One of his most popular and strikingly real performances is the drill instructor from Full Metal Jacket, originally portrayed by R. Lee Ermey.

In April 2007, Geico Auto Insurance used "Strange Faces and Noises I Can Make III" in their television commercial.

Hardesty's Strange Faces and Noises I Can Make video was parodied in the MTV sketch show Human Giant.

In May 2014, Hardesty started a second YouTube channel, No Small Parts, a documentary web series about character actors in the entertainment industry.

Some of the actors covered in the series include: Warwick Davis, Harry Dean Stanton, Richard Kiel, Crispin Glover and Pete Postlethwaite amongst others.

From 2009 to 2012, Hardesty was cast as a lead in a CBS pilot entitled Living On A Prayer and posted a YouTube video doing a celebration dance, but it was not picked up by the network.

[citation needed] He was cast as a lead in a short film "Ham Sandwich," directed by David Green.