Last week, Puck News had an interesting exclusive about Tom Hardy. They reported that Hardy has been unceremoniously booted from MobLand, a hit show on Paramount+. The show also stars Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren as the “mob boss couple Conrad and Maeve Harrigan,” with Hardy’s playing the “reluctant fixer Harry Da Souza.” Puck News claims that Hardy was dumped because he clashed with showrunners, producers and writers on the show, and because he’s constantly late (a common complaint about Hardy throughout his career). But what if there was another reason? According to the Daily Mail, Hardy beefed with Helen Mirren of all people.
Tom Hardy’s reported firing from MobLand comes after the star allegedly enraged his co-star Helen Mirren with his on-set behaviour. On Friday it was reported the actor, 48, who plays the role of fixer Harry Da Souza alongside Pierce Brosnan and Dame Helen, would not be returning for the upcoming third season following a number of clashes with producers.
Prior to news of his dismissal, The Daily Mail’s Katie Hind revealed Helen, 80, who plays Maeve Harrigan in the Paramount+ crime drama series, was less than pleased with Tom’s attitude on-set, claiming he ‘swaggers around like a king’. Amid news of his dismissal, a source close to the MobLand project claimed Tom was late and had pushed to change lines during filming. He also apparently offered notes on the script without being asked.
One source claimed that he was frustrated that the series was becoming more about his co-stars Helen and Pierce while tensions with producer Jez Butterworth apparently led to threats from Jez to quit himself.
The report about the MobLand set comes in the wake of comments about Helen’s rage at the star’s behaviour – even coming down to him being found playing games on his phone while expected elsewhere.
Sources told The Mail on Sunday that she was getting increasingly frustrated’ at Tom’s attitude on set, leading to her struggling with working closely with him after they came together to make the second series in November. An insider said: ‘Tom’s character is charming. He’s the calm one but it is quite the opposite when the cameras stop. Dame Helen is a joy, she is a total pro and she has worked with so many people over the years. But she is getting increasingly frustrated with Tom and his attitude. He can be late to filming too and that is annoying for Dame Helen, who is extremely professional and disciplined. His tone is something Dame Helen doesn’t like, along with his lateness. She expects better. She holds people to a high standard. She’s 80. She’s been there and seen it all.’
‘The behind-the-scenes crew watch it all and believe that she no longer looks as happy working on scenes with him. It has all become quite personal between them. It feels like Tom is winding her up. There is much chatter that he swaggers around like he’s the king. He is very, very arrogant. It’s a fantastic show and everyone loves working on it. It’s such a shame there is this undertone.’
While I obviously distrust the Mail as a source, generally speaking, I absolutely believe that Tom Hardy would try to “wind up” Helen Mirren. He did the same to Charlize Theron on Mad Max: Fury Road – it was like he was trying to irritate her specifically, and like he was going out of his way to be as unprofessional as possible towards her. There’s also plenty of evidence that Hardy interferes in productions, rewrites scripts, and is simply chronically late. If he was a woman, he would have been designated “unhireable” many years ago, you know.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
