Tom Hardy has Leonardo DiCaprio to thank for taking role in The Revenant

Updated

Tom Hardy says he has Leonardo DiCaprio to thank for convincing him to take his Oscar-nominated role in The Revenant, as the stars took to the red carpet for the UK premiere in Leicester Square.

The actor is up for the best supporting actor gong for his role as John Fitzgerald in the frontier thriller, which received 12 Oscar nods in total, but he said a phone call from DiCaprio persuaded him to accept the part.

He said: "Leo gave me a call and Sean Penn had bailed and he was like, 'When can we get you out here?' No, I'm joking, but he did give me a call and we spoke and he said there's good money and the script is awesome."

DiCaprio and director Alejandro Inarritu, who received nominations for best actor and best director respectively, wrapped up warm to walk the chilly carpet with other stars from the film Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter and Paul Anderson.

DiCaprio stars as real-life fur-trapper Hugh Glass who is severely injured in a bear attack and left for dead by his colleagues, but Glass survives to take revenge on those who betrayed him.

The Oscars were never far from the lips of the cast, especially whether it could be sixth time lucky for DiCaprio who picked up the best actor award at the Golden Globes on Sunday.

"I feel very proud and happy for my colleagues. I think this could be Leo's year to win, I hope so, I think he did a brilliant job," said Inarritu, who was effusive about his lead.

He continued: "His body of work shows how great he is as an actor. He's also at the perfect age as an actor, he has all the talent, all the sensitivity. We saw the same opportunities playing this very silent role, without words and just using his body and his eyes to communicate so many things. He was great."

The Mexican director, who specifically thanked the Native American cast of The Revenant as he picked up his Golden Globes, was also vocal about the controversy surrounding this year's Academy Awards, with critics noting the lack of black actors up for the biggest awards, and the best-director category all male.

"I think it's a shame there's not more diversity on the screen because films are a mirror of humanity, we should be seeing ourselves there, all of us. Many more stories of minorities should be told and supported and financed," he said.

Hardy was more modest about his nomination.

"I don't know how it happened," he admitted.

DiCaprio has previously called it "the most difficult film" he has ever done due to the freezing temperatures and having only one and a half hours a day of natural light to get their shots, but the cast said they were lucky to have his dulcet tones to keep morale up.

Poulter said: "Leo put in a shift when it came to cheering us up. He sang show tunes one day when it was pocketing it down. He had a great voice and knew all the lyrics too, which is critical. We became very reliant on each other's company."

The Revenant is in cinemas on January 15.

Advertisement