When you think of celebrities with online presences, most likely you envision Rihanna posting makeup-free photos to her Instagram account or Justin Bieber tweeting about his snake Johnson. But the internet is infinite, and there are stars who have explored corners other than Twitter. Take Tom Hardy, who is my new favorite person because I just learned that not only does he read blog posts about him, but he sometimes responds anonymously to his detractors!
This revelation came about when he was talking to Vulture about growing out a huge beard for the upcoming Mad Max remake. He said that over the five months it’s taken to cultivate his epic facial hair, he’s been trimming it based on the reactions he’s encountered online. Then came this exchange:
Which people?
Oh, I’m a terrible reader of the Internet and stuff like that.
And you read what people say about you?
Yeah, ’cause in my head, I’m still not famous. It’s like, “Hey, I’m on this site!” Or [to my fiancĂ©e], “Look at what we were wearing last night! And everyone says you look great.” And then someone will say, “Tom Hardy is a cunt because … ” What? WHAT?
And then do you reply anonymously?
Yes, sometimes! Wouldn’t you? Sometimes no one’s defending my corner! And then what you find — I’ve done it before — is that it’s a forest fire that you can’t put out. It’s like [when commenters say], ”Is he gay? Isn’t he gay?” Does it matter? Does it actually?
TELL ME HE HAS A REDDIT ACCOUNT. I’m just envisioning Tom Hardy putting the smackdown on internet trolls; truly, not a single fuck is given when he decides to check his Google Alerts and then set people straight. There’s something really cool about him doing it anonymously, a) because no one in this day and age relies on screen names unless they’re assholes, and b) because he doesn’t feel like he needs to brand his name on it like obnoxious celebrity tweeters. He’ll say his peace, and if you take him seriously good for you, but if not it’s no skin off his nose. Big ups to this guy.
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Photo: Zombie Toenails
