Tom Hardy isn’t holding anything back in his training for the upcoming Venom film. Just like the extreme body transformations he’s gone through for his past roles—including when he added more than 30lbs of muscle to play Bane in The Dark Knight Rises and bulked up to play an MMA fighter in Warrior—Hardy is putting himself through some intense training for Venom.
UPDATE: In fact, he’ll be doing it again in Venom 2, and Andy Serkis will be directing the film, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Serkis, best known for his motion-capture roles as Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the the Hobbit trilogy, as well as his work in the Planet of the Apes series, and Snoke in the new Star Wars series, has been getting into directing more. He directed the films Breathe and Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle. He’s also known for his role as Klawe in Black Panther and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Now he’ll be working on another movie that deals a lot with motion capture.
Hardy’s been working out using mixed martial arts, boxing, and jiu-jitsu, training up to five times per week—and at times, twice per day—with pro MMA fighters Nathan Jones and Dan ‘Villi’ Edwards, according to Metro UK. Hardy’s also done work with trainer Mark Mene and with the Royal Marines Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Association.
Here’s a taste of what Hardy’s been doing in the gym:
Venom, directed by Ruben Fleischer and starring Hardy, Michelle Williams, Riz Ahmed, and Jenny Slate, is set for an Oct. 5, 2018 release.
Check out these awesome photos and videos of Hardy’s training.
