The acclaimed biopic Bronson delved into the mind of one of Britain's most notorious prisoner. But the 2008 film was truly brought to life thanks to Tom Hardy's enthralling depiction of Michael Gordon Peterson/Charles Bronson.
Despite appearing in a raft of decent films, TV shows and stage performances, Bronson catapulted Hardy into stardom.
Credit: Vertigo Films
The film has been out for nearly a decade and people could only watch it either on DVD (does anyone buy them anymore?) or online. Thankfully, Netflix has come to the rescue and has finally featured the film on its streaming service.
The inclusion has got a lot of people hungry to watch the film for the first time, or relive the epic story.
Tom Hardy did everything he can to become the man who has spent the majority of his life in prison. The pair spoke on the phone several times and eventually Hardy travelled to prison to meet him. Bronson was impressed by the actor's dedication to the role with his diary entries revealing he was a big fan.
The 64-year-old wrote: "He has put on one and a half stone of muscles for the movie. He looks awesome and I'm so fucking proud of him.
"You wouldn't want to meet him down a dark alley at 3am. Tom looks more like me than I look like me."
The entries even revealed that Bronson had chopped off his infamous moustache so he could mail it to Tom Hardy so the make-up artists could stick it on the actor or just 'for luck'.
Credit: Bronson/Vertigo Films
Hardy says it was an intense journey to physically become the famed prisoner, telling Ask Men: "It was a race against the clock. We didn't have any time to waste, so I started eating and my arse very quickly got very fat.
"For Bronson, I put on about 7lbs a week-with no steroids.
"In the end, I'd put on about two and a half stone by eating chicken and rice, which was my staple diet throughout the day. Then I'd have a pizza, Häagen-Dazs, and Coca-Cola. So not good stuff, but I had to put weight on.
"I needed to put a layer of fat on my body because Bronson - when he was younger - was a big guy, a brawler. My diet was lenient as we weren't going for the Bruce Lee look and we weren't looking for the cut."
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So if you're a fan of British crime movies, then this one might be perfect.
Sources: Ask Men, Wales Online
Topics: Awesome, Film and TV, crime, tom hardy, Netflix, CHarles Bronson, Prison
