Tom Hardy received rave reviews after his performance as bad guy Bane in "The Dark Knight Rises," which hit theaters July 20.

The Sun reports that the 34-year-old British actor had a long, hard road to Hollywood superstardom that included drinking and doing drugs.

He admits going off the rails as a teen, and in 2003 he collapsed after a crack binge and entered rehab.

Even his body is heavily tattooed and is known for his "streetwise swagger," he was brought up in a surprising, rich environment.

He grew up in smart East Sheen, south-west London - the only child of Cambridge-educated writer Edward "Chips" Hardy and mum Anne, an artist.

"I grew up around people carriers and cardigans and the deer in Richmond Park, but behind those Laura Ashley curtains there are a lot of demons."

"East Sheen is a middle-class area but there's trouble if you want it."

Living there, Hardy was expelled from Reed's public school in Surrey for stealing, arrested for joyriding in a stolen Mercedes while in possession of a gun when he was 15, but wasn't charged, and became an alcoholic and drug addict soon afterwards.

He said: "I was a very adrenal kid. I ran on my feelings - and there was a lot of fear."

"When I found drinking at 13 - a bit of beer - I felt calm. I thought this must be how everyone else feels, and I wanted more of it."

"But then I became a drunk, a f***ing drunk, man!"

The Bane actor also admitted to having sex with a man. He said, ""Of course I have. I'm an actor, for f***'s sake."

"I've played with everything and everyone. I love the form and the physicality. But now that I'm in my 30s it doesn't do it for me."

"I'm done experimenting but there's plenty of stuff in a relationship with another man, especially gay men, that I need in my life."

"A lot of gay men get my thing for shoes. I have definite feminine qualities."

With his parents' help, Hardy checked into rehab and finally cleaned up his act. He then landed a number of television and film roles and founded his own repertory company, Shotgun Theatre.

He now shares custody of four-year-old Louis with ex-girlfriend Rachael Speed and is determined to make sure he is a hands-on dad.

He said, "It's no longer about just you. I may be working away a lot but I'm working damned hard to make sure my boy is getting everything he needs.

According to the New York Daily News, Hardy had to gain 30 pounds to play the role of Bane. He also was afraid that he was wrong for the part, according to MTV News.

"When I first heard of Bane, I think, like a lot of people who aren't Batman-centric in a way, I didn't know who he was," Hardy told MTV News. "So it had to be explained who he was, and then I looked at him and I saw his luchador mask and his way-tight wrestling pants and his huge muscles. I thought, 'He must have got the wrong man, because I can't play ... I don't play that.'"

But Hardy pulled it off. He stars in "The Dark Knight Rises," with Christopher Nolan as Batman, already released in theaters.