Tom Hardy, who is visiting Cannes, France, this week to promote "Mad Max: Fury Road," recently opened up about his past struggle with drugs.
The English-born actor admitted that his addiction was so bad at one time that he would have literally "sold his mother for a rock of crack."
Hardy told Essentials magazine that he feels "f--king lucky to be alive."
The 37-year-old abused drugs for most of his 20s but has been sober since 2003.
After Hardy was expelled from boarding school at a young age, he began experimenting with drugs, and everything went downhill from there.
One scary incident (about 12 years ago) was enough for him to kick his habit to the curb and learn to value his life. After a night of partying too much, Hardy woke up in a pool of his own vomit and blood, and from that moment on, he knew he had to get clean.
Hardy checked himself into rehab after that night, the Daily Mail reported.
"I was told very clearly, 'You go down that road, Tom, you won't come back. That's it. All you need to know.' That message stayed with me clearly for the rest of my days," he said.
Though Hardy, like his name, is portrayed as a hard-ass, he thinks of himself as quite the softie and insists that he is nothing like the characters he embodies on screen (Bane or Forrest Bondurant).
"People didn't sit up and take any notice of me until I started putting on weight, kicking people and being aggressive! The trouble with Hollywood is that they want you to be something, then they think you're who they wanted," he said.
"I'm not a fighter. I'm a petite little bourgeois boy from London."
Hardy began his career in 2001 with minor roles in HBO's "Band of Brothers," followed by "Star Trek: Nemesis" and "Black Hawk Down."
After being dubbed as Hollywood's "tough guy" (with the muscle definition to prove it), he rose to stardom and earned major acting parts because of his undeniable talent. He acted in "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Lawless," to name a few.
"Mad Max: Fury Road" debuts on Friday, May 15.
