Tom Hardy didn't care whether his latest film 'Warrior' was a "great drama".
The 33-year-old actor wasn't thinking about whether the movie -- which sees him star as a fighter trained by his former alcoholic father for a mixed martial arts (MMA) tournament against his older brother -- is going to be successful or not when he was getting his "teeth kicked in".
He said: "Is it 'Rocky' meets 'Raging Bull'? Yes, if you want that hyperbole. But it's a very intricate family drama, to the backdrop of an MMA movie -- which is fantastic.
"In hindsight I can see it's great drama, but when you're getting your teeth kicked in and eating endless chicken and broccoli, you don't really care."
The 'Dark Knight Rises' star found it a "challenge" to train for the film, which saw him put on 28lb of muscle, but he is more interested in the spiritual dimension of the motion picture rather than the fighting aspects.
He added: "I did two hours boxing a day, two hours mai tai, two hours ju jitsu followed by two hours choreography and two hours of weightlifting seven days a week for three months. So come on! You have to really want to do that, so it was a challenge."
"Ju jitsu is very Buddhist. All that we fear we hold close to ourselves to survive. So if you're drowning and you see a corpse floating by, hang on to it because it will rescue you."
