Why Tom Hiddleston Felt "Privileged" To Address Loki's Sexuality and Gender Identity in Disney+ Series

Loki star Tom Hiddleston shared that it was "really important" to him to address his character's sexual orientation and gender identity in the Disney+ series. Learn more below.

By Emlyn Travis Jun 12, 2022 6:43 PMTags
Watch: Tom Hiddleston Shares PCA Win With "Loki" Cast

Tom Hiddleston is embracing every part of playing the God of Mischief.  

While in conversation with Lily James for Variety's Actors on Actors series, the Loki star explained that he felt it was "really important" to address his character's bisexuality and genderfluidity during the first season of the Disney+ show. 

"Back from my early days of researching the character in the ancient myths, the identity of Loki was fluid in every aspect and in gender, in sexuality," he shared. "It hadn't emerged in the stories we've told and I was really pleased and privileged, actually, that it's came up in the series." 

Calling it "a small step," the actor acknowledged that there was "so much more to do" when it came to LGBTQ+ representation within the popular comic book television series and films.  

"The Marvel Cinematic Universe has to reflect the world we live in, so it was an honor to bring that up," he said. "It was really important to [director] Kate Herron and [showrunner] Michael Waldron, and I'm pleased that we could bring it into our story." 

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Tom Hiddleston: Movie Star

In the third episode of Loki, Hiddleston's character is asked by a female version of himself (played by Sophia Di Martino) if he's dated any princesses or princes in the past, to which he replies, "a bit of both." In a video teaser for the series, his character's "sex" is listed as "fluid" on a booking sheet.

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney

In May, Hiddleston told The Guardian that he hoped "Loki coming out as bisexual was meaningful to people who spotted it," adding, "it was definitely important to all of us."

Reflecting on his time playing the trickster on-screen, Hiddleston called the entire experience a "huge journey" and told James during their Variety chat that Loki had "changed so much over the years." 

"Initially, we had so many different iterations of Loki. The costumes were so elaborate and I was wearing a wig and we were shooting in the summer in New Mexico and Cleveland," he shared. "I was always trying to break out of the mask—let something honest come through. You build the character, you build the exterior and then you have express something through the mask, in a way."  

So, when it came time to film the television series, the actor attempted to break through as many barriers as he could to get to the heart of the character.   

"One of my big things going in was like, I'm going to grow my hair and I'm going to dye it," he said. "It's just going to be as natural as it can be so I can spend all my time investigating the interiority rather than just saying, ‘I think everyone knows who the character is now.'" 

Instead, he added, "Let's open him up, go deep, and find new aspects of him and challenge the character to change and grow. I loved it. It was really fun." 

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