You might think that playing one of the leads in Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk would be all the war that Tom Hardy needs for now. Apparently not! He's now producing and aiming to star in Bosnian conflict film My War Gone By, I Miss It So.
He's using as his source material war reporter and journalist Anthony Lloyd's eponymous book, which follows how he left England at 26 to cover the conflict in Bosnia, and saw the brutal struggle, before returning home to deal with psychological scars and substance abuse.
"My War Gone By is a brutal yet sensitive story which addresses both the nature of addiction and the experience of war," Hardy tells Variety. "I was struck by Anthony’s work and words, experiences, and for me his is an important voice and an important book."
And Hardy has recruited his Warrior director Gavin O'Connor to co-produce and call the shots on the movie. "Anthony’s memoir was love at first page – a portrait of war like I’d never read before,” O’Connor says. "An up-close-and-personal account of a heroin junkie reporting from the front lines of Bosnia – the bloodiest conflict Europe has witnessed since the Second World War – who uses the high of war to kick his drug habit. It’s a book written with both fists. It’s Anthony’s Apocalypse Now. I feel privileged and honored for the opportunity to bring the book to the movies."
This one could be a while coming – both Hardy and O'Connor have plenty to keep them busy in the meantime. Hardy, for one, has joined the cast of a new BBC animated comedy series Sticky, created by Fonejacker's Ed Tracy.