36-year-old Telzhan Akhmetov from Kostanay, who has been dubbed 'Kazakhstan's Tom Hardy' on social media, continues to gain popularity. After a viral thread that garnered millions of views, the man was invited to Almaty, where he received a makeover and had one of his long-held dreams fulfilled. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.

Akhmetov became famous thanks to a humorous post on Threads about his resemblance to British actor Tom Hardy. The publication was picked up by recommendations and garnered 6 million views. After that, people began to recognize him on the streets, and Kazakh netizens dubbed him 'our Tom Hardy'.

During his trip to Almaty, Akhmetov said he works at a supermarket near his home. On weekends, he additionally works as a bicycle courier.

'I am an ordinary person. I still can't believe all this is happening,' he admitted.

According to Akhmetov, before this trip he had never flown on an airplane. Flying to Almaty was one of his long-held dreams.

'I wanted to fly on a plane at least once and visit Almaty. I actually want to live here,' he said.

Akhmetov also admitted that he had long dreamed of trying his hand at blogging. The idea to publish a thread about his resemblance to Tom Hardy came after he saw a similar trend online.

'I wake up in the morning — 1 million views. Then a week passes, and I already have almost 6 million,' he recalls.

In Almaty, the man was invited by Ulugbek Sharipov, the owner of a men's clothing brand. They chose a new look for him: a linen jacket, trousers, shirt, tie, and loafers. The makeover video garnered 154 thousand views and over 8 thousand likes. Users wish Akhmetov luck and note his sincerity and modesty.

'May everything be good for him,' 'He really has become like Tom Hardy,' 'What a wonderful, shy guy!' users write.

The hero of the viral trend hopes that popularity will help him achieve new goals. Among his dreams are to develop a blog and one day try his hand at cinema.

Earlier, Kursiv LifeStyle wrote that Tom Hardy may temporarily leave cinema after finishing filming the second season of the series 'Gangsterland'. A complete end to his career has not been announced, but Hardy may step away from filming for several years.