Tom Hardy: Candid ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Photos ‘Bear Very Little Resemblance To What’s Going On’

In recent weeks, dozens of photographs from the Pittsburgh set of “The Dark Knight Rises” have cropped up on the internet, but Tom Hardy, who plays Batman villain Bane in the project, isn’t worried the early un-authorized looks at the project will hurt director Christopher Nolan’s vision.

“No, I don’t think so,” Tom told Access Hollywood on Saturday as he promoted his newest box office feature, the Mixed Marital Arts-themed “Warrior,” in Beverly Hills.

“I think there’s a certain inevitability if you’re going to shoot in the middle of the street — that it’s very hard to block off the entire street from people taking photographs,” Tom continued. “But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be anything like the film. You have people taking photographs from a distance of what’s going on on the ground. It bears very little resemblance to what’s going on.”

Tom’s “Warrior” co-star, Joel Edgerton, who is getting ready for his own highly anticipated project, “The Great Gatsby,” suggested the Internet postings only add to the excitement.

“It all becomes enticing, doesn’t it, I think, for everybody?” Tom chimed in. “The Internet helps, the fans help the film anyway, it all becomes enticing. You just get little grabs, and people are like, ‘I wanna know more!’”

One thing plenty of movie fans want to know more about presently is the physiques Tom and Joel achieved for their brothers-at-odds drama “Warrior,” which – in the film’s poster — shows both men ripped like superheroes.

If Joel had listened to the advice of one physician, however, he wouldn’t have signed on for the role of Brendan Conlon, a physics teacher, father to two daughters and a husband to Jennifer Morrison’s Tess Conlon, who turns to life in the brutal MMA ring in hopes of saving his family from total financial ruin.

“I have a couple of neck issues, like most people on the planet,” Joel, who practiced martial arts as a youngster in his native Australia, told Access. “I had this doctor say to me, ‘I suggest that you do not do this movie.’”

“Really?” a surprised Tom chimed in.

“Yeah… Obviously I did it… He had fears for my neck. But that was part of the excitement for signing up for something like that,” Joel continued. “It’s a real challenge, because I had the sort of stupid idea that I was too old to do something that athletic any more – ‘Martial arts for me is all gone,’ which is absolutely stupid.”

Tom, who plays the returned-from-Iraq Tommy Conlon in the film, Brendan’s younger brother battling his own demons, said the help of trainers got him in shape, but while it was a painful project to film, he couldn’t say no to the challenge of the role.

“It just hurts, doesn’t it? I’m not gonna lie,” the Brit said with a laugh of shooting the intense fight scenes. “It’s MMA. It hurts. You either get better at it or you don’t and you don’t continue it.”

“Warrior” hits theaters on September 9.