Tom Hardy’s struggles with drugs and substance abuse: From a point of no return to one of the biggest stars

TRIGGER WARNING: This article contains references to alcohol and drug addiction.

Tom Hardy, after his roles in ‘Venom’ and ‘Peaky Blinders’, slowly became a household name in the entertainment industry. While the actor has turned his life around and is now one of the most respected names in entertainment, he led a life filled with hardships and abuse from his early childhood. Over the years, he has often been candid about how he was an addict from when he was an 11 year old. Here is a look at Tom Hardy’s journey with substance abuse and how he battled through everything.

Hardy’s struggles with drugs and substance abuse in general started from the mere age of 11 years old. When authorities were invited to his school to share information about the dangers of addictive substances, which also included glue, Hardy gave it a try, which is where his struggles started. At 16, when he was expelled from school, he found drugs and alcohol to fall back into.

Over the years, Hardy was involved drugs and substances, and was actively using anything that he could find on the market. Over the years, the famed actor has opened up about on multiple occasions on how he would often blackout and not be aware of where he was on most occasions. In 2018, while he was talking to ‘Good Morning Britain’ he had even commented on his past addictions over the years and had stated “For me, obviously, I'm a bog standard alcoholic for my whole life.”

When talking to The Daily Mirror, he had even commented that at that time in his life, he would have ‘sold’ his mother for drugs, and cited that it was one of the darkets moments of his life.

The actor finally got a reality check in life when he crashed in 2003 after a cocaine binge which left his body in a state of disarray. He was foound unconscious at the time in SoHo. In an old interview with The Daily Mirror, the actor had reflected on the moment and had commented that “That was a lesson to me.” He also added “I went in thinking I’d do it for a little bit until I can go out and drink and people forgive me. But I did my 28 days, and after listening to people who had been through similar circumstances I realised I did have a problem.”

At the time, he had been acting in some big budget projects, such as ‘Band of Brothers’ and ‘Star Trek: Nemesis’. However, his personal life was a mess altogether. When he collapsed at the age of 25, he joined a rehabilitation facility which started his journey into becoming sober.

Talking about his path to recovery and the struggles he faced over the years in the same interview the actor cited that he went through a lot of things. He added that at the time, “I didn’t want anyone to know I was out of control, but I couldn’t hide it. Eventually, the body gives up. I was completely kaput. I was lucky I didn’t get hepatitis or AIDS.”

Over the years, Hardy has redeemed himself and has worked on getting better over the years. The actor has been sober since the London incident, and has since then invested in himself and others around him. He has invested in and actively talked about adoption groups that get abandoned and street animals adopted, and has also actively talked about at-risk youth and what can be done to help them.

On the work front, Hardy has led an extremely successful career despite all of the struggles he was going through in his personal life. His work in the ‘Venom’ franchise recently is one of his most popular roles, along with ‘Peaky Blinders’ and ‘Mobland.’