Bronson star Tom Hardy visits Cambridge

Tom Hardy at the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge fielding questions

The charity screening of actor Tom Hardy's latest film Bronson attracted a lively Cambridge audience on 9 May 2010.

He took part in a Q & A session and walked up to Parker's Piece with fans.

The screening was a fund-raiser for the newly formed Cambridge based charity, Flack. Tom is its patron.

"It's an organisation geared to aid, care for and help the recovery of homeless people in Cambridge," Tom said.

"It will help them find out what they're passionate about, develop their gifts and build their self-esteem. Life is precious and should be nurtured where ever it is.

"I know how hard it is to change your way in life," he went on referring to his history with drink problems. "I've known what it's like to be stigmatised as an alcoholic.

"Flack will help the homeless integrate into the rest of society."

Patron

Flack has been set up to replace and expand on services provided by the Willow Walker, a magazine for and by homeless people in Cambridge.

The Willow Walker was initially edited by Alexander Masters, who went on to write Stuart: A Life Backward. It tells the story of Stuart Shorter, a homeless man Alexander met during his time as an academic in Cambridge.

Tom Hardy went on to star in the film of the book - and this led to his involvement with homeless issues in the city.

Tom Hardy walking up Regents Street with fans

First he became a patron of the Willow Walker and he is now performing the same role for Flack.

"As I get further into my career I want to support something I feel a connection with," he explained. "If I'm patron I want to be hands on. It's the same with the Prince's Trust. I run workshops for them.

"I met wonderful people when filming Stuart and I feel supporting homeless issues in Cambridge helps make me part of a community and a responsible human being. And it keeps me healthy to be useful in other areas of my life that don't involve acting."

Hardy has gone on to juggle a stage, TV and film career, and is about to star in a new Mad Max film.

Q & A

One of his latest movies is Bronson, based on the life of Charles Bronson, a notorious prisoner known as 'the most violent in Britain'. It was screened in front of a sell-out audience at the Cambridge Arts Picturehouse on 9 May 2010 to raise awareness of Flack.

The audience included homeless people involved with Flack, some of Tom's fan club and fans of Charles Bronson's artwork. Stuart Shorter's mother and sister were also there and Tom made a point of catching up with them.

For some in the audience the depiction of prison life proved too close to their own experiences.

The Q & A session afterwards was a lively affair.

"It was great," said Tom. "The questions were interesting and insightful, asking about how I developed the character. I really appreciated that, as you want to feel your audience have connected with your work.

Tom Hardy signing autographs for fans on Parker's Piece in Cambridge

"Let's face it, I like to be liked! I'm in a profession where 98 per cent of us are unemployed so I really appreciate it when people like what I do - it's about telling stories.

"Often at these sessions it's about technical questions to do with filters and lighting and budgets.

"I loved the engagement on Sunday and they were very kind about my role in Stuart too. I love the fact they felt I'd represented him and that life well."

When a role is based on a real character he says he feels a strong responsibility towards that person or their families. He said he was very nervous before meeting Charles Bronson.

During Bronson's long prison career, he has been involved in roof-top protests and violent hostage-taking.

"I was worried Bronson would think I was a charlatan," Tom explained. "I'm not his doctor or his lawyer or a friend.

"It was interesting to do a character study of a man who has lived in extreme circumstances, even if I don't agree with what he's done and I certainly don't.

"But in a film you have to be a defence lawyer for the character and look at all the variables that created it."

Walkabout

Hardy followed the Q & A by walking up to the central Cambridge park, Parker's Piece.

There he signed autographs and met a homeless man who is starting up a company filming promos - so he took part in an ad hoc promo.

Tom said: "My dad was at Downing College, so I always heard about Cambridge from my parents as I was growing up. It's a wonderful place to come back to and the architecture is so beautiful, as well as being a mecca for thought."

Flack's future

The Willow Walker was funded by the English Churches Housing Group, which has two hostels in Cambridge.

Tom Hardy posing for a photograph with some of his fans

It began life as the Group's in-house paper and developed into a quarterly magazine with a distribution of about 2,000.

But the funding had to be pulled at the end of 2009 and the plan is that Flack will take over and develop its work.

Tom Hardy is committed to supporting it: "My life gets better all the time, I have a child now and I'm off to the Australian desert to shoot the new Mad Max film for a year.

"I'm an actor not a carer but I can help Flack as a patron. It does really useful work, especially with young alcoholics.

"I know how hard it is but others helped me when I needed it."

More information on Flack can be found here:

Flack