Tom Hiddleston Reveals What He Loves the Most About Playing ‘Loki’
Tom Hiddleston has played Loki for 10 years now, so it’s safe to say that he knows the character inside and out. Having starred in earlier Marvel films such as Thor as well as more recent movies such as Avengers: Endgame, he’s seen the evolution of Loki in more ways than one.
Hiddleston has been able to explore new parts of the god of mischief in his new Disney+ series, Loki, which is set after the events of Endgame. The talented actor recently shared what he’s enjoyed the most about playing such an unusual and layered character.
Tom Hiddleston loves Loki’s complexity and unpredictability
Hiddleston shared his feelings on Loki’s role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe during a recent interview with Rotten Tomatoes.
“Well, what I’ve really enjoyed most of all is that complexity … His place at the table of the gods has always been occupying a position of unpredictability, and chaos, and spontaneity,” Hiddleston said.
According to Hiddleston, even though Loki has always been considered somewhat of a nuisance among the other gods in the Marvel universe, his peculiar ways have proved beneficial in times of crisis.
“Across the stories of Loki from thousands of years ago, the most interesting aspect for me is that he was someone the other gods—Odin, Thor, Friga—they had to sort of put up with an endure because he was unstable and treacherous and you couldn’t quite trust him,” Hiddleston said. “And he was sometimes chaotic in an unhelpful way, and then occasionally necessary. And when everybody else had run out of ideas, it was Loki’s idea that was a bit out of left field. Unconventional, but might be the thing that we need and might be the thing that saves us in the end.”
He says Loki’s inclination for chaos is necessary
Further explaining his point, Hiddleston noted that Loki’s unpredictability definitely serves a purpose, and that’s what’s made the character so interesting to him over the years.
“I’ve always been drawn to this idea that Loki’s chaos is occasionally something we need,” Hiddleston said. “That not everything can be ordered, and everything can be planned and prepared and been done by the book, but Loki somehow, as this unpredictable spirit, as somebody who crosses boundaries, and questions everything, and changes shape, and has a kind of wit and an intelligence, and lots of different cards to play, is something that is once in a blue moon, useful.
Tom Hiddleston says Loki is neither good nor bad
Because he refuses to conform to the norms of his more heroic counterparts but also retains some redeeming qualities, Loki is best described as an antihero. He’s neither wholly good nor bad, and Hiddleston hopes that viewers understand things can’t always be categorized so simply.
“That’s what I’ve loved about Loki. Is that you’re never quite sure what his motivations are. You’re never quite sure if he’s being sincere, and you don’t know if you can trust him or not. And I hope audiences can see that there is good in him. There always was, and there are also these other instincts that are drawn toward something less virtuous, but he himself is a cocktail of all these ingredients. Perhaps he’s not truly good and he’s not truly bad, he’s somewhere in the middle.”
Loki is now streaming on Disney+.
