Tom Hardy er blevet en af Hollywoods mest velbetalte og anerkendte skuespillere, men helt tilbage i 2002 tænkte en Hollywood-veteran, nemlig Patrick Stewart, ikke meget om hans evner, eller hans væremåde.
I hans memoir, Making It So (via Insider) fortæller Stewart at under optagelserne til Nemesis, hvor Hardy spillede skurken Shinzon, så var han mildest talt akavet at arbejde sammen med:
"Tom wouldn't engage with any of us on a social level. Never said, 'Good morning,' never said, 'Goodnight,' and spent the hours he wasn't needed on set in his trailer with his girlfriend. He was by no means hostile. It was just challenging to establish any rapport with him."
Faktisk gav Hardy Stewart det indtryk, at hans karriere ikke rigtig ville tage fart:
"On the evening Tom wrapped his role, he characteristically left without ceremony or niceties, simply walking out of the door. As it closed, I said quietly to [co-stars] Brent [Spiner] and Jonathan [Frakes], 'And there goes someone I think we shall never hear of again.' It gives me nothing but pleasure that Tom has proven me so wrong."
Hardy endte naturligvis med at få massiv succes.