‘Loki’ Star Tom Hiddleston Has a Secret Connection to Co-Stars Wunmi Mosaku and Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Loki (Tom Hiddleston) may be the most secretive character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The God of Mischief is duplicitous whenever he needs to be. But, in real life, the cast of Marvel’s new Disney+ show is open about their past. Now, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Wunmi Mosaku are sharing it with the fans.
Hiddleston, Mbatha-Raw, and Mosaku were at a Zoom press conference for the Loki on June 7. Mbatha-Raw and Mosaku recalled their shared pasts with Hiddleston.
Wunmi Mosaku knew Tom Hiddleston from school before Marvel’s ‘Loki’
2020 was a big year for Mosaku’s career. First, her Sundance horror movie His House premiered on Netflix and scared the pants off subscribers. She also landed a juicy role in the HBO series Lovecraft Country. Now she’s in Loki, but she already knew Hiddleston from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
“I know Tom and Gugu,” Mosaku said. “We were at drama school together so I felt like even though it was terrifying, the idea of joining the MCU because it’s this huge thing, knowing that I was going to walk into the room and have friends there, I’ve known Tom since I was 18 my first year at RADA. So it felt really, really good and daunting still. There is a thing about acting with your third year.”
Gugu Mbatha-Raw was a year ahead of ‘Loki’ star Tom Hiddleston
Hiddleston graduated RADA in 2005. Mbatha-Raw graduated 2004. Mosaku was their underclassman, graduating in 2007.
“It’s so weird the circle of life,” Mbatha-Raw said. “The RADA reunion or RADA mafia as someone put it the other day, there is a comfort. But, when you have shared experience, when you remember the same acting tutors and you’ve walked through the same corridor and the same canteen, all these cultural references that we all had, especially as we ended up shooting in the pandemic. It was a real comfort to have these longstanding relationships and friendships.”
Mbatha-Raw expressed her pride at seeing Mosaku go on to great things herself.
“I’m so proud of everyone,” Mbatha-Raw said. “It’s wonderful to see your generation rise, stepping into these surreal, epic, larger than life worlds.”
RADA training may have gotten Tom Hiddleston the job in ‘Thor’
Marvel president Kevin Feige reflected on casting Hiddleston as Loki in the first Thor movie. Feige said he already saw the breadth of talent Hiddleston embodied. Subsequent Marvel movies would draw upon Hiddleston’s training, especially his comedic skills.
“It all comes down to the performers and to the remarkable talents of Mr. Hemsworth and Mr. Hiddleston and the range of talents to be very RADA trained Shakespearean and also hilarious,” Feige said. “Or, in the case of Hemsworth to have the dramatic chops and the humor and embracing all of the above. It wasn’t necessarily a conscious plan to say let’s make ‘em even funnier now. They just have always been funny and we took that from behind the scenes and wanted to put it on camera over the more recent years.”
