Tom Hardy has played many a role in his day. The man has played “Mad” Max Rockatansky, Eddie Brock/Venom, Al Capone, Bane, and Heathcliff from “Wuthering Heights.” His acting chops are unquestionable across film and television. Come to find out, he also played the role of Santa Claus this season but without the suit and the name. Instead, he took it upon himself to try and help pay the wages of set construction workers after their company went into liquidation.
Hardy has been working on the upcoming Guy Ritchie series, which is potentially named “Fixer.” The series also features Helen Mirren and Pierce Brosnan, and will eventually find its way to SHOWTIME. Or maybe Paramount+ with Showtime. Hard to know what’s going on with Showtime these days and if it even exists in-between “Dexter” spin-offs and “Yellowjackets” seasons. Either way, the upcoming Ritchie series looks to be the kind of heavy-hitter the network needs to push itself back into the limelight.
As part of the production efforts, construction company Helix 3D was contracted to work on set construction. Its freelance employees though would unfortunately find out that they wouldn’t be getting paid. Helix 3D is set to fall into liquidation, leaving its workers in the lurch. Enter Tom Hardy to try and save the day.
In the wake of this news, Hardy offered to pay the workers out of his own pocket, something that would have come to the tune of $250,000. Ultimately, Hardy’s offer was rejected somewhere along the line by upper production management, but it got the wheels moving to make the payments happen. In part, thanks to Hardy stepping up, Showtime parent company Paramount will end up paying the costs. Would they have done this if Hardy hadn’t? Hard to say. Hardy’s act of charity has made headlines and shows the kind of depth of character that individuals have that corporations don’t.
We wish the best to the workers who were impacted and hope that someone gives Hardy one heck of a Christmas present. Even if he didn’t have to pay out of pocket, his willingness to do so warrants a stocking stuffer at the very least.
