He is currently single albeit looking for the right woman: “I think falling in love is the same as it’s always been. It’s surprising, it’s shocking and it’s chaotic and it’s as beautiful as it’s always been.
The heart is uncontrollable, you can’t legislate who you fall in love with… I think real love is about acceptance and truth and vulnerability – it’s when you accept someone for who they are.”
Together: Tom, your career has taken off in recent years with your playing Loki in The Avengers‘ films and now playing the lead in several new movies. How does it feel?
Tom Hiddleston : I am so grateful for everything that has happened to me. I never really expected to be in this position and to be able to reach large audiences with my work and have fans who are chanting “Loki, Loki!” I’m surprised and delighted at the same time.
How do you deal with the increasing scrutiny that your life and work are receiving now as compared to four or five years ago when you were still a relatively unknown actor?
I’m still in the process to adapting to this new context, but I haven’t tried to change how I behave. I try to be myself at all times and not try to create a false public image. When I give interviews, I try to be as honest and direct as possible.
I don’t see the point in trying to pretend to be someone else. But I try to speak my mind openly, and I hope that people come away with a real sense of who I am as opposed to the characters I play, even though, of course, you still need to keep some things about your life private.
Let’s talk about High-Rise. This film takes audiences on a very wild ride and will doubtless spark controversy. What drew you to the project?
I love J.G. Ballard’s writing, his outlook on the world and the book in particular. Anyone who reads his work will see how extraordinarily prescient he was when it comes to the human race’s obsession with technology and our readiness to outsource our needs to machines and devices. In 1978, Ballard also predicted the industrialization of the moving image and the emergence of social media and YouTube.
He understood long before anyone else how technology would itself create a new brand of mythology and alter human psychology and the way we think about ourselves and interact with each other. The building in High-Rise is an extension and manifestation of how technology begins to consume people.
