Tom Hardy has grown a beard because the new Mad Max film shows the character in "his wild days."

The British actor is portraying character Max Rockatansky in Mad Max: Fury Road - the fourth film in the franchise - and confirms he has grown "big and bushy" facial hair because of part of the storyline.

"The beard is to make me look handsome. Really, it's because I'm about to play Mad Max in the new film and we start the shoot by showing him in his wild days. It's going to be really big and bushy - what I have now is only the start," he said.

The Dark Knight Rises star has always wanted to sport some fuzz on his face but has always been stopped in the past because his movie character's have required clean shaves.

"I've always wanted a beard, but I've never been able to have a proper one because I was always having to shave it off for my next role. But at last the stars are aligning for me to grow one and work at the same time."