Tom Hardy has reportedly been axed from the Paramount+ crime series Mobland.
Produced by Guy Ritchie and written by Butterworth and Top Boy screenwriter Ronan Bennett, Mobland boasted an all-star cast including Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren, and quickly became the second most watched program on Paramount+, trailing behind only Taylor Sheridan’s Landman.
However, Puck News was the first to report Friday that Hardy had not been asked back for season three following clashes with producers Jez Butterworth and David Glasser, among others. The news was later confirmed by Variety.
The Independent has reached out to Paramount+ and Hardy’s representative for comment.
Puck reported that Hardy was regularly late to set and “constantly asked to give notes on scripts,” while reportedly being displeased with the increased focus on his co-stars.
Mobland has already wrapped season two, which is set to premiere in the coming months. While a third season hasn’t officially been confirmed, it’s almost certainly a guarantee amid the show’s massive success.
When Chris McCarthy, Paramount Global CEO and president of MTV Entertainment, confirmed the commission of Mobland’s second season, he noted the show’s huge streaming success and the performances from the cast, including Hardy.
“MobLand has become a resounding triumph – driven by the creative brilliance of Guy, Jez, Ronan and David Glasser, and brought to life by the powerhouse performances of Tom, Pierce, and Helen,” he said at the time.
This wouldn’t be the first time Hardy has clashed with others on set. He and Charlize Theron infamously feuded on the set of Mad Max: Fury Road.
The two actors starred in the 2015 post-apocalyptic drama together and were known to have not gotten on, with Theron admitting that the pair “f***in’ went at it” during filming.
Speaking in 2020 to The New York Times, Hardy addressed his tense relationship with Theron, saying: “I think in hindsight, I was in over my head in many ways. The pressure on both of us was overwhelming at times.”
He continued: “What she needed was a better, perhaps more experienced, partner in me. That’s something that can’t be faked. I’d like to think that now that I’m older and uglier, I could rise to that occasion.”
With time, Theron has also learnt to understand what her former co-star was going through, admitting: “In retrospect, I didn’t have enough empathy to really, truly understand what he must have felt like to step into Mel Gibson’s shoes. That is frightening!
“I think because of my own fear, we were putting up walls to protect ourselves instead of saying to each other, ‘This is scary for you, and it’s scary for me, too. Let’s be nice to each other.’ In a weird way, we were functioning like our characters: Everything was about survival.”
