For our September cover story, @tomhardy took our own @ericsull on a motorcycle tour of his hometown—it ended at the hospital. Link in bio to read the full story. ? @gregwilliamsphotography, styling by @nschneiderstyle. (Suit and shirt by @gucci; vintage tie, stylist’s own.)

A post shared by Esquire (@esquire) on Aug 7, 2018 at 4:53am PDT

Tom Hardy covers the September issue of Esquire. It was supposed to be a fairly even bro-interview about riding motorcycles around Tom’s old stomping ground. Part of the interview got derailed because as Tom and the Esquire journalist were riding around, they encountered an injured woman, and it was the mum of one of Tom’s oldest friends. Tom turned into a hero, helping the lady get to the hospital, getting all of her tests sorted and helping out his buddy. In between all of that, Tom did answer some questions too. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:

Why he attended Prince Harry & Meghan’s wedding: All he’ll say about why they landed the coveted invite is that “it’s deeply private” and “Harry is a f–king legend.”

Doing a superhero movie with Sony: “If the odds are stacked against Sony, that’s not my f–king business. It’s irrelevant.” He burnishes an image of himself as a creative lone wolf, and in the third person no less: “Tom is very mercenary when it comes to work. I cannot give a f–k what the writer, or the director, or Larry in Baltimore thinks about my choices.”

Why he sometimes speaks in the third-person: “Sometimes I talk in the third person because it’s a lot easier to see myself at work as a piece of meat. So when Tommy says he doesn’t give a f–k what you think, it’s only because I give too much of a f–k, and it gets to a point where it stifles me.”

He signed on to a Parachute Regiment training course—but never followed through. “Oh, mate, I did so much backpedaling. The reality is that where I belonged was not there. The last person defending the realm was Mr. Hardy.” He calls the decision to back out “one of my biggest regrets. I wonder what life would’ve been like. I would’ve loved to have served and been useful.”

He became sober in 2003: A 12-step program was “my first port of call…It was hard enough for me to say, ‘I’m an alcoholic.’ But staying stopped is f–king hard.”

Don’t take photos of his kids: “I will pose for you, and photos of me and my wife are fine. But if someone takes a photo of my kids, all bets are off. I will take the camera off you and beat the f–king sh-t out of you.. That’s the one that hurts. My kids didn’t ask for what my job is. There’s something that really upsets me about the imposition of a grown-up world on a child.”

[From Esquire]

Talking in the third person will always seem strange to me and sound “off.” It’s something that the Kellan Lutzes of the world do, not the Tom Hardys. I understand what he’s saying about trying to create some distance because he cares too much, but surely there’s a better way that declaring “Tom Hardy says that Tom DGAF.” And I really need him to tell me how he and Prince Harry know each other.

I didn’t even include the nicest little interlude, where they encounter a father and his small (under 3-years-old) son, and Tom gently asks the boy if he’d like to sit on his motorcycle. The boy is too shy and Tom immediately sees that, so he gently says goodbye to the kid politely. It was very cute.

Good morning, subscribers. Presenting our September ’18 subscribers cover, starring @tomhardy. Hit the link in bio to read the full story now. ? @gregwilliamsphotography, styling by @nschneiderstyle. (Coat and trousers by @giorgioarmani; t-shirt by @armaniexchange)

A post shared by Esquire (@esquire) on Aug 7, 2018 at 6:56am PDT

Covers courtesy of Esquire’s Instagram.