todd and Oliver Twist, and as Elizabeth I's love interest in the BBC production The Virgin Queen.