Born and raised in England, Tom Hiddleston initially studied for a degree in classical studies and only later got noticed by a casting agent when acting in a Cambridge play. Globally known for his role of Marvel’s Loki, many forget that he has starred in countless other projects that are worth mentioning and deserve to be talked about.
Hiddleston is certainly one of those actors who take the little they sometimes get offered and turn it into something unforgettable. He deeply cares and fights for the characters he portrays. Now that he’s recently mentioned that he will eventually hand the character of Loki to someone else, we’re excited to see what the future has in store for him. But for now, these are eight of Tom Hiddleston’s best performances, ranked.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
8 Midnight in Paris
Sony Pictures Classics
Let’s start with the first time that Owen Wilson and Tom Hiddleston shared a screen. Midnight in Paris is a fantasy comedy movie, which tells a story of Gil Pender (Wilson) who travels back in time from present-day every midnight and gets intensely obsessed with the 1920s and somehow meets F. Scott Fitzgerald (Hiddleston), whom he studied his whole life before meeting him. Although Hiddleston’s role is quite minimal, he blends with his character so perfectly that it’s hard to accept the fact that he is, in fact, not Fitzgerald himself.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
7 The Night Manager
BBC One
In 2016, Tom Hiddleston starred as a main lead Jonathan Pine in a British mini TV series The Night Manager, a performance that has earned him a Golden Globe Award. Hiddleston plays the titular night manager who gets recruited to infiltrate the inner circle of arms dealers. Playing a mild-mannered gentleman who throws his life away to become a spy somehow suits the actor flawlessly. One would think that it’d be hard to reconcile the actor in different roles, but you simply have to marvel how easily he gets lost in his characters.
6 Only Lovers Left Alive
If you want to see Tom Hiddleston as a vampire in a comedy-drama (near horror if you’re frightened by vampires), then Only Lovers Left Alive is your movie. The plot tells a story of two vampire lovers, Eve (Tilda Swinton) and Adam (Hiddleston), who get together after a long time, only to get disrupted by Eve’s wild sister. It appears that not many people are aware of the actor’s sweet loving super-emo role, but they should. All the vampire characters casually mention being involved in major historical events, which may be perceived as cliché, but can be overlooked.
5 Crimson Peak
Universal Pictures
Set in the Edwardian English era, Crimson Peak is considered a gothic horror movie, directed and written by Guillermo del Toro. Despite being criticized for its plot and characters, and poorly performing at the box office, Tom Hiddlestion did an amazing job at portraying the character of Thomas Sharpe, an English baronet and the mysterious husband of the main character Edith (Mia Wasikowska). Yes, it can be argued that the movie is quite predictable, but per usual, Hiddleston manages to portray his character multi-dimensionally, thereby bringing depth to the formulaic sad Victorian boy trope.
4 Thor: Ragnarok
Marvel Studios
Yes, Thor: Ragnarok is one of the best movies in the MCU’s franchise. It’s almost impossible to hate Loki and his character, despite all the wrongdoings and betrayals he has caused. Tom Hiddleston needs more credit for, yet again, bringing so much depth to what was initially supposed to be a supporting villain character. From the cunning ways of teaming up with the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) to save his own back, to finally working as a team with Tho,r and to the humor delivery — Hiddleston has not once disappointed with his portrayal of Loki. Ragnarok is arguably one of his peaks as the mischievous God.
3 Unrelated
New Wave Films
Unrelated released back in 2007 and stars Tom Hiddleston as a young blonde rebel child called Oakley. Despite essentially being about rich people summering in an Italian village, Unrelated feels like a light soft-spoken movie, where there are no actors, just people living. Although Hiddleston’s pre-fame role is once again minimal, he acts as a pivotal character for the main character Anna’s self-discovery. During the vacation, she ignores her adult responsibilities and contemplates starting a fling with the years-younger Oakley, until he softly turns her down, which forces her to establish herself as an adult. The movie’s quite difficult to find on streaming platforms, but make sure to have a look if you want to see Hiddleston’s young potential shining through the screen.
2 Loki
We have already mentioned Hiddleston’s ability to make you fall in love with a villainous character, thanks to his mastery of bringing multiple layers to the characters he portrays. But the reason we’re putting Loki as his character twice on the list, is because the Disney show is so much better than you would expect, even if your expectations were pretty high to begin with. The actor has been finally given a chance to showcase Loki as a character with deeper emotional insight. He was allowed to show the beautifully vulnerable moments, as well as the tragically sad ones. He has finally grown as a character on this journey to himself.
1 Archipelago
Artificial Eye
Archipelago certainly has a similar feel to the aforementioned Unrelated, in that a family decides to go on a getaway to Isles of Scilly while battling family and personal problems simultaneously. Hiddleston plays the character of Edward, who’s suffering a quarter-life crisis after quitting his stable job and deciding to travel to Africa to help the AIDS patients. Although this movie may not be one of the more famous ones that Hiddleston has done, it certainly has a calming feeling to it despite the family issues. It gave the actor the chance to play a more humane character, and it’s a shame you rarely see him mentioned among Hiddleston’s other, more prominent, roles.
