Hollywood star Tom Hardy, currently starring in the major blockbuster Inception, has revealed he had to learn to ski in a crash 2-day course in order to bag the role.

Hardy's Ski Dilemma
In fact, when acclaimed director Christopher Nolan asked the rising British star whether he could ski, Hardy thought he had lost the role.

The star of films and dramas such as Bronson and Wuthering Heights thought his audition had been going swimmingly - until the ski question was raised by Nolan.

Hardy revealed to Access Hollywood:

He asked me if I could ski and the conversation had been going so well until that point I thought, hmm, 'I could lie here. Then I thought, 'No, honesty is the best policy.' And I said, 'Chris, I can't ski at all'."

Crash Course
Hardy eventually landed the role after impressing the director, although he had to attend a dedicated 2-day ski course at the now defunct Canadian resort of Fortress Mountain.

He spoke of his experience:

 "Because I can't ski, at all, they gave me a crash course in skiing. For two days we were sent to Calgary, we were dispatched to the mountains to learn to ski and when you see it at the end of the movie, it's actually all of our own work.

"[I was] bound and gagged and tied to the back of a skidoo and sent down a mountain at 40 miles an hour with Chris going, 'Come on Tom, come on!'"

 [source: Access Hollywood]