The search for Shinzon (and Tom Hardy’s homemade audition tape)
The quest to find an actor to put the nemesis into Star Trek: Nemesis wasn’t an easy one. “It was an extremely difficult search,” franchise head honcho Rick Berman told Star Trek Monthly. No stone was left unturned in the hunt for Shinzon, Trek X’s principal villain. “We read and watched taped auditions by 200 young actors.”
Eventually the Scarlett O’Hara-like search unearthed the young British actor Tom Hardy, who was shooting the war film ‘Black Hawk Down’ in Morocco. “Tom’s audition came from London and it was a very strange tape because it was something that he had done himself,” Berman recalled. “His agent sent it to us, but Tom was off doing ‘Black Hawk Down’. Se he did the audition tape himself somewhere in Africa. It was a black and white tape and it was dreadful quality, but we saw something remarkable and we got him to do another one. Then we flew him over to the States and he got the role. He’s an exceptional actor.” (x)
Tom talking about his audition for StarTrek. He’s wired with energy and awkward and charming. He mentions making the audition tape in his hotel room, jumping around butt naked and rapping, and then just sitting down and recording himself being Shinzon.
The studio apparently took the entire unedited self-tape. So that means they may still have this footage somewhere in their vaults. Don’t tell Jonathan Ross! (But wouldn’t it be brilliant to see some of it.)
Me and Tom hardy after a hardcore chest and delt workout!! I helped Tom with all aspects of his training , nutrition and supplementation for his role as Bane in the new Batman film! What a top guy he is!!
I was in the Leeds area for a few of days and when I was looking for an advanced personal trainer in the area I was recommended to Ricky Moore by a friend. I did a couple of workouts with Ricky and found him to be very knowledgeable on both exercise and nutrition and would highly recommend him to anyone who’s serious about getting in shape, I really enjoyed my sessions with Ricky and I wish I was in the area longer and could have done a few more!!
In the build-up to my role as Bane in the new Batman movie I needed to add some serious muscle to my frame to look like the imposing monster from the comics, so in that time I was in regular contact via phone and e-mail with Ricky to ask his advice on all aspects of training, nutrition and supplementation to get the most amount of muscle on my frame in the shortest time possible!
Maybe it’s a little ambitious of me to presume that no matter how big the film is, that I can always go down to the shop to buy a pint of milk. I don’t think that anything should really be allowed to interfere with that…(x)
Everyone in the office is ecstatic that Tom Hardy is putting our Trooper design up in his gaff!!!For more official Rugman original designs make sure you check us out on Instagram! CHUFFEEEDD
Ha, I’ve taken quite a few photos of Rugman walls.
