Variety Magazine. #TomHiddleston pic.twitter.com/5btWuSN9Se
— Tom Hiddlesøtn (@Hilddestonheat) June 11, 2016
I’m pretty sure this Tom Hiddleston & Aaron Paul interview happened months ago, because I remember the Hiddles-fan sites getting photos a while back. This probably happened during Tom’s magical two-month press blitz in America. Tom and Aaron interviewed each other for Variety’s Actors on Actors series, which is Variety and PBS’s version of the actor-roundtable. I’ve already covered the Lady Gaga-Jamie Lee Curtis interview and the Kerry Washington-Aziz Ansari interview. Variety organized this series ahead of the Emmys (and Emmy nominations). Which brings me to a question: is Tom getting an Emmy nomination this year for The Night Manager? Do you think he deserves a nom? I enjoyed TNM and I could see it getting nominated for Best Miniseries/TV Movie. I also think Hugh Laurie will probably get nominated. But Tom? I’m not sure.
Anyway, you can read a partial transcript of the Hiddles-Paul interview here, and I’m including the full video at the end of the post. Here are some of the more interesting Hiddlesquotes.
Tom on film acting versus TV acting: “Honestly, I’ve never really made a distinction myself between film and television, because, I think, as an actor, the work is the same. And I think audiences feel that they’re different somehow because they’re delivered differently. Because you turn your TV on or you stream it, or you watch it on a box set. And it’s in your home and you can watch it whenever you want, whereas getting in the car and going to the theater is a different thing. But as an actor, it feels like the same job…”
On his TNM character, Jonathan Pine: “I just felt like I understood this man. I understood the world he was in. I understood his moral courage. My character, Jonathan Pine, is a former British soldier who served in the Iraq War of 2003.”
He hates auditioning: “Auditioning was what I always found difficult, still do. I always want to preface it with, ‘I’ll show you what I could really do if and when you want to offer me the role.’ I’m sort of holding back. Like I’m keeping my cards close to the vest in some way. It’s a weird commitment thing.
I’ve always believed that British actors are less precious about TV versus film acting. British actors just look for interesting projects, and almost all of them move between TV and film with ease. It’s not the same way with American actors at all. What’s great about Tom’s involvement with The Night Manager is that it raised his profile so much more than his last three films, you know? Suddenly, even my mom knows who Tom Hiddleston is. He went from “internet famous” to “that good-looking guy on The Night Manager.”
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, Variety.
of course he will. and he certainly deserves it.
I agree. He was excellent, as was Hugh Laurie. I hope they both get nominations.
You see I thought he was the weakest link in TNM. Laurie, Coleman and Hollander was all way better than him. Some of the smaller part impressed me as well. Hiddleston was very one note for me in this part. Coleman should definitely be nominated but i can see that Hiddleston will be nominated over her. Emmy to tend to cater to the bigger names.
Not if I have anything to say about it!
(Hint: I don’t.)
–TheRealPinky
The night manager was so good. I was not a Hugh Laurie fan but definitely am now. So much to love about it. I loved that one of the leads is a heavily pregnant woman who just completely kicks ass. SHE should get the nom. And Hiddles and Laurie, too.
It really was excellent. Great acting all round.
Olivia Coleman. If you like her, watch Broadchurch on BBC. There have been 2 seasons so far. She’s excellent.
Olivia Colman, who steals every scene she’s in and is a national treasure at this point. I hope she gets recognised.
Yes! Love her.
Really hope Olivia Coleman gets a nomination. As Bex says, she steals every scene she’s in and she’s a wonderful actor.
More likely to be overlooked as it was a smaller role, but one of my favorites is Tom Hollander (always Mr. Collins to me). He was brilliant as Corky and you could sense his malevolence just under the surface.
Also hope Hugh Laurie gets a nom; he’s always excellent, and I thought he was so good in this role.
Don’t forget our Elizabeth, I thought she was transcendent in her part, and think she has a very bright future ahead of her.
Raised his profile? I don’t know anyone who watched Night Manager. He’s still Loki from the crappy Thor movies.
I can’t see him as James Bond either. I can see Hugh Laurie as James Bond way more than TH.
You don’t know anyone who have watched it. Really?Now that’s just bullshit.
Don’t be snarky for the sake of being snarky.
I live in a country you probably never even heard of. Even people here watched TNM and knows who TH is.
I don’t know anyone who watched Night Manager really? Do they live under rock?
Also Loki from the phenomenally successful first Avenger movie:
Highest Grossing—
Comic book movie
Superhero movie
MCU movie
Of all time.
Fifth highest gross of all time in movies overall, both world-wide and domestic.
92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
So, yeah, JUST Loki, the most successful comic book movie villain of all.
Hardly a paltry legacy, even if he hadn’t followed up with multiple critically-lauded performances in completely different genres.
You guys can nominate whomever you like for your awards. I just hope there’s no BAFTA nod. I thoroughly enjoyed TNM, but you’d have to have a few marbles loose to think that a) LEGS was the standout performance in it, or b) it was anything like his best work. Nup. Nope. Nonono.
Also, the cup of tea photo is silly.
On the upside, I quite liked the audition remarks!
I don’t think he should be nominated for the reasons you stated above. But he did look good in it. LEGS, GUNS and STUBBLE are a lethal Hiddlecombo.
Coleman deserves the Emmy nod.
I enjoyed both the Aaron Paul chat and the Emmy round table that the LA Times posted a week or so ago.
Is he on vacay now that Thor starts up in a few weeks?? We need another bombshell viral photo to add some excitement to the webs.
Did you get around to watching Mum yet, missy? I’ve become quite attached to it.
Yes! I love it… especially Kelly. She is such a delight!
Finishing up “The Disappearance” today. That was intense!
@Nutballs,
I enjoyed that round table discussion. It was an interesting group of people. Jean Smart has just done it all. Tom seemed quite interested, both with that group and Aaron Paul, about the experience of working on the same character for a full series for many years? It made me wonder if he is being offered American television roles.
“He didn’t talk back. He’s a fox.” Bless Kelly! Two more episodes of The Disappearance for me. The one after the cop’s daughter discovered the body was a killer. I bawled!
Ha Sixer, I just watched that scene this morning and laughed out loud at the cafe when she said that line. Old, horney & hunchback! I love the way Kathy reacts to the kooky things she says. It affirms the the stereotype of what I think of as the polite, uptight Brit trying not to be offensive.
Ep 5 of The Disappearance was so hard to watch as the family deals with the reality of their loss.
Lilac, I wondered the same thing. TV is the way to brand himself into the cultural landscape in a way that can’t be done with film and theater, while affording him the opportunity to pursue other types of work — as long as it’s not a 24 episode season. It’s the best way to make his mark, if that’s what he wants now that the writing for TV is so much better on the whole than it used to be.
Good theory, considering TNM was a joint finance gig across the Atlantic. If I were a relatively serious actor, I’d be going for TV. Fluff level is what sells at the cinema, so if you do serious films, hardly anyone will watch you. But the appetite for high quality TV makes for a growth market.
I don’t like things that occur on AMC as most of it goes to BT – a provider I have to subscribe to for sporting reasons but due to some strangeness with Sky, can only be shown on one TV in our house. The one used by Mr Sixer and the Sixlets for sports viewing, not my nice shiny one. I like HBO and Showtime because they just turn up on Sky Atlantic on ALL my tellyboxes.
Unless I’m missing something, they can (and should) all be nominated. Colman in the actress category and Hiddleston and Laurie for their leading roles, Hollander for supporting.
Tom had the toughest job – keep that suave – or cold/mean – exterior but show the signs of the inner turmoil underneath. The simmering and smolder was in full view to me, except in the very last frame where I truly did not know what to make of how Pine felt about Jed. God yes, give the man a nomination and please let him win.
And if BC gets nominated for whatever that mess of Sherlock special was over the holidays, I’ll be ticked.
Have some cake, dear.
I think AMC is pushing him for an Emmy nod. Of all of them , I think Olivia and Hollander were most deserving. If there was an award for best facial expressions, Tobias would get it for the scene when he can’t answer the phone
.
I think it was a good career move for Tom, award nominations or not.
totally with you. Those two were outstanding. Hollander – wow! Love Colman and have just started watching Broadchurch on Netflix (morning coffee mentioned it). The other characters were a bit vanilla to be honest. I couldn’t get past House with Hugh Laurie and as for Tom – bit bland.
Lemon drizzle, please. I have little to offer in the way of sweet things. But I do have local bacon, with which I could make a properly Britisher sandwich?
Bacon, please! No need for a sandwichy-thingy. Bacon all by its wonderful self.
How can you have bacon not in a sandwich, you heretic?! Plus, it’s back bacon. Yours is always streaky. This has nothing to do with sandwiches. I’m just trying to Britisher you into submission.
I eat bacon like candy and I need it crispy. Boyfriend went to a Beer & Bacon event at Fenway Park without me recently and is now on double secret probation.
Bad, bad boyfriend.
My bestest way of eating bacon is fried, not grilled, and plonked onto a plateful of blanched runner beans with the fat in the pan poured over the top.
This is probably not 80/20 or whatever diet plan is currently consuming the (foolish) internet, but it tastes good.
Bacon with anything can’t be beat. We have it on hand in our house every day. Being the lazy cook that I am, I bake it at 400° so I have 16 strips ready in 12 minutes. Then we eat it alone, with eggs, on sandwiches or wrapped over chocolate. Mmmmmm.
Did you know that bacon-wrapped has it’s own listing in the urban dictionary? I’m gonna use it so I can sound cool and hip.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bacon%20Wrap
Bacon wrapped around little cocktail hot dog things and covered in brown sugar and baked until a crunchy mess.
I do love how, once again, a LEGS thread has veered off into a completely unexpected direction. In this case: a discussion of bacon. LEGS probably has some strong opinions on the topic himself.
Of course, he claims his favourite meal is a full English breakfast, which bacon is crucial to!
Pigs in blankets Lilac…I hope Tom gets nominated for everything. Though Paul Dano’s turn in War and Peace would be hard to beat.
A bacon-wrapped PuddleTom is the ideal full English breakfast. Starts the day off right.
@ Sixer: Big TH fan but totally agree with you. Nowhere NEAR what he’s capable of. It was a man-candy role that did serve to raise his profile here in America, but dancing with Taylor Swift did that, too.
I expect bigger and greater things from him in the (near) future.
PS- Hugh Laurie for the Emmy win 😉
But such delicious man candy
Could I have him bacon-wrapped? To go, of course!
@Lilac: No arguments here! I think he’d be merely cute if it weren’t for that gigantic brain of his, however. That puts him over the top.
He was very VERY easy on the eyes in TNM, but I would never call his performance worthy of a major award. Still, I am sure the powers that be and connections can work wonders, so who knows? His PR has had a field day with TNM and with Bond rumors, which have effectively drowned out the disappointment that was ISTL. Well handled.
Olivia Coleman on the other hand…. OMG, yes. And Hugh Laurie as well– this show really was his baby, a labor of love he has been working toward for years. He should get the award. And the director? Yes, yes.
You guys don’t really seem to nominate Britisher stuff according to merit, do you? See: Downton. It’s all the fluff. Fun, but still fluff.
Morning Sixer, any chance of a bacon barm while I deal with these weighty Emmy matters for our chaps? A sarnie with brown sauce would do almost as well. Is it cheeky of me to ask? But you did tempt me with bacon. At a push, I could settle for a chip butty, if you are taking orders. Start the day areet I say.
I think the voters get lulled by the accents and costumes or something. Although I think Mirren’s Prime Suspect got attention
Most of the time we only get the fluffy British stuff on American TV, or things that have high name recognition. You guys keep all the really interesting stuff on that side of the pond. I’ve seen y’all discuss shows that I’ve never heard of and will probably never see on my telly – thus no awards for them. In the meantime, we get Downton, Sherlock, Luther, Grantchester, and a few others.
I haven’t paid much attention to the Emmys since I didn’t get into TV until recently, but if Happy Valley has been ignored for years then yes Sixer, I’m afraid you’re right. Americans are still romanced by accents and costumes and Poshies than great writing and acting when it comes to Brit TV.
Posh/period/stereotype. You love that from us. See: the aggressive promotion of every aspect of it by LEGS, you know? Is fine, if that’s what sells stateside, so long as it doesn’t warp what gets financed here. Y’know?
Dara: you should follow the Nutballs instructions and watch BBC via iPlayer. Among the usual crapola, we do make a lot of good TV.
Antipodean: bacon sarnie right up. Although, I must say. Wrong sauce. Tomato for bacon and brown for sausage. I also have sausages.
Thanks, Sixer, you are so kind with your culinary talents. A bacon AND sausage sarnie would be my idea of complete decadence. I was always a bit contrary with my choice of sauces, I much prefer HP on anything, red is always too sweet for me, and I avoid it, I’m funny that way. If I thought you liked sweet things I could whip up a mean pavlova, I am known far and wide for them, maybe you would prefer a sherry trifle? I always like to return hospitality, maybe a cheese scone?
Ladies, if you’re gonna make a bacon sarnie, you need to put it in a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato. That is the bestest way to eat it — the flavors are divine.
That is heresy, even if it tastes nice. The Britisher bacon sarnie is sacrosanct, like the Britisher cup of tea. The ONLY acceptable variation is sauce colour. Also best with bacon that looks like this – http://palmersbutchers.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/plain-back-bacon.jpg – not bacon that looks like this – http://mdssupplies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Streaky-Bacon-Raw.jpg ,
Cultural landscape, dontchaknow.
Sixer, I’m totally with you on this, plain back bacon with HP sauce.
If you are really hungry you might, as an exception, add a fried egg!
I must give a nod to square Scottish (Lorne) sausage, fits more easily in the sandwich too.
“I thoroughly enjoyed TNM, but you’d have to have a few marbles loose to think that a) LEGS was the standout performance in it, or b) it was anything like his best work. Nup. Nope. Nonono”
This!
Then I don’t have any marbles. Plus that throwing about mental incapacity diagnosis, based on opinions concerning an actor’s role is… not silly or idiotic at all: the things one learns on the internet.
I really liked the Night Manager. Hugh Laurie is incredible- I can remember watching him as the brain-less Bertie decades ago on “Bertie and Jeeves” on PBS. His range is amazing.
I’m betting Tom will get the nod bec his PR is better, and besides, how many more Emmies does Hugh need? Olivia is also deserving, but to me, Season 2 of Broadchurch was such a letdown from Season 1.
Nominated maybe, but I think a win is a long shot. But since a nomination alone means more Tuxedo Tom! – that is really more important for the rest of us than some silly gold statue, although the Tomster might disagree on that score.
I think Olivia Colman might have a decent shot at winning, but I’d have to look up her competition. People vs. OJ Simpson is going to be hard to beat, in any of the categories.
But we’ll only get Tuxedo Tom at the Emmys if Marvel lets him out of Australia for the ceremony.
Hm, depends on his shooting schedule. I suspect it’ll be reasonably light and that Loki won’t feature much -it sounds like it’s going to be the Thor-and-Hulk show.
Lilac, don’t be a party-pooper. Unless there is a Tuxedo Tom sighting on the horizon for the fall there might be a hellava drought between ComicCon and when the promos start up for the Monkey Movie. I’m not sure I could survive six or eight months without regularly scheduled Hiddles appearances.
KTE has the right idea, big studio movies generally allow more time off than the indie stuff – they have the luxury of time and money. Brie Larson proved it can be done when she shuttled back and forth during Oscar season.
@Dara, we may have to hope that Elsa Patacky posts surfing pictures.
Lilac, I think we can count on Ramora to post pictures. Girl can’t help it.
Agreed Dara. So many strong performances in OJ.
Three words: The Hollow Crown.
Forget TNM. If you want to see him shining, then it is THC.
This. I first saw him in Thor and thought he was talented but wasted on comic book movie. I then saw The Hollow Crown and OMG…..amazing
I still think it’s a shame he wasn’t nominated for a BAFTA for The Hollow Crown. Carrying the evolution of Hal to Henry V across three episodes was done very very well.
Trouble is Ben Whishaw and Jeremy Irons were very good in that series too
Yes, they were, although I don’t think Jeremy Irons got a nomination either. Clearly BAFTA decided to choose one actor for each acting category in THC (which makes sense, otherwise the category could in theory be filled by one show) and their choice for Actor was Ben Whishaw. Lovely for him, of course, but equally a shame for the other two who didn’t get nods for really great performances.
Hmm, although I agree it wasn’t his best work, I still suspect it will get him a nod. Not just because of his PR team, but because a lot of people haven’t seen his best work. If the Emmy voters are only familiar with him as a scenery-chewing comic book villain than his performance may well have impressed for its containment, naturalism, and for the solid contrast with Loki, as well as his natural charisma. If you’ve seen him give that sort of pitch of performance before then TNM wasn’t that impressive, but I bet a lot of people hadn’t.
Agree he won’t win, though.
I actually think if Tom should get nominated, it should at least be for his performance in episode 1. He was excellent in that. Once he went into his other “guards” he didn’t have much to work with. Sad his best performance in ISTL is not widely seen at all.
Yes, that first episode had the most range for him: the anguish over Sophie, the cool professionalism when meeting Roper and fending off Corky’s barbs, and the restaurant speech of indignant but controlled anger to Burr. That little speech gets used in all the AMC clips so they’ll probably submit that episode as his entry. The rest of it was Pine play-acting without emotion to spy on Roper and looking really pretty in and out of suits, military gear, and the Henley of sexiness
I noticed in the roundtable he said the hair and costume changed for each ‘identity’, which has kind of made me watch it again, as I didn’t notice that the first time – probably because I was so distracted by how well he fitted into the costume.
Every time I think about ISTL it makes me sad. That performance deserves so much more recognition, it’s easily the best work he’s done in the last few years, especially considering the limitations – time, budget and script.
Time Magazine said it best I thought – http://time.com/4263607/review-born-to-be-blue-i-saw-the-light-miles-ahead/
Very sad because it was a great performance in a bad movie. I noticed that Aaron Paul, Ethan Hawke, and John Malkovich all had good things to say to him about it. Leaving a good impression on one’s peers helps land future roles, especially ones like Hawke who is a scriptwriter and Malkovich, who directs/produces plays.
So so underrated.
He did some excellent crying in episode one. Even I said so!
He does cry well, doesn’t he?
He can turn on those waterworks with little effort.
Good point.
The Night Manager really doesn’t deserve any nominations anywhere. Sure, it was easy tv and very aesthetically pleasing but it was also filled with really annoying holes and gaps and the suspension of disbelief at times took it almost into (not very funny) comedy territory.
But, in a flawed series, Olivia Colman and Tom Hollander were the two standouts for me, so if there are Emmy noms going begging, then that’s where they should, imo, land.
I think acting nods will go to Coleman, Laurie and Hollander and Bier for direction. Hiddles produced it along with Laurie, so if it wins the miniseries category, he will be an Emmy winner. That will not be a horrible position if he focuses on producing.
Of the pundits that I’ve read, he’s on the short list to get a nomination as is Hugh. Not saying that they are always right, just putting it out there that of the lists that I’ve read, he’s on all of them.
I think he definitely deserves a nomination. That role was not a big, showy, scenery-chewing type of role. He had to convey how Pine was feeling in few words (hence the smoldering) and I thought it was understated but excellent. I just hope Emmy voters don’t see it as a man candy role and rule him out for that. It takes a lot to keep a performance subtle and convey those emotions that are just under the surface without revealing them.
And also he’s practically perfect in every way 🙂
It takes a lot to keep a performance subtle and convey those emotions that are just under the surface without revealing them.
This!
I like TH alot. Very talented. TNM was well done. But Hugh Laurie..well he has had my heart since he deigned to look over his newspaper during the carriage ride scene in Sense and Sensibilty”. Love you,Hugh.
I’m surprised at how many here seemed underwhelmed with Tom’s performance in TNM. I really enjoy him in roles where he’s more understated–I thought he played it remarkably natural, and conveyed a lot with just his expressions. I have to say this is one of my favorite projects of his that I’ve seen.
Funny so many are highlighting Laurie, Colman, and Hollander, actually–I think they’re all great actors and put in nomination worth-performances, but I feel like I’ve seen them all play similar roles, so none of them particularly stood out to me. Tom ended up being the outstanding one, because this just felt a bit different for him.
agreed.
Finally someone understands it.
I agree. This role is so different to say Hank or Loki or Adam or Hal. Pine is an understated guy too. The character keeps his cards close to his chest. Tom had to convey a lot of doubt, fear, concern through his expressions. I thought he was rather wonderful in the role (sans tough guy scene 😝).
I’ve been saying this all along. It is difficult to play the part of someone who is hiding his feelings and can only use his eyes to express them.
In TNM roper talked so big but did so little. I loved how he got played out at the end by pine. Go pine!
Really, roper acted so rough and tough and in the end got played like a boy by pine.
Someone better tell Colin to double-up on the liquor order, and have Mark add a few extra security personnel – things are about to get very exciting!!
Got to admit, did not see that coming.
Me either!
Tiddles is real! He really is upping his profile…
Apparently he likes them young, blond and clingy these days.
…Can anyone say “bad career move”?
Or brilliant. I can’t decide.