Law 13 · Build Before You Are Ready
The man who paid for his own risk.
Tom Hardy put $2.5 million into Taboo knowing half the room would hate it. On why permission never arrives, and why he stopped waiting for it.
Tom Hardy · Actor
Law 18 · Become Dangerous, Then Govern It
The challenges on the mat are bigger than on set.
The director has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He says the mat is harder than any film set, because nobody can help you there.
Guy Ritchie · Director, jiu-jitsu black belt
Law 13 · Build Before You Are Ready
Doing things rather than dreaming about them.
DJ, actor, kickboxer, and now director. Elba on a father who died at seventy-two and the urgency that followed.
Idris Elba · Actor
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Last updated 16 October 2026.
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Guy Ritchie · Director, jiu-jitsu black belt
The challenges on the mat are bigger than on set.
The director has a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He says the mat is harder than any film set, because nobody can help you there.
Asked whether jiu-jitsu takes him out of the directing world:
Yes. But removal into a new challenge and arguably one that’s more difficult than you would ever find on a film set. It’s difficult, it’s tough, and it’s you out there. There’s no-one else who is going to help you. Is that life as well? It might be.
Asked whether it helps him find focus:
So, does it focus me? Yes, of course, because it becomes a marker for life itself. But it also removes me from comfort situations, and that is similarly important. When you are going head-on with someone else you have to be completely on your game. As soon as you step onto that mat, you need to have everything in the right place.
Asked how he deals with doubt as a director:
I don’t believe there is a director out there who hasn’t expressed doubt. It’s simply a need to regroup, centre, and remind yourself of the reason you thought it was worth the physical, emotional and financial investment in the first place.