Tom Hardy channelled anger at missing out on Suicide Squad into The Revenant

Hardy had been cast as Rick Flagg in the supervillain movie but was forced to give it up after production overran

Tom Hardy has revealed how he channelled his disappointment and anger at losing out on a role in Suicide Squad into his acclaimed performance in The Revenant.

The English actor won the part of Rick Flagg in David Ayer’s hotly-awaited DC Comics supervillain movie but was forced to pass it up to Joel Kinnaman when his schedules clashed.

Filming The Revenant in the Canadian wilderness was brutal, with some crew members quitting when the freezing conditions proved too tough. Production overran due to costly delays, caused in part by Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel ‘Chivo’ Lubezki’s decision to shoot only in natural light and the need to relocate to Argentina in search of snow..

When Hardy realised that finishing The Revenant would mean losing other jobs, he decided to use the emotions to strengthen his portrayal of antagonist John Fitzgerald, who leaves Leonardo DiCaprio’s Hugh Glass for dead after a bear attack.

“I punched right into that, yeah. That got derailed for me,” he told Variety. “Was I bummed? Of course I was. I hate f**king losing work. I kept bemoaning that they were losing me significant money on a daily basis. Actually, it was good for my character.”

The Revenant arrives in UK cinemas on 15 January.