--- description: "There is a time and a place for that" title: Tom Hardy Explains Why He Shut Down Question About Sexuality image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta659d4299150b434/6988642b3c16392b61459c7e/hardy.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Tom Hardy Explains Why He Shut Down Question About Sexuality ## Video: Legend Official Trailer #1 (2015) - Tom Hardy, Emily Browning Movie HD [Watch (HLS stream): Legend Official Trailer #1 (2015) - Tom Hardy, Emily Browning Movie HD](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/PLsxK48t.m3u8) (2:29)  _Published 2015-09-04. Set in London’s West End during the Swinging ‘60s, Legend follows the rise of real-life identical twin gangsters (both played by Hardy) Ronnie and Reggie Kray._ by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2015 4:02 PM CUT  Actor Tom Hardy speaks during the 'Legend' press conference at TIFF Bell Lightbox on September 13, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. Actor Tom Hardy speaks during the 'Legend' press conference at TIFF Bell Lightbox on September 13, 2015 in Toronto, Canada.Juanito Aguil—WireImage/Getty Images by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 18, 2015 4:02 PM CUT Tom Hardy [explained](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/17/tom-hardy-responds-sexuality "undefined") his recent reaction to a question about his sexuality saying that it was not the right setting for the query. The _Mad Max_ actor made [headlines](http://time.com/4033163/tom-hardy-sexuality-tiff/ "undefined") after getting angry at an interviewer who pointed out that his character “Ronnie” in the upcoming film _Legend_ is open about his sexuality, but that Hardy himself is not — having [once admitted, then denied admitting,](http://defamer.gawker.com/remember-when-tom-hardy-had-sex-with-men-1707182772 "undefined") having sexual relations with men. “What on earth are you on about?” Hardy asked, shutting down the line of questioning. Public speculation about Hardy’s sexuality has been buzzing since a [2008](http://defamer.gawker.com/remember-when-tom-hardy-had-sex-with-men-1707182772 "undefined") interview when he seemed to admit having had relations with men; he later said his quotes were taken out of context. Now, he tells _Entertainment Weekly_, “It was just the inelegance of being asked in a room full of people … I’m happy to have a conversation, a discussion, at a reasonable time about anything. I’m confident in my own sexuality, and I’m also confident in my own being and talking about any issue you want to talk about it. But there is a time and a place for that.” Read more at [_Entertainment Weekly_](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/17/tom-hardy-responds-sexuality "undefined"). ### Veteran Actors Before They Were Stars  Betty White One of White’s earliest television roles was as a co-host on a live variety show called Hollywood on Television in 1949\. More than 60 years later, White is now in The Guinness World Records as the female entertainer with the longest television career. NBCUniversal/Getty Images  Judi Dench Before having to deal with James Bond’s oft-infuriating antics as the first female to play “M,” Dench spent most of her career gracing the stages of British theater and television. Jimmy Sime—Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images  Christopher Lloyd The time traveler with the iconic static cling hair landed his first movie gig as a psychiatric patient in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, but he spent most of his early career in the spotlight as an ex-hippie cabbie named “Reverend” Jim Ignatowski on the sitcom Taxi. NBC/Getty Images  Tommy Lee Jones The man in black’s first film role was as a Harvard student in Love Story (1970), but he didn’t have to pretend to be an ivy leaguer -- he was one. Jones graduated with a B.A. in English from Harvard and was also an offensive guard on the school’s undefeated 1968 varsity football team. Harvard/Collegiate Images/Getty Images  Robert De Niro De Niro had several roles in minor films in the 60s, before making his mark on Hollywood playing Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II. Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  Michael Caine It takes decades of acting experience in order to be able to babysit eccentric billionaires with a penchant for wearing black. Born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, the British actor would adopt the stage name “Michael Scott” and finally “Michael Caine” in the 1950s when he toured the various theaters in England to start off his career. Popperfoto/Getty Images  Meryl Streep The perennial Oscar contender’s first feature film was Julia (1977), but it was her performance in The Deer Hunter (1978) in the following year that landed Streep her first, of many, Academy Award nominations. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images  Helen Mirren A mainstay in British theater for much of her career, one of Mirren’s earliest film roles was as Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968). David Farrell—Getty Images  Ian McKellen The wizard in white spent much of his early career on the stage becoming a fixture in British theater, but it wasn’t until the 1990s when he began to garner attention from a wider audience for his roles in films such as Six Degrees of Separation (1993). Popperfoto/Getty Images  Maggie Smith Before she was the head of Gryffindor House, Maggie Smith honed her craft in British theaters like the prestigious Royal National Theatre. Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images  Bill Murray The party crashing ghostbuster got his start on television as a cast member on the short-lived ABC variety show Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell in 1975, before joining NBC’s Saturday Night Live in 1977. 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