The Revenant: Tom Hardy says Sean Penn was originally going to play his character John Fitzgareld

A casual call from Leonardo DiCaprio landed him the role

The Revenant’s blood-pumping story about Hugh Glass and his fight for survival has been struck a nerve with the public and critics alike, having been nominated for 12 academy awards and reaching number one at the US box office.

Before its release, Leonardo DiCaprio was making headlines for eating raw bison, sleeping in a horse carcass and being ‘raped’ by a bear.

It was easy to forget that he was starring opposite Tom Hardy, who was coming off the back of playing the lead in both Mad Max: Fury Road and Legend.

If it wasn’t for DiCaprio though, Hardy would have never landed the role in The Revenant, as director Alejandro G. Iñárritu originally wanted El Chapo’s best friend Sean Penn to star as the murderous John Fitzgareld.

Speaking to De Pelicula, Hardy revealed all.

It was only because DiCaprio called him up and told him about the part, saying - as Hardy puts it - ‘You need to do this before you go off and do this other film’ (referring to Splinter Cell) that he landed the supporting role.

After meeting Iñárritu and wanting to work with DiCaprio once more - the pair were both in Inception - the 38-year-old signed up to star in the film. Read our five-star review here.