Mobland, the gritty drama about warring crime families in London now filming season 2, appears to be strained on set as well as on screen. Stories have emerged that Helen Mirren’s professional and disciplined approach clashes with Tom Hardy’s lateness and swaggering attitude.
Creative types tend to be volatile but interesting to see the astro-dynamics. She was born 26 July 1945 2am (biography) London and he, 15 September 1977, London.
Helen Mirren is a determined Sun Pluto in Leo with an Aquarius Moon. While he is a Sun Virgo square Neptune, with Venus Saturn conjunct in Leo and a boisterous Mars Jupiter in Cancer. His Sun is conjunct her Jupiter which should be a positive connection but his Uranus is square her Pluto so he will fight against her controlled approach. What is possibly the crux of the matter is his Mars in Cancer exactly conjunct her North Node. His Mars brings force into the relationship and will push her to change which given her controlling Sun Pluto won’t be received kindly.
Their relationship chart has a stark, exact composite Sun, Uranus, North Node conjunction hinting at two strong individuals who won’t compromise easily with each other and need space to pursue their own path. There may also be an emotionally stressed composite Moon opposition Mars square Pluto; with a dogmatic, unyielding Pluto conjunct Mercury.
According to the Daily Mail, Tom Hardy also clashed with South African actress Charlize Theron during filming Mad Max: Fury Road, which released in 2015, ‘due to creative differences, lateness and his immersive acting style, leading to a tense environment.’
Born 7 August 1975 8.23am Benoni, South Africa, Charlize Theron is a vibrant, attention-attracting Sun Leo like Helen Mirren, with her Moon and Mercury also in Leo. Her New Moon is square Hardy’s Uranus so he would be at cross-purposes to her; and her Mercury is conjunct Hardy’s Saturn for difficulty in communicating. Her Pluto is also square his Mars Jupiter conjunction in Cancer so he would feel his exuberance being over controlled.
Their relationship chart was not quite as difficult as his with Helen Mirren. With Charlize Theron there is a composite Sun Venus square Jupiter = superficially friendly; but also a tension-inducing composite Saturn square Uranus; and a power-struggling composite Mars trine Pluto.
Drama and melodrama on and off screen. Virgo versus Leo may also be part of the problem.
Leo’s like Helen, Charlize – even Barbara Windsor, are strong on punctuality.
It’s seen as a sign of respect for other people’s time. Leo’s do not like feeling disrespected. It’s largely a pride thing.
When I was studying to be an actor, this actor and I had rehearsed this one scene to be played a certain way. But on the night of the performance he completely changed how he played it without at least consulting me or even the director. It forced me to change the way I performed my part, otherwise not only would I have looked stupid, the whole scene would have left the audience scratching their heads in puzzlement.
While lots of things can happen during a live performance, that can cause havoc and changes that have to be made, like nerves, illness or having to cut scenes in order to stop your audience leaving so they don’t miss their coach home: deliberately doing this to someone else is just mean! And I knew it was intentional from the smirk that he didn’t bother hiding. And why did he do it, because I had the audacity to ask his father if he would remind his son to return a record that I had loaned him, which he had held onto for several months.
Yes it can be that petty and it is even worse in films and television. Personally, I woukd consider myself lucky to get to work with Helen Mirren, if given half a chance. But given his age and the ego attached, he probably has no idea of who Helen Mirren is or that he has much to learn from someone like her. Acting is a life-long craft, not something that you nail quickly.
This seems to be a feature of the performing arts: there are those who are there for the art and the performance and those who are there only for themselves, which can be very disruptive. I am sure Helen Mirren has come across the latter more often in her long career but perhaps this time it is more extreme. The fact that he can produce a stella performance when it’s just him on screen speaks volumes, IMO.
Hardy was so terrific in the film, Locke. It’s entirely him talking on the phone while driving. That’s it. You hear other actors portraying their parts on his speaker phone. He’s dealing with family chaos on these phone calls, interesting considering his Mars in Cancer. I found it be riveting and a master class in acting.
Yes – great film and gripping too. He’s a great actor.