Tom Hardy says Warrior is Rocky meets Raging Bull

Acting heavyweight Tom Hardy who can currently be seen in Tomas Alfredson's Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has revealed that he didn't care whether his latest film Warrior was a "great drama".

He said "Is it 'Rocky' meets 'Raging Bull'? Yes, if you want that hyperbole. But it's a very intricate family drama, to the backdrop of an MMA movie - which is fantastic.

In hindsight I can see it's great drama, but when you're getting your teeth kicked in and eating endless chicken and broccoli, you don't really care."

Warrior sees the Star Trek: Nemesis baddie star as a fighter trained by his former alcoholic father for a mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament against his brother and Hardy who is currently filming The Dark Knight Rises says it was a challenge to train for the film adding "I did two hours boxing a day, two hours mai tai, two hours ju jitsu followed by two hours choreography and two hours of weightlifting seven days a week for three months. So come on! You have to really want to do that, so it was a challenge.

Ju jitsu is very Buddhist. All that we fear we hold close to ourselves to survive. So if you're drowning and you see a corpse floating by, hang on to it because it will rescue you."

Hardy reportedly put on 28lb of muscle for the film which opens in cinemas on Wednesday September 21 and features Jennifer Morrison, Nick Nolte, Kevin Dunn, Joel Edgerton and David Morse and was written and directed by Gavin O'Connor.

Tom Hardy Photos

WARRIOR HITS CINEMAS ON SEPTEMBER 21