Tom Hardy is now a martial arts champion. The 45-year-old actor quietly entered the 2022 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Open Championships in Milton Keynes this Saturday, beat all of his opponents and returned home victorious. Better yet, one of his competitors told the media that Hardy was “probably one of the toughest competitors I’ve had”.
This, make no mistake, is how you do it. Hardy’s jiu-jitsu debut is absolutely note perfect. Think of all the ways that this could have gone wrong. Hardy could have tried to monetise his hobby, by making a BBC Three documentary series called Tom Hardy: My Fighting Journey. He could have hyped the competition on social media, flooding the venue with fans and making the entire tournament all about him. He could have sought out sponsorship, and arrived in a gi daubed in logos for Coca-Cola or Chicken Tonight.
