Tom Hardy is arguably one of the most handsome leading men in Hollywood. Yet he seems dead set in hiding his face in some of his most recent movies. 

Whether it's with a beard or a mask, the actor seems dead set in covering up his face for his movie roles.

For his part, Christopher Nolan, a director who has covered up Hardy's face in his last two collaborations with the Oscar nominee has shed some light on why it's been the case in his films. Hardy stars as an RAF pilot in Nolan's latest film Dunkirk, and wears a mask over his face for most of the film. Before that, Hardy starred as masked villain Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. 

Nolan says the decision to obscure Hardy's face in Dunkirk was inspired by his performance in The Dark Knight Rises. 

"I was pretty thrilled with what he did in The Dark Knight Rises with two eyes and couple of eyebrows and a bit of forehead,"  Nolan told the Press Association. "So I thought, 'Let’s see what he can do with no forehead, no real eyebrows, maybe one eye.'"

Nolan went on to say that he was blown away with Hardy came up with for the WWII epic. 

"Of course Tom, being Tom, what he does with single eye acting is far beyond what anyone else can do with their whole body, that is just the unique talent of the man, he’s extraordinary."

Via Entertaiment Weekly