"Tom has been a dear friend of mine for well over 20 years and I've photographed him countless times," says Greg Williams, the man behind the camera for our Tom Hardy interview - already one of the most iconic covers in Esquire's recent history.
"He's never particularly enjoyed the process of being photographed as himself, so for this shoot we created a few characters in which he absolutely shone, as he does on the screen.
"We finished the shoot with Tom being made up as a monstrous character from his new TV show Taboo and drove his bright yellow convertible Audi R8 around central London, music blaring. 100s of pedestrians looked on and nobody had the slightest chance of recognising him."
Here are the extra and unseen shots from that day. To see more of Greg's work, follow him on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
