Tom Hiddleston: Why Playing Loki Is the 'Best Job in the World' — Plus His Latest Award-Winning Role
English actor Tom Hiddleston has cultivated a successful career on both stage and screen. While perhaps his most notable role has been that of Loki, Thor’s brother in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the 43-year-old thespian has proven that he’s more than just a franchise player, expertly bringing to life dramatic roles of all kinds. Read all about Tom Hiddleston, his most notable movies and TV shows and his rise to fame as one of the most revered actors of today.
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Tom Hiddleston’s early career and rise to fame
Raised in London by a family with a strong appreciation for the arts, Tom Hiddleston began acting early. It was during one of his performances in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire in which he caught the attention of a talent agent, leading to his debut screen roles and his study of the craft at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Some of his earliest onscreen credits were in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (2001), Conspiracy (2001), The Gathering Storm (2002), A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and his Sonnets (2005), as well as appearances on television series such as Armadillo, Galapagos and more.
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Playing Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Throughout the 2000s, Hiddleston balanced television and film roles with notable stage performances before 2011 when he was cast as the villain Loki. Hiddleston has brought to life this beloved character in countless films over the years including Thor (2011), The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017). In 2021, Loki even got his very own series.
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“I go out into the world and I meet young people or children, and they're so amazed that they’re meeting Loki,” he shared with Vanity Fair. “I'm obviously not Loki, but the response is so immediate and so emotional and so joyful. What a gift. It's the best job in the world. And I never dreamed back then that I would be part of something with such reach and for so long. It just is the most unlikely, surprising, delightful thing.”
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Notable roles outside the MCU
While we love him as Loki, his work as the character showcases only a small fraction of his abilities. Over the years, he has shined in films like I Saw the Light (2015), High-Rise (2015), Crimson Peak (2015) and Kong: Skull Island (2017), as well as popular series like The Night Manager and The Essex Serpent.
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These days, Hiddleston is continuing to make a splash in the industry. His most recent film, The Life of Chuck, won big at the Toronto International Film Festival, taking home the festival’s People’s Choice Award. The movie is based on the novella by Stephen King. For over a decade, the winner of this TIFF award has taken home the Academy Award for Best Picture — Perhaps there’s an Oscar in Hiddleston’s future!
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