and I am absolutely delighted to call upon the Chairman to confer the honorary
fellowship of University of the Arts London upon Tom Hardy.
Hello. I'm a I'm a bit shocked to be stood here actually because I'm, I still
feel and I've written a little speech but I'm terrible at speaking
publicly because I almost shouldn't even really be in my job because I just want
to disappear and I probably that's that's why I'm more comfortable in
characters but being a being me I suppose I'm less comfortable and I never
really felt , I never thought that I would be standing here to be fair and I think the
last time I was at Drama Centre I don't think anybody at Drama Centre
thought I'd be here either but probably be locked up in in prison but um but
having said that actually, I think Shakespeare said - you know me quoting
Shakespeare is really random because just come in but like that which hath
no foil to set it off in Henry the fourth part 2 before he becomes Henry
the fifth and sort of shapes up becomes proper establishment and that, he was a
bit of a drunken philanderer and a bit useless, bit like me really but he
had a lot of passion and drive and sometimes I think even if you don't
know quite what it is that you want to achieve, that if you just keep cracking
on towards it anyway, that you know if you do what you love doing - this is what
my dad said to me- he said 'if you do what you love doing and you do it well then
everything should sort of fall into place' and you know and the great thing
about the Arts is that it's something that will always keep me company even
like in in my quiet time when I'm on my own so you're going to do anything in
the arts the first and foremost you know it's one of your closest friends it'll
keep you a companion so I think that's that's massively important for me it's
kept me you know when I've been unemployed yes that's what I've sort of
come back to us that would I do this is it a vocation or is it is it a job and I
think it's more of a vocation to be fair. Another thing that my dad said was
that ' your job Tom is to observe and reflect right and anything that gets
in the way of the telescope has to go, including yourself' and I suppose that
having wished I'd wrote or spoke done what Jonathan just spoke
about because I don't have those words and that was a truly brilliant speech,
I think that's what it was getting at is also about being more erudite
towards the workplace you know because as we focus more in the workplace
there's not as much time to naff about because obviously there's time and money
involved as well, especially if you're coming up with something from nothing
which is presumably what we will do in the creative department, is that I'm
selling a handful of nothing and hoping to come through with some
results and I'll put myself right out there for the risk of it and I will fail
and it's ok to fail in fact you learn more from failing and humiliation in my
game than any other that I know and actually that seems to be quite
similar across the board and most professions for the people that I've met
so it's good to fail it's not embarrassing and humiliation is your
friend.
On a sort of more formal front, I think I just read out what written down because
I'm just in case well because I had to write a speech so I got my dad to do it.
Hello dad. Because he never thought this would happen either -
that I'd finish school. My education is integral part of me and
it continues to unfold as my life goes on and hopefully I can pass on some of
its precepts in my work but I believe that any institution that is
concerned with the enriching of the cultural resources of the country
through all of that country's changes and its challenges is of immense and
lasting value. I think it's a fine and a good thing and that's why I'm genuinely
genuinely grateful to be recognized in this way and it's another proud moment
in a lifelong relationship with the well with with the university that's
presented me with this sort of this honor so and all of you it's all day so
enjoy it and enjoy the rest of your career because it does get harder and
well done for getting this far because it's just started. Thank you.