ALBAWABA - Helen Mirren has spoken out after rumors swirl about alleged tensions with Tom Hardy on the MobLand set.
The Oscar-winning actress posted a photo of Tom Hardy on Instagram on Thursday, with the phrase "Love you now and always Helen."
Mirren's post follows numerous stories of behind-the-scenes conflict on the Paramount+ show, in which Hardy plays a fixer for a London crime family led by Mirren's character.
Puck initially reported that Hardy had been dismissed from MobLand after the second season, which has yet to air on Paramount+. According to a production insider, Hardy "refused to come out of his trailer for hours at a time" in a statement to THR.
However, Variety reported on Thursday that Hardy "was not fired" and that "the door is not closed for season 3 and things are being worked out creatively," citing a production source.
According to a source, Hardy's claimed tardiness was "frustrating" for Mirren, but there is no hatred between the two actors. "I know she's said to him a couple of times, 'Come on, Tom, we've been here for ages, let's get started,' but she's never appeared to be anti-Tom," the person told the site.
Another person close to the production denied that the two artists acted unprofessionally due to political differences. "Helen is not that sort of person," the insider said to Variety. If she had an issue with Tom, she would have told him directly, 'Look, come on, let's just quit wasting everyone else's time and get on with it. But that's about as far as it got. She isn't the type of person who will become embroiled in a political crisis. She simply isn't. She won't pound her feet and say, 'Well, I'm out if he's in it. "It just isn't her."
Entertainment Weekly has contacted representatives from Hardy, Mirren, Paramount, and production company 101 Studios for comment on the rumors.
According to the Daily Mail, Mirren was irritated by Hardy's tardiness in December. Mirren later expressed her support for Hardy on Instagram. Things I love," she wrote before noting her affection for "Tom Hardy for his brilliance on screen" and "his dedication off screen" as well as "his kind heart" and "especially the HardyHugs I get when on set with him, which is not nearly enough in my opinion."
Mirren cheekily cited "bad journalism" as one of her pet peeves in the same post.
