Edward Thomas Hardy CBE (born 15 September 1977) is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. After studying acting at the Drama Centre London, he made his film debut in Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down (2001). He had supporting roles in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and RocknRolla (2008), and went on to star in Bronson (2008), Warrior (2011), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Lawless (2012), This Means War (2012), and Locke (2013). In 2015, he starred as “Mad” Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road and both Kray twins in Legend, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Revenant. He has appeared in three Christopher Nolan films: Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) as Bane, and Dunkirk (2017). He has since starred as Eddie Brock/Venom in the film Venom and its 2021 sequel Venom: Let There Be Carnage. He also portrayed Al Capone in the film Capone (2020).

Hardy’s television roles include the HBO war drama mini-series Band of Brothers(2001), the BBC historical drama mini-series The Virgin Queen (2005), Bill Sikesin the BBC’s mini-series Oliver Twist (2007), Heathcliff in ITV’s Wuthering Heights(2009), the Sky 1 drama series The Take (2009), and as Alfie Solomons in the BBC crime drama series Peaky Blinders (2014–2022). He created, co-produced, and took the lead in the eight-part historical fiction series Taboo (2017) on BBC One and FX.

Hardy has performed on both British and American stages. He was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer for his role as Skank in the production of In Arabia We’d All Be Kings (2003), and was awarded the 2003 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer for his performances in both In Arabia We’d All Be Kings and Blood, in which he played Luca. He starred in the production of The Man of Mode (2007) and received positive reviews for his role in the play The Long Red Road (2010). Hardy is active in charity work and is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust. He was appointed a CBE in the 2018 Birthday Honours for services to drama