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Tom Hiddleston is an English actor famous for his work as Loki in the Marvel superhero series “Thor.” Here are 41 facts about the actor:
- He won “Empire Award for Best Male Newcomer” in 2012 for his portrayal of Loki in the Marvel Studios action movie “Thor”.
- Ironically he auditioned for the title role of “Thor” but the movie’s director Kenneth Branagh found something different in him and gave him the role of Loki. This decision changed Tom’s life completely.
- He went on a strict diet and gained 20 pounds of muscle for the role of “Thor.” Eventually he ended up doing the antagonist Loki. For this role he trained in Brazilian martial arts capoeira.
- He was born as Thomas William Hiddleston on 9 February, 1981 in Westminster, London, to Diana Patricia Hiddleston and James Norman Hiddleston.
- His father who hails from Scotland is a physical chemist while his mother is a former stage manager and arts administrator. His father was also the manager of a pharmaceutical company.
- He has two sisters: the younger Emma is also an actress and the older Sarah is a journalist in India.
- He attended Dragon Preparatory school in Oxford and boarded Eton College at the age of 13. His parents were going through divorce at that time.
- Recollecting the divorce of his parents he said “I like to think it made me more compassionate in my understanding of human frailty.”
- He has acting graduation to his name in 2005 from Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
- He also holds a double first in classics from Pembroke College at University of Cambridge.
- His movie debut was in 2007 with “Unrelated” by Joanna Hogg. He was cast as Oakley and his sister Emma was cast as Badge in the movie.
- During the shoot for his next movie “Archipelago” in 2010 he accidentally exposed himself to the crew. While tidying up after shower, the crew walked in just as his towel touched the ground.
- He guest starred in medical drama “Casualty” in 2007. Kate Winslet and Orlando Bloom had also guest starred among other famous British actors over the years.
- Director Woody Allen had written to Hiddleston offering him the role of Scott Fitzgerald in “Midnight in Paris” in 2011. He has framed the letter and hanged it in his home office.
- He was the noble captain Nicholls in the 2011 movie “War Horse”, directed by Steven Spielberg. The movie was based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo in 1982.
- To get the shocked expression from Loki after Hulk slams him in the Stark Tower, Hiddleston was repeatedly shaken violently by animation director Marc Chu.
- About his role as Loki he said, "I can tell you that it's all of them against me. I am the super villain. So it's Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and Nick Fury forming a team because I've got so bad ass."
- During a fighting scene in “The Avengers”, the director Joss Whedon did not like it as it wasn’t looking real. Hiddleston asked Chris Hemsworth to hit him really as he was protected by the suit.
- During a slap scene in “Thor: The Dark World”, Natalia Portman fake slaps Thor to avoid hurting Hemsworth, resulting in around 30 takes. When she has to punch Loki, she does it for real at the first take itself. Hiddleston had to bear 5 hard punches as it took 5 takes.
- He had offered to direct the second installment of Thor, but was turned down. However he was only half joking at that time.
- Known for doing impressions of actors, he wore the Captain America suit and did an impression of Chris Hemsworth on the sets of “Thor: The Dark World”.
- He has said that the set of “Crimson Peak” in 2015 is the best set he has ever worked on. He was equally supported by the writer and director Guillermo Del Toro.
- Benedict Cumberbatch was originally slated to play in the movie “Crimson Peak”, but was replaced by Hiddleston. The later asked for former’s blessing as both are good friends in real life.
- According to a report Hiddleston had signed on for “Crimson Peak” within 72 hours of Cumberbatch opting out. Ironically he had found the script very frightening, according to Jessica Chastain.
- He won “Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play” for his performance in Cymbeline.
- He also appeared as a young girl named prudence in the drama “The Children’s Monologues” by Danny Boyle on 14 November 2010. The cast included Cumberbatch, Gemma Arterton and Eddie Redmayne.
- He played the character Coriolanus in the play by the same name by William Shakespeare in Covent Garden. The play went for 70 days from 6 December 2013 to 13 February 2014. The play was also aired live all around the world.
- He lent his voice for the narration of the documentary “Galapagos Island” by BBC in 2006.
- He also lent his voice for the audiobook “The Red Necklace” written by Sally Gardner in 2007.
- He appeared in the ad campaign for the Jaguar cars alongside Mark Strong and Ben Kingsley in 2014. The first commercial was aired during the 2014 Super Bowl.
- Another ad campaign by Jaguar titled “The Art of Villainy” was released on April 2014 featuring Hiddleston along with other British stars. However the ad was banned by the Advertising Standards Authority due to various complaints.
- He had designed and signed his own card for the charity Thomas Coram Foundation for Children. The cards were auctioned on eBay on May 2014.
- As a supporter of UNICEF he travelled to Guinea in 2013 to help raise awareness about hunger and malnutrition and to help women and children.
- He is a self proclaimed Feminist.
- He was one among the 100 actors who had lent their voice for the narration of documentary “Unity” in 2015.
- In “The 100 Sexiest Movie Stars List” released by Empire magazine in 2013 he was listed at #2.
- He won the Best Actor Award at the “The 2014 Evening Standard Theatre Awards” and was nominated for Best Actor at “The Olivier Award 2014” for his performance as Coriolanus in the play of the same name.
- He is well versed at 5 other languages apart from English: French, Italian, Spanish, Latin and Greek.
- During his time at the University of Cambridge he played Rugby but left it for his love of acting.
- His famous film is “Heat” in 1995 and his famous scene is the one in which Al Pacino and Robert De Niro talk in a restaurant. He has memorized the whole movie.
- During his time in the Eton College Eddie Redmayne and Prince William were in the same class with him.
