Tom Hiddleston

Some Lesser Known Facts About Tom Hiddleston

• His father belongs to Greenock, a town in western Scotland. His mother is from Suffolk, England.

• His father worked as the managing director of a biotech company that partnered with Oxford University.

• He grew up in Wimbledon and later moved to a village near Oxford.

  

• Tom Hiddleston was named after his great-great uncle, Tom Hiddleston, who was a shipyard plater from Greenock and served in the 51st (Highland) Division of Royal Artillery. His uncle died after the Battle of the Somme, and his name was carved on the Broomhill War Memorial.

• When he was seven years old, he began studying at a boarding school named Windlesham House.

• The next year, Tom Hiddleston shifted to the Dragon School in Oxford.

• When he was twelve years old, his parents divorced. Once, in a media conversation, he shared his experience from his parents’ divorce. It helped him become more understanding and kind toward others.

• Tom Hiddleston has attended Eton College with Prince William and Eddie Redmayne.

• During his period at Cambridge University, a talent agent named Lorraine Hamilton saw him while performing in the play A Streetcar Named Desire.

• After that, Tom Hiddleston started getting roles on television.

• In 2001, he appeared in the television series Nicholas Nickleby, which aired on ITV and was directed by Stephen Whittaker.

• Tom Hiddleston then appeared in the television show Conspiracy, which was created by the BBC and HBO.

• In 2002, he was cast in the television show In The Gathering Storm, where he played the role of Randolph Churchill, Winston Churchill’s son.

• After completing his studies at RADA, Tom Hiddleston got his first film role in Unrelated (2006), which was directed by Joanna Hogg. His sister, Emma, played a character named Badge in the film.

• He then played lead roles in two stage plays with the company Cheek by Jowl The Changeling (2006) and Cymbeline (2007).

  

• In 2006, Tom Hiddleston lent his voice to a BBC documentary, which was about the Galapagos Islands.

• He then went on to appear in many television series such as Suburban Shootout (2006), Wallander (2008), Miss Austen Regrets (2008), and Return to Cranford (2009).

• In 2007, Tom Hiddleston narrated the audiobook The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner.

• In 2007, he appeared in the medical drama television series Casualty alongside other British actors like Kate Winslet and Orlando Bloom.

• In 2008, Tom Hiddleston played the role of Cassio in Othello, directed by Michael Grandage with Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ewan McGregor at the Donmar Warehouse.

• In 2008, he played the role of Lvov in Ivanov, a West End play starring Kenneth Branagh.

• In 2010, Tom Hiddleston played the main character, Edward, in Archipelago, a film by director Joanna Hogg.

  

• In November 2010, he performed in a one-time play called The Children’s Monologues, directed by Danny Boyle. In the play, he appeared alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Gemma Arterton, Eddie Redmayne, and Rose Byrne.

• Tom Hiddleston became known for playing the character Loki in the 2011 film Thor.

• He was invited to audition by the film’s director, Kenneth Branagh, who had worked with him before on Ivanov and Wallander.

• Tom Hiddleston once shared in a media that Branagh changed his life by convincing the studio to trust him for the role. He added that Marvel was open-minded and saw something unique in him.

• He first auditioned for the role of Thor as he was tall, blonde, and trained. For the role, he followed a strict diet and gained 20 pounds of muscle in six weeks.

• Branagh later decided that Tom Hiddleston was suited to play the villain, Loki.

• After that, Empire magazine listed the character Loki, played by him, as the 19th Greatest Movie Character of All Time.

  

• In 2011, Tom Hiddleston played the role of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald in the film Midnight in Paris, directed by Woody Allen.

• He then went on to appear in many films such as War Horse (2011), The Deep Blue Sea as Freddie Page (2011), I Saw the Light (2014), and High-Rise (2015).

• In 2011, Tom Hiddleston lent his voice to the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead.

• In 2012, he returned as Loki in The Avengers.

  

• In 2012, Tom Hiddleston read poetry for the apps iF Poems and The Love Book on iTunes.

• The same year, he acted in the television series The Hollow Crown in which he played Prince Hal. The series was aired on BBC Two.

• Tom Hiddleston later played King Henry V in the television film Henry V.

• In 2013, he returned as Loki in the film Thor: The Dark World.

• The same year, Tom Hiddleston played the role of a vampire in Only Lovers Left Alive, which was directed by Jim Jarmusch.

• From December 2013 to February 2014, he appeared in the play Coriolanus which was staged at the Donmar Warehouse in London, directed by Josie Rourke.

• In 2014, Tom Hiddleston appeared as the Great Escapo in the film Muppets Most Wanted.

  

• He appeared in the gothic horror film Crimson Peak, directed by Guillermo del Toro.

• In January 2014, Tom Hiddleston became a spokesperson for Jaguar Cars in their ‘Good to be Bad’ ad campaign. The ads featured British actors as villains to promote new Jaguar cars.

• The first ad, called Rendezvous, aired during the 2014 Super Bowl and included Hiddleston, Mark Strong, and Ben Kingsley.

• He also appeared in another Jaguar ad titled The Art of Villainy, released on YouTube in April 2014. He promoted the F-Type coupe.

• In 2015, Tom Hiddleston worked as a narrator in the documentary film Unity, directed by Shaun Monson.

• In 2015, he became the first official founding ambassador of the British Film Institute.

• After that, Tom Hiddleston was listed as one of the most stylish or best-dressed men.

• During the same year, GQ writer Taffy Brodesser-Akner described him as a kind book lover with the looks of someone born to wear a suit.

• In 2015, Tom Hiddleston trained for more than five weeks to play the role of singer Hank Williams. He sang seven songs for the film, I Saw the Light.

  

• In 2016, he played the role of Jonathan Pine in the TV mini-series The Night Manager, which was based on the spy novel by John le Carré. The series aired on BBC and AMC.

  

• Tom Hiddleston received multiple nominations for his role, including two Primetime Emmy Awards.

• In 2017, he stated that he wanted to take a break from acting and return to the theatre.

• The same year, Tom Hiddleston was cast in the film Kong: Skull Island, a King Kong film made by Legendary Pictures and directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts, and was a big success, making over $566 million worldwide.

• In September 2017, he played the lead role in the play Hamlet, directed by Kenneth Branagh. The play ran for only three weeks in a small 160-seat theatre, and tickets were given out through a lottery to raise money for RADA.

  

• He played the character Loki again in the films Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019).

• In 2018, Tom Hiddleston lent his voice to a villain character in the animated film Early Man, directed by Nick Park.

• The same year, he appeared in a short film titled Leading Lady Parts to support the Time’s Up movement alongside Emilia Clarke, Felicity Jones, and Florence Pugh.

  

• In 2019, Tom Hiddleston played Robert in the play Betrayal, which was staged from March to June at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London, directed by Jamie Lloyd.

• The variety reviewer Marilyn Stasio stated that his performance in the play Betrayal was both physically striking and emotionally deep.

• He was then nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for this role.

• Tom Hiddleston narrated Earth At Night In Color, a nature documentary on Apple TV+.

• In June 2021, he returned as Loki in the Disney+ series Loki, which started in June 2021.

• In the third episode of the series Loki, Tom Hiddleston sang a Norwegian song titled Very Full, which reached number 10 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.

  

• TVLine named him Performer of the Week for his role in the finale season. It praised the mischievous and softer side of the character Loki.

• In March 2021, Tom Hiddleston was cast in the television series The Essex Serpent, which was based on Sarah Perry’s novel and aired on Apple TV+.

• He played the role of Reverend Will Ransome opposite Claire Danes’ character, Cora Seaborne.

• In August 2021, Tom Hiddleston lent his voice to the character Loki in the animated Marvel series What If…?

• He also lent his voice to the character Loki in The Simpsons short films titled The Good, the Bart, and the Loki (July 2021) and Welcome to the Club (September 2022). These films aired on Disney+.

• In 2024, Tom Hiddleston appeared in The Life of Chuck, a film adaptation of a novel by Stephen King.

  

• Director Guillermo del Toro and comic book legend Stan Lee both once called him ‘the nicest guy you’ll ever meet.’

• Michael Billington from The Guardian has stated that Tom Hiddleston’s acting stands out because he could mix sadness with intense anger.

• Charles McNulty from the Los Angeles Times has called him a smart actor with classic and artistic good looks.

• Dominic Cavendish from the Daily Telegraph once said that he had the talent to become one of the great stage actors.

• David Fear from Rolling Stone once said that Tom Hiddleston had two sides as an actor. One was the classic film star in films such as Midnight in Paris, War Horse, and The Night Manager. The other was a more unpredictable side, which was seen in roles in the television series Loki or High-Rise.

• He is a UNICEF ambassador.

  

• Tom Hiddleston has been featured on the cover of many noted magazines and tabloids.

  

• He is an animal lover and has a pet dog. He often shares pictures of his pet on social media.

  

• Tom Hiddleston is a fitness enthusiast and goes to the gym regularly. He often shares pictures of his gym sessions on social media.

  

• He enjoys smoking cigarettes occasionally.

  

• Tom Hiddleston is often spotted enjoying alcoholic beverages on various occasions.

  

Tom Hiddleston in the television series Nicholas Nickleby