Tom Hiddleston

Brother of Emma Hiddleston and Sarah Hiddleston.

He played rugby at Cambridge University but gave up for his love of acting.

He grew up in Oxfordshire, England.

His parents divorced when he was 13.

His favorite film is Heat .

He screen tested for the title role in Thor , maintaining a strict diet and gaining 20 pounds in muscle. However, Kenneth Branagh decided he was more suitable for the role of Loki.

His maternal great-grandfather, Reginald Maxwell Servaes, was a prominent Vice Admiral, a Flag Officer commanding the Reserve Fleet, and his maternal great-great-grandfather was importer Sir Edmund Vestey, 1st Baronet.

Won Third Prize at the Ian Charleson Awards in 2007.

Won Best Supporting Actor in a Play at the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers Choice Awards in 2009.

Won Rising Star Award at the Richard Attenborough UK Regional Film Critics Awards in 2012.

Won Best Male Newcomer at the Jameson Empire Awards in 2012.

As well as younger sister, Emma, he also has an older sister named Sarah.

His favorite superhero is Superman.

Very good friends with Chris Hemsworth.

His father is Scottish. His mother is English, and has English, German and Welsh ancestry. One of Toms maternal great-great-grandfathers was of German origin.

Ranked #2 on Empire magazines 100 Sexiest Movie Stars list.

Graduated from the University of Cambridge with a double first in Classics.

Graduated from Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, England.

His mother is a former stage manager. His father is a scientist and was the director of a pharmaceutical company.

His great-great-grandfather was Sir Edmund Vestey, 1st Baronet, an English importer who was created a Baronet for supplying food to British troops during the First World War.

Won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play , an esteemed honor that recognizes the best in London theatre.

In January 2013, he traveled with UNICEF UK to Guinea, West Africa, to visit children, families and communities. He continues to remain involved with the organization.

Nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, for playing the title role in Shakespeares "Coriolanus" at Domnar Warehouse.

Won Best Actor Award at the 2014 Evening Standard Theatre Awards, for playing the title role in Shakespeares "Coriolanus" at Donmar Warehouse.

Won Best Male Principal Performance Award at the 2014 Falstaff Awards, for playing the title role in Shakespeares "Coriolanus" at Donmar Warehouse.

Speaks French, Spanish, Italian, Greek and Latin.

Was in the same class as both Prince William and Eddie Redmayne at the boarding school Eton College.

As of 2015, he has appeared in two films which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year: Midnight in Paris and War Horse .

He read "The Politics of the Family and Other Essays" by R.D. Laing in preparation for his role in Crimson Peak .

His favorite music video is "Weapon of Choice" by Fatboy Slim.

His favorite books are "Anna Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy and "Any Human Heart" by William Boyd.

He generally runs five miles every morning, however, in preparation for I Saw the Light , he ran ten miles each morning, and also cycled in order to gain a pencil-thin figure for his role as Hank Williams.

His eyes water involuntarily when he is spooked.

He participated in an autopsy to prepare for his role as a physiologist in High-Rise .

A cousin of Edmund Vestey and Samuel Vestey. Toms great-great grandfather and Edmunds grandfather, Edmund Hoyle Vestey (1866-1953), was the co-founder of international food product giant Vestey Brothers (later renamed The Vestey Group) with his brother, William (Samuels grandfather). Edmund Hoyle Vestey and William Vestey were each created Baronets by King George V for their services in supplying food to British troops during the First World War.

Math is the one subject he has not excelled in.

Plays the piano, guitar, drums, violin, lute and trumpet.

His more avid fans are often referred to as "Hiddlestoners".

Won Best Actor Award at the 2016 National Film Awards UK for his role in High-Rise .

Was once considered to portray James Bond after Daniel Craig.

Learned to surf in Hawaii while filming Kong: Skull Island.

Sang all his own vocals for his performance as Hank Williams in I Saw the Light. Most of the songs he previously recorded in studio and lip synced will filming but two of the songs he sang live on camera while filming.

Is a massive Shakespeare fan, he claims he feels most alive while preforming Shakespeare.

Is a master celebrity impressionist and is often asked in interviews and fan events to do them. He even once did a Robert De Niro impression for Robert De Niro.

Knows how to juggle.

Has selachophobia, the fear of sharks.

Loves to dance.

To have compassion for a character is no different from having,compassion for another human being.

[on portraying Loki, the legendary Nordic god of mischief] The key thing,about any character I play is I have to start from a place of,compassion. My stepping into the silhouette comes from attempting to,understand his point-of-view. So even though he is and has been,regarded as villain, antagonist, antihero, in my mind - as I play him -,I have to fight in his corner. Having said that, from an objective,intellectual standpoint, Loki is a deeply mixed-up cat.

The reason I became an actor is because I sat in the audience of. . . you,know. . . in cinema audience, and also in the theater, and. . . I love it,when you go to see something, and you enter as an individual and you,leave as a group, because you all been bound together by the same,experience.

We all have two lives. The second one starts when we realize that we only have one.

Never stop. Never stop fighting. Never stop dreaming. And don’t be afraid of wearing your heart on your sleeve - in declaring the films that you love, the films that you want to make, the life that you’ve had, and the lives you can help reflect in cinema. For myself, for a long time… maybe I felt inauthentic or something, I felt like my voice wasn’t worth hearing, and I think everyone’s voice is worth hearing. So if you’ve got something to say, say it from the rooftops.

Never stop. Never stop fighting. Never stop dreaming.

Love your life. Because your life is what you have to give.

I gave myself permission to care, because there are a lot of people in this world who are afraid of caring, who are afraid of showing they care because it’s uncool. It’s uncool to have passion. It’s so much easier to lose when you’ve shown everyone how much you don’t care if you win or lose. It’s much harder to lose when you show that you care, but you’ll never win unless you also stand to lose. I’ve said it before. Don’t be afraid of your passion, give it free reign, and be honest and work hard and it will all turn out just fine.

I am an optimist. . . I choose to be. There is a lot of darkness in our world, there is a lot of pain and you can choose to see that or you can choose to see the joy. If you try to respond positively to the world, you will spend your time better.

I try not to make plans. God always laughs at your plans. I’m going to keep the door open, and keep the page blank, and see what gets painted upon it.

Every villian is a hero in his own mind.

The dream is to keep surprising yourself, never mind the audience.

Somehow the past is a safe place to explore our collective cultural neuroses.

Every villain is a hero in his own mind.

It’s in our nature to want to watch our human frailties played out on a huge, epic canvas. Ancient societies had anthropomorphic gods: a huge pantheon expanding into centuries of dynastic drama: fathers and sons, star-crossed lovers, warring brothers, martyred heroes. Tales that taught us the danger of hubris and the primacy of humility. It’s the everyday stuff of everyman’s life, but it’s writ large, and we love it.

I feel as though the cardboard box of my own reality has been flattened and blown open. Now I can see the edge of the world.

I think cruelty is just loneliness disguised as bitterness.