Tom Hardy couldn't stop staring at Gary Oldman when he first worked with him.

The actor - who is currently working with the 54-year-old star in epic gangster movie 'Lawless' - couldn't stop looking at his idol during the early stages of filming their first film together 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

He said: ''With 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,' the first time I worked with Gary Oldman, I had to watch him because we had to re-shoot ... because my beard fell off while I was talking. Which is good because I spent my entire experience with Gary staring at him, and not returning any lines, because I think he's basically God, you know?

''The second time, on 'The Dark Knight Rises' as Bane, I was kind of playing God, so I kind of ignored him, kicked him a bit, that kind of thing. But Gary Oldman is one of my heroes, completely. I did nothing but gleam from him.''

The 34-year-old star joins a packed cast of other high profile actors including Shia LaBeouf and Guy Pearce in 'Lawless' - in which he plays bare-knuckle boxing bootlegger Forrest Bondurant - and he admits that he loved making the movie.

He told FlicksandBits.com: ''It was the bread and butter doing a film like this. It was a great time to train and workout at what we do, practise. The process of working on 'Lawless' was such a pleasure.''