From being in the iconic TV series EastEnders, to playing the villain in X-Men, to then being the ultimate ladies’ man in Bohemian Rhapsody, Ben Hardy has not been shy to take on a diverse repertoire of different roles throughout his acting career. Hardy route to acting came inn unconventional way. After no longer being able to play rugby due to a series of injuries, childhood friend’s invited him to their local drama club that subsequently ended up leading him to where he is now as a global success story.
We got a chance to catch up with him to find out more about his life off and on camera and how it all begun.
**What was your life like pre-pose? I know coming from England and growing up in Sherborne what was the aspiration of becoming an actor? Was there someone that sparked your passion for acting?**
You know, I kind of always done crazy stuff and enjoyed drama class but I was always more into sports and really wanted to be a rugby player but I kept getting injured all the time so then I became bored and was so use to training 4 times a week and then I had nothing to do. So, a mate of mine was like why don’t you come to the local drama club and I was like yeah sure why don’t I try it out and basically it all went from there really when I was about 15. And then I went to drama school when I was 18 and I kind of fell in love with it.
**Having a background in theatre and having performed in the West End, when did you realize that you wanting to go into television and movie rather than to theatre?**
Well, it’s not like I don’t want to go back to it because I really do but sadly you know it’s hard to make a good living in the theatreland but it’s something that I love doing. I came out of drama school and straight into the theatre, most of my training at drama school is theatre-based so that was the kind of natural stepping stone but I always kind of wanted to do every kind of medium, TV, film everything…
**So, I was going to ask you next, would that be something that you would go back later down the line?**
I actually really want to yeah, it's just finding the right time, the right place as its also quite a time-consuming process, so finding the right gig is also very important.
**Coming from the notorious household name show EastEnders playing a role in an ensemble setting to a starring role in an international movie, how was that transition like for you?**
I mean, the contrast is huge, I was in kind of in disbelief. It was unreal when I got the X-Men role. I mean I was just hoping to do EastEnders and do any kind of work, theatre or whatever so to get a big studio movie was a bit of a shock and I was kind of overwhelmed cause being on X-Men and the budget being what it is…. From getting 10 pages to half a page a day and having so much time, I really appreciated it, to the amount of time you have on film and to work on the scene.
**What type of response did you get from your fan base having seen you in EastEnders to then X-Men, you can imagen it’s a drastic change of a direction?**
I mean, I don’t really know about that, to be honest with you, I am not really active on social media and stuff like that, I don’t really read anything like that but my friends and family were really happy for me, just chuffed for me as much as I was for myself so yeah, they were incredibly supportive, it was a great reaction and the premier was all very surreal and that’s when I realised I was actually in X-men, it was crazy.
**Your role in X-Men was amazing, congratulations on that. Being in the creative industry and coming from overseas, it’s always difficult for artists to break out in America, was X-Men a big turning point in your career where people in America started to have their eye on you? Or was it before? When was that turning point?**
Sure, no totally. So how it worked was my UK agent sent over some material to US agents to help me get a new agent overseas which was while I was still in EastEnders and then once I had US representation it was just trying to get my name on the map because no one had ever heard of me, so your 100 percent right, when I got X-men, I got a foot on the ladder I suppose, people were definitely interested like, who is this guy? Everyone is always interested in the new kid on the block, aren’t they? So, that definitely got me a lot of auditions or maybe even jobs that I wouldn’t have got before, so it was a massive boost for me just getting that role.
**Playing the role of Roger Taylor who not only is such a big character but also an icon, that must be quiet an intimidating role to fur fill and pull off. How did you prepare yourself for that?**
Sure, I was very… because I never played a living person before, so it was a little bit of a daunting prospect, especially because Roger had involvement in the movie it was daunting the thought of him watching you do an artistic impression of their life. I just tried to not let it faze me and treat it like any other job but Roger was so supportive. I was able to meet him and I didn’t know how he was going to feel about me but he was nothing but supportive towards me and gave me a mini drum from Abby Road Studios which is one that I will always remember... Who gets to have a drum from Roger Tylor? Yeah, so it was insane. And one of the first things he said to me was, you know it’s a movie not a documentary so there’s going to be artistic licence so when he said that, it kind of liberated me in a way I suppose, because I felt like he wasn't going to be staring down on me with the details, like ‘I wouldn’t have done this, I wouldn’t of done that’ and obviously you know I wanted to be as truthful to the representation of him as possible while serving a story.
**What is the most rewarding and most challenging part of your job?**
Can this be a separate question? Actually, I think that they are very combined with any job I pursue and am lucky enough to do. I always try to challenge myself to do something that makes me a little bit scared, something that will allow me to grow from, where at the end of it I will have a sense of achievement and reward so I don’t feel like I have just played a role but where I have played it in a slightly different way.
I have been very fortunate to play different parts you know, like the supervillain in X-Men, to the rock and roll, ladies’ man, drama etc. Things like that I always like to kind of push myself and challenge myself to try a part that is maybe a bit of a stretch for me or that is different to who I am and then if it pays off when I get a great sense of an achievement from and its definitely very rewarding.
**In what ways has your journey as an actor been different than anticipated? It’s probably a very wide question as I assume there are lots of things but anything that springs to mind?**
I suppose the first thing that springs to mind is that becoming an actor, I never knew what to expect, for me going from EastEnders to a Hollywood movie, you don’t know what the Hollywood parse will be like, if it's going to be all glitz and glam, and it is but it’s also a reality with is kind of own authenticity within it which was a welcome surprise but it’s still very resided in normality. I feel like I have a very normal life as an actor, maybe it’s different for A-listers, I don’t know but where I am at anyways its still, everything is all quite normal. Just like being on setting it's pretty normal, you just get there, get a coffee, have lunch with everyone, it's your working environment while your still kind of doing something crazy. I'm doing this movie with all of these different cameras and helicopters etc. and it’s all really wild and cool but sometimes you just need to take a moment to think about the experience you have the opportunity to get, but asides that there is that same normal type of working environment between the cast and crew and I think that for me not necessarily a surprise but I think that I wouldn’t have thought about, how it could be like and was definitely a welcome surprise.
**Outside of your acting career, what are your personal goals?**
I like to hang out with friends and family, I like to photograph, I like to play music, I'm not particularly good at it but, I was just before this conversation, writing a song on the guitar but yeah I like to listen to music so I suppose that’s it really. I do still love watching films but there are times where it’s difficult to watch when you’re so involved in the industry, it’s an effort to not look at the things that maybe a normal viewer would view them as, or not even at all, like why are the cameras like that, etc. But I still do love going to the movies yeah so I would say socialising, movies and listening to music and try to play a bit of music.
**Would music be something that you would consider incorporating in your acting career?**
Well I mean, I played the drums in Bohemian Rhapsody, so I have kind of already done that but sure I mean I always like to acquire new skills on the job you know, so for the job I'm doing now I am doing learning how to free parkour. Which has been an interesting experience and then in the Bohemian Rhapsody I got to play the drums so I'm always up to bringing skills outside of that in to my job but I'm not sure if I am really good enough yet at playing the guitar but then yet again I wasn't good at playing the drums before so who knows…
**Did they give you some lessons or how did that work?**
Yeah they did, I had a great teacher, I just done as much practice as my schedule allowed me to do and then I had a little sound booth room in the house I was living in at the time and I would just spend hours in there just going over and over and over the songs just to try to get as good as I could.
**What advice do you have for all of the young people who want to pursue acting as it is such a tough industry to get into to?**
Yes, It certainly is a tough industry. I have got a lot of friends, good friends that are struggling to get work because it’s such a challenging career. So, a good advice would be to make sure you really want it and to be persistent and put up with in-between jobs, like working in a bar or and stuff like that … I would say to get into the industry you need to have an agent, that is the most important thing. Drama school isn’t enough; you don’t come out of drama school with an agent and its very uncommon to have that happen. I know some people managed to do it another way like being in a showcase and they happen to get seen at a pub theatre or something…. But definitely what I would say, if you want to get in the business getting an agent is definitely the first hurdle you have to jump, but if you have the right mind-set you will get there.
**What do we expect to see from Ben Hardy in the future? Any upcoming projects you can talk about?**
I'm shooting this film right now in Italy called 6 UNDERGROUND with Michael Bay which should be out next spring and I’m really excited about it. It’s been quite a sociological barrier for me as I have to jump around all of these Italian rooftops which are quite scary but still exiting.
**That’s another thing I was going to ask you, so being an actor, you get to travel quite a lot I guess? How is that like for you? Do you enjoy it; does it get tiring?**
I mean it’s great, I always try to remember that… With this job, I have been able to go to so many nice places, going to Portugal, America and now Florence on someone else's payroll which is always a plus. There are so many people that want to travel the world, and I get to do that while getting to do my dream job but on the flip side to that there are times where you spend months away from home, you feel a bit like homesick I guess, you miss your friends and family stuff like that. but I am definitely not complaining, it is one of the best experiences ever
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Photographed by Bil Brown
Styled by Britton Litow
Grooming by KC Fee at the Wall Group
