Thread to talk about the actor Tom Hiddleston
>>750 "Beaker-like proportions" - bwahahahaha! That's perfect!
The beard has grown on me, but it's so much better when he's let a stylist trim it. No stylist was involved with BAFTA - one of today's pictures was shot from behind, and his suit jacket is creased and even crumpled at the bottom.
Tom looks great. He has a beaming smile while shaking hands w his fellow Eton alum, Prince William. I feel as if Tom has channeled his War Horse-era look. Glad to see Tom getting his groove back. If Stella could do it, so can he.
#HQ##Tom Hiddleston# attends a dinner at Buckingham Palace to celebrate the innovative work of The Royal Marsden and The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity on June 14, 2018
https://m.weibo.cn/status/4251276386565438
MSN UK posted a recap video of Tom's career for no apparent reason: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/video/other/in-depth-tom-hiddleston/vi-AAyNlw7
The crazy clever one thinks this may be a soft reboot, and for once, I'm inclined to agree. Especially as it closely follows the 2-year anniversary of Snogging on the Rocks, which passed without any fanfare as far as I saw.
I think there is a real possibility it is exactly that, especially combined with the appearances of the last month or so - hospital visit in the UK, BAFTA for kids etc. I am not saying he was a bad or thoughtless guy, but he never did that kind of thing much in recent years, partly I am sure through lack of time. I am slightly setting aside the hospital visit while filming Ragnarok - first, everyone does that visit on the Gold Coast apparently, second TS did it so he kind of had to, and third, the PR nightmare that was Tayto was developing by then.
(Early on, he did it more. For example I think he did some drama day for kids with Cumby when he was wearing an orange puffa jacket.)
I read a very interesting article about a fixer in the Times yesterday - “Are you a Hollywood titan whose reputation is in tatters? Better call Sitrick”. Sadly behind the paywall but all about someone who exists purely to make bad publicity better. I did think about TH a bit when I read it!!
Mr Boundaries:
“I said that the Brazilian fans love him and wish someday he will go to the Brazilian Con. And then I asked what they wanted me to ask: “They wish you could come back to social media. Maybe post pictures of your dog…” And he said, looking into my eyes, “You see my dog is part of my personal life and I don’t post personal stuff anymore. Because social media has this thing where you say something and people twist.”
>755 He has learned. This also might explained why (according to tumbler) about 600 tweets recently were deleted from his account.
Tom was seen relaxinat an oyster bar in Seattle, after posing w fans at Ace Comic Con.
Twitter
/filthycutexo/status/1010773755436548096
Tom was spotted awarding the Lifetime Achievement Arts Award at the South Bank Sky Awards to B Cumberbatch. There is a pic.
Twitter
sarah_donaldson/with_replies
Sarah Donaldson
@sarah_donaldson
It’s gone the full luvvie at south bank sky arts awards as @twhiddleston presents lifetime achievement award to Benedict Cumberbatch. ‘He can do anything. He has done almost everything’ Gawd bless them both. (And so timely b/c BC’s recent Patrick Melrose was his best yet) #sbsaa
8:34 AM - 1 Jul 2018
>>758 Another picture and slightly longer quote on Twitter at /SkyArts/status/1013465410153435136
While it’s always nice to see him, I hope he’ll have more on his plate soon than handing out awards to other industry members.
New Dailymail article from one of the four TNM 2 writers, British spy author, Charles Cumming. It's happening. Not sure how I feel about this. Link below.
"Le Carré didn’t write a sequel to The Night Manager which, in the past, would have been a problem. ‘Le Carré has never allowed one of his stories to have a [film or TV] sequel that is not based on a novel,’ says Cumming. ‘So our job is to write a season that’s going to be even better than the first one, but also stay faithful to the tone of the world that was created by le Carré and to the characters.’We know Tom Hollander’s Corky, killed by Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston), won’t be coming back. Hugh Laurie’s Roper was last seen in the company of some very disappointed arms buyers, but you’d have backed him to talk his way out of it. Olivia Coleman’s Angela Burr will have finished breast-feeding by now, and Pine and Elizabeth Debicki’s Jed have a romance to finish.‘All I am permitted to say is that le Carré has given his blessing to the project,’ Cumming says. ‘The four of us in the writers’ room are sworn to silence. Some characters that the audience know and love will be returning, other will not. The locations will be sumptuous, the plot as thrilling and as thematically complex as a le Carré story should be. We are all aware that the bar has been set very high in terms of audience expectations. The challenge facing us is to meet those expectations, hopefully even to surpass them.’
>>759 yes indeedy. Awful Cumberbatch hat BTW. He's indoors for god's sake.
>>760 I share your doubts. "The locations will be sumptuous"...which kind of concerns me. Having watched TNM for a second time I thought it was a triumph of style over substance - loads of money spent on it but with some really duff plotting and dialogue in places (not throughout). I am assuming that TH will be one of the loved characters that does come back. I can't imagine they'd proceed without him as in fairness he was one of the main reasons the series was a success.
Will the much loved bare backside (pretty much a character in itself) also be returning?!!!
>>761 I mentally referred to all the scenes in Roper's compound on Majorca as "Lifestyles of the Rich and Infamous!" For the next go round, it would make no sense to do TNM2 without the Night Manager himself.
Personally, if this ever happens, I rather hope they do without the Hiddlesbum. Although he talks good game about only getting naked when it serves The Work, it seemed gratuitous to me in TNM. Were Pine's shirt and jacket so short that they wouldn't cover his backside in real life?
Also, I came across this recently that calls out that scene as appearing to have been "poorly handled," given the current climate in the industry: https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/good-sex-scenes-when-actors-play-it-safe-1.3525725
>>762 That is a really interesting article.
When TNM first came out I recall us discussing how uncomfortable the sex scene looked, and Anon. (where did she go? We miss her!) saying that he looked unsure about where he was “allowed” to put his hands. On the bare boobie, or not?
He is a repeat offender of the “tongue in mouth” shot, which the lady featured in the article seems to think is an absolute no-no. He also as we know doesn’t wear the pouch. I had wondered before whether, in his sex scenes, we are basically looking at how he kisses and what his moves are in real life. The lack of choreography may support that.
I wonder how many sex scenes are carefully planned in advance. Showgirls was a long time ago so it’s clearly not a new thing.
FWIW I thought that the naked scenes in TNM were completely gratuitous. He got his kit off (shirt minimum) in every single episode and my husband and I were laughing after a few weeks waiting for it to happen. What was the point, for example, of the naked al fresco shower scene? Do SAS men use this to toughen up?
So Tom was seen yesterday in London, marching in a certain parade there. With his boyfriend in tow. He's sticking that big foot of his in the closet door and stepping O-U-T!
Of mild interest:
“@twhiddleston just told us at work that football is coming home. Loki has spoken. #ItsComingHome“
From Twitter: com/harrygeddess/status/1016765925671034881
Readying himself for a football BBQ: https://hygge-in-fall.tumblr.com/post/175789413776/close-enounters-of-the-celebrity-kind
>>766 So the vacuum purchase is to clean up the mess afterwards? (Condolences for England’s loss, BTW....)
>>767 Some Henry vacuum cleaners can be used to vac up water, so I guess useful for drying tears! I am not a footy fan....!
Tom is at Wimbledon for the Men's Final today! Tom still has the beard and glasses. His suit pants look a little short, and he looks a bit crumpled from the car ride, but I'm so happy to see him out enjoying his favorite hobbies. Tom, Eddie Redmayne, and his wife Hannah are all sitting in the royal box, it seems. The first link is of Tom in a close-up pic in the box. Yay!
https://kaleidoscope-vol2.tumblr.com/
http://maryxglz.tumblr.com/
http://maryxglz.tumblr.com/
An Nytimes article that details the etiquette/procedures and privileges associated with the Royal Box at Wimbledon.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/16/sports/tennis/wimbledon-royal-box.html
>>772 interesting article - I didn’t know any of this. Lucky Tom.
Pictures of Tom in London, taken earlier today. He was spotted crossing a bridge after leaving The National Theatre. He's holding a black binder. I hope that it contains a new play that he's considering!
https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4262952456278887
Andreea
@Blackeyed88
Another sighting of Tom in London. A woman says that Tom chatted with her girlfriend for 10 minutes, at work.
I can't even brag about seeing Tom Hiddleston anymore cause today my girlfriend had a WHOLE CONVERSATION being charming af to him. Surprised she didn't get an invite for tea round his house lol.
He came into my gf's work and they had a pleasant conversation for like 10 or so mins. Meanwhile when I saw him at my work I didn't get a chance to talk to him lol so now I'm just jelly 😂
Let's just say we both work in London, nothing really fancy but open to public. He's just such a down to earth guy that it can happen to strike a conversation out of the blue haha.
I>>774 Apparently the BFI, and also maybe the Old Vic, are in that direction too, so there are several possibilities. The binder is a good sign!
Well, the Seattle con couldn’t have been too rough on Tom, because he’s doing another one for Ace. Mid-October in Chicago: http://www.aceuniverse.com/
>>776 Yes they are! So is an IMAX cinema so Tom could just have been out to watch a film - though as you say the papers are a good sign....
>>777 I read that the going rate is £500k for one of these cons (!!!!). If you aren’t otherwise earning that is amazingly good money, which must be attractive. For 3 days’ work I would put up with it, even with the proximity to the crazies.
Amazingly there is a new project - http://thefancarpet.com/movie_news/rebel-park-productions-present-the-first-comedy-short-in-leading-lady-parts-series-to-premiere-on-bbc-four-on-july-30/
However this is a supporting role (it’s all about women’s voices) so it is unclear how much screen time he will get.
>>779 News at last! Even if the short is only 8 minutes, it’s for a good purpose - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bdcr9l
So apparently Celebitchy is claiming that the problematic Johnny Depp, alleged abuser of his ex-wife model/actress Amanda Heard, "pulled a Hiddleston" by dressing up in character for Comic Con-Con, by appearing as Grindelwald for the Harry Potter Wizarding World franchise. And they're review of the Depp attempt is "Blah, nope." Depp pulled a Hiddleston: he showed up to Comic Con as Grindelwald, and spoke to the audience in character:
>>779>>780 Apparently the director/writer of "Leading Lady Parts" is playwright Jessica Swale. Her most plummy leading roles are written for women, and I thought that her last play "Nell Gwynn" was only okay, but this is a great networking opportunity for Tom, that is for a great cause. Jessica's Twitter comment and the funny Teaser youtube trailer are linked below:]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOarHGJpfJs
Jessica Swale
@jswale
15h15 hours ago
I made a short film about lady parts. I mean- parts for ladies. About how lady parts shouldn’t be about lady parts. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. #timesup Here’s the teaser...
Godzilla: King of the Monsters is bringing back a character from Kong: Skull Island. Is it Tom Hiddleston's James Conrad, now played by Charles Dance?
https://screenrant.com/godzilla-2-charles-dance-tom-hiddleston-kong-skull-island/
>>784 That is a terrifying thought, especially after the Beard of Doom in the reshot bar scene....!
Apparently, TNM 2 has yet to be officially recommissioned?! Are the writers just brain storming for a paycheck at this point? Wow. I thought that Tom was depending on this gig to begin the next chapter of his career. Still not a sequel fan. Very wary.
"Although the show has yet to be officially recommissioned, and there’s plenty of rumors as to what shape it will take and which stars will return, I hear that the foursome are in full swing, working on plots for the “slowly developing” drama."
Tom just performed Move It on Over w Rodney Crowell in London at Nell's Jazz and Blues Club on Thursday. Bless his heart! He looks and sounds a little rusty and nervous. Glad that he's still keeping up his friendships. Gosh, I wish that ISTL had had a different script and director.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omXbLSsEbG4
>>786 Let's hope he's not depending on this to happen any time soon. At this rate, it will be "The Night Manager - 10 Years After."
>>787 They should have given him some spoons to play, or something to do with his hands; he's not used to singing without a guitar. But once he was a few verses in and his voice had warmed up, he relaxed. Wish the video quality were better so we could see his expressions. Agree about ISTL!
>>787 How ironic that his greatest acting role is trapped in a film that I cringed over.
Rehash article in a humanitarian mag about Tom’s UNICEF work. Soft launch for the rumored release of his doc this fall? http://www.borgenmagazine.com/hiddlestons-unicef-humanitarian-work/
Tom's scene in the short film, Lady Parts, is posted here on twitter. The film posters of Tom behind Gemma Chan's head, as she is chatting on her mobile, are soo funny!
Twitter
/HiddlesPage?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1024044197471559680&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fs9e.github.io%2Fiframe%2Ftwitter.min.html%231024044197471559680
>>791 Apologies for the source, but I found this very funny: http://insanely-smart.tumblr.com/post/176630838753/gemma-artertons-times-up-inspired-short-leading
Remember the famous “Tom auditions for Thor (the part)” story? He claimed to have gained something ridiculous like ten pounds of muscle in 6 weeks and then wore a blonde wig to audition for the part - and was shirtless. As we recall, he desperately wanted that part and had been lobbying KB for it (running into his dressing room wielding a water cooler bottle as a hammer). It was always previously told by him as an anecdote about his determination/amazingly improved physique (I recounted a secondhand story about him attending a BBQ and showing everyone his (not substantially increased) muscles).
It has now, without irony, been recast as Tom’s encounter with #metoo - the oppressive industry requires him to get his kit off in an audition!!!! I have never seen a male actor more enthusiastic about his own gratuitous nudity!
>>792 Funny, I was about to post this 1 min 'interview' - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHYg9_6YuiE
I was happy to see that LadyParts is on youtube for free.
>>792 That was an odd moment in that story, wasn't it? Who knows why Tom felt the need to tell that to his castmates, or why one of them felt the need to repeat it (and add "And it’s not just women, by the way. Men get it worse to some extent.").
In the context of not wanting to be (physically) typecast, it might make sense. Given his history of getting naked in almost every film, though, not so much!
>>793 I didn't notice - was the other male actor interviewed as well? At least this hasn't blown back on Tom in any way that I've seen.
>>794 IIRC he got nekked in CP for teh wimminz, to make female nudity better/more acceptable by evening up the numbers - or something. There has never been any real understanding that garatuitous nudity is demeaning for either sex. Is this his epiphany?!
>>795 Nudity in American films is only questionable for me when the writing isn't brilliant, the sex scenes and the nudity in general aren't both propelled by character development in a realistic way and not solely b/c of director's personal fantasies or by the male fanboys' personal fantasies just to sell tickets, when the actors are not treated w respect/courtesy and are not well prepared w intimacy training before for they arrive onset to film the scenes in question, and when the actors are pressured/coerced beyond the bounds of what they've contractually committed to. America either needs to be like Sweden, where male and female actors seem to be filmed nude all the time equally and audiences of all ages are not ethically judgemental about or shocked by any nudity, or we need to go back to a time like the 1940s when the actors kept their clothes on but sparred w witty dialogue.
Pointless Bustle article about private Tom as become, and sicusses his love life: the real and fictitious including those falsely created by Hollywood gossip mags but clearly nurtured by his publicists; and of course his PR fake relationships.)
https://www.bustle.com/p/who-is-tom-hiddleston-dating-the-thor-
actor-keeps-his-relationships-surprisingly-low-key-10006922
But who is Hiddleston dating now? Well, he hasn't been pictured with anyone, he's pretty much a ghost on social media, and he hasn't given any interviews on his love life in a very long time. So my guess is he's either single, or he's enjoying a very low-key relationship that he doesn't want to share with the world just yet. And that is obviously completely his choice. As a true Hiddleston fan, whatever he's up to at the moment, I just hope he's happy and living his best life.
Sorry my keyboard messed up the link!
>>797 Someone at Bustle was really short of copy today...!
While we’ve been snoozing (cmon, Tom!), Tumblr shut down some blogs for posting copyrighted photos. So the crazy clever one is now at https://insanityclause.tumblr.com/ .
>>800 I was just going to post about this but you beat me to it. Seems like it is one particular red carpet photographer who has finally got sick of his stuff being thrown into the copyright soup that is tumblr.
I had also been meaning to post that the crazy clever one has been finding/being sent a lot of sighting of our hero down in Hampshire, in various spots - Winchester, near Portsmouth and the like. Holiday home or visiting a new special seekrit friend?!
>>802 I have a vague recollection that that sighting was London. I recall wondering if he had had a vacuum cleaner that broke or if it was a first purchase (!). You are right though - I think he was also seen in a DIY place down in Hampshire.
All a bit mysterious as he has been seen in Portsmouth and in Winchester. Portsmouth is (a) not that nice and certainly not a holiday home locale I would expect a multimillionaire to choose; and (b) a long way from Winchester. It’s not a place you would choose to shop unless you lived close by. Brits don’t have the same tolerance for Americans for driving long distances.
Oh good grief - Tom was just a clue on Jeopardy: “He won [a Golden Globe] for The Night Manager, but a Norse trickster god may have messed with his speech.”
Alive!! Seen at a q&a for a special showing of Unrelated. Torrilla has video - Joanna Hogg asked people not to film it but predictably someone did anyway.
In other news, the insanely clever one has posted a few sighting from Twitter of TH with a woman (unclear whether always the same one). Latest today. Do we await another fandom meltdown?
>>805 And lots of nice still pictures from the Q&A too. His body language is interesting - much less manspreading than in the past.
Reaction to the latest sighting-within-20-feet-of-a-female seems rather subdued.
>>806 Torrilla has some better quality pics and I have to say, he looks great. Beard trimmed, hair not too full of product and swept back, and there’s quite a gun show going on inside that dark blue jumper, which is both clean and devoid of holes. Looks like he has been using his time off to lift weights! He reminds me a bit of Ken Branagh at the time he made Frankenstein.
Yes, I noticed the subdued reaction. I have always thought his love life was an iceberg with 90% unseen, and we recall from 2013 that the work downtimes are when he has relationships, not surprisingly. The acid test will be (a) the fandom reaction if and when it becomes known who he is seeing and (b) whether it’s capable of lasting beyond the downtime and through an extended period away on set.
The reaction to Cumby’s GF and now wife has not been positive (fake baby! Stunt baby! etc). I can only hope TH doesn’t get that.
>>807 >>805 Apparently the director, Joanna Hogg stated that she and Tom had lunch together directly before the Q&A. Someone suggested that Tom could have been catching up w another friend from the Unrelated cast last week, when he was seen eating pasta w someone at an Italian restaurant and he was wearing bashed up clothes. I don't think anyone has the energy to over-analyze sightings w/o pictures in random parts of London, b/c he could be hanging out w anyone under the sun.
>>807 He does look great, doesn't he? (Even if the hairline has moved a little farther back, who cares when he's got that mane going! And he has that developed-upper-torso/thin-waist that he had during the KSI promo that I think suits him well.)
I think tip of the iceberg is very apt. Now let's hope that he does someday again spend an extended period on set....
>>808 And the speculation took a hit when one or maybe two of the sightings were from that Twitter twit who ended up deleting her account after other people called her on the fables she'd made up about him before. The only thing that makes me go hmmmm is the Hampshire sightings - but even those could be for any number of reasons.
He attended the GQ Man of the Year awards this evening. Pics on Torrilla as usual - nice velvet dinner jacket though I do think on this occasion the hair looked more scruffy for some reason! I don’t think it goes so well with evening wear. Not sure if he won anything.
Anyone else feel like we have been witnessing a targeted rehabilitation exercise over the last 7 months? Low profile publicity for IW, the odd non-Marvel appearance here and there (mostly charitable - hospital or BAFTA kids event), and then gradually sneaking in more traditional, high profile “famous person” events (ie where he turns up to something in a tux even though he probably isn’t up for an award, goes to Wimbledon etc). Gradually getting back in the public eye without getting accused of going to the opening of an envelope, and with a different image - no photos, no dancing bear, and a different look.
>>810 I haven't watched the awards videos yet, but it looked as though he may have presented, at least. His hair looked as if he's back to using way too much product. Plus the lighting and camera angles at these kinds of events are much less flattering in general than more controlled setting like the panel at the ACE con.
Image rehab is exactly what it's felt like to me for quite a while. You're right that he hasn't been at the more celebrity events until recently (skipping the BAFTAs even though Tom Hollander was nommed for TNM, for example). This GQ one was a good choice because so many other "cover men" were there too (Chris H., for one). It was nice to see him hanging with Jeff Goldblum; they seemed to hit it off during T:R promo.
Not just a different look from the hair and beard, but even different body language. Did you notice how he had his hands clasped in front of him in most of this event's photos? In the past, he tended to strike much more "male model" poses, I think.
>>810 >>811 I'm still trying to figure out Tom. When Tom first was on these red carpets he was so natural at presenting a warm and enthusiastic and grateful countenance. He was always leaning into the camera, physically owning the space, and there was light and engagement in his eyes. After The Night Manager success, at the country music awards and the GG awards Tom even swaggered quite a bit. Was TH always faking his confidence and was he also faking his desire to work a room? Did Tom never actually enjoy film promotion and its intense levels of attention? Is he still wounded from the summer of evil? Now, Tom is kind of just the human equivalent of a blinking yellow light. He's just so guarded. I'm curious to see how this career reset evolves. Tortilla pics and dailmail article about the GQ Man of the Year Awards.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-6136855/GQ-Men-Year-John-Legend-Dua-Lipa-Rose-McGowan-lead-nights-winners.html
https://www.weibo.com/torilla?is_hot=1#_loginLayer_1536200963440
Yeah, I saw after I posted that he presented. That made me think it definitely is a rehab exercise. Ok, he has attended before and maybe won (?) but that was a long time ago. Ok, he and JG were both in TR - but in pop culture terms that was also a long time ago. Is he the most obvious person to present to JG? They aren’t best mates. I thought when I saw him attend that maybe Cumberbatch was going to get an award.
I alsoa thought he looked guarded on the RC. I’m not espousing the Tumblr “depression” rubbish but he looked to my mind thoroughly hacked off to have to walk the RC and be photographed, but like he was having a great time inside at the party. Like you say SoSorry, that’s a change (to my eyes). I genuinely think he used to enjoy working the RC and being photographed/meeting fans (running off while Luke wailed “noooo we have to go in”). He was refusing selfies last night - definitely new(ish). He had used to be grateful. Exactly the right word. He liked the parties and the lifestyle, appreciated that the RC was the quid pro quo, and actually enjoyed the attention. Now, I think he has decided he hates the press. Simple as that.
>>812, >>813 In the past, Tom might have been faking his confidence some times - for example, assuming he was telling the truth about being nervous when accepting his GG, he didn't look nervous. But I think a lot of his enthusiasm, etc., was real - as Anon mentioned, think of the vids where Luke almost has to drag him to the next red carpet stop!
We may never know if it was the summer of evil that changed him, the BBC calling him "overexposed," or some combination. Now "guarded" is an apt description of his required public appearances, at least for UK and US events. I do think he looks more relaxed in other countries, such as at the Mexico KSI premiere and on the A:IW promo tour in China.
It probably didn't help his mood yesterday that some of the people yelling at him on the RC were professional autograph hunters (according to a bystander's account on Twitter). He's always been stroppy (is that the right term?) with them.
I'm curious not just about how the career reset will play out, but also to see if he goes back towards former-Tom once he has a couple more projects released and they're received well. In the meantime, at least he's gotten past the nearly post-traumatic-stress-disorder look that he had when he first reappeared for the KSI promo.
>>814 I saw a short video on Torrilla and the baying from fans/autograph hunters was unreal. I don't blame him for not liking that but he used to deal with the same thing much better - there have always been professionals on the rope line.
I thought he really looked like he was phoning it in when he signed the autographs - not smiley and clearly only signing his first name.
The British press are said to be some of the worst, though still they have tighter privacy laws than the US - no photos of children's faces and no photos through windows into restaurants for example. I suppose the difference is that he saw all the negative press in the UK and it was from outlets he knew well like the Guardian and the Telegraph.
Tom is participating in some capacity in a literary debate early next month: https://www.intelligencesquared.com/events/dickens-vs-tolstoy-simon-schama-john-mullan/
>>816 I think these debates have readings - I am assuming he is doing one or more!
>>816>>817 Tom continues to leave the Summer of Terror Teenie boppers behind by reciting the work of classic authors. Love it. Can Tom please call whomever helped Colin Farrell rehab his career, b/c Colin is in the new Oscar-contending Steve Mcqueen movie w Elizabeth Debicki and Viola Davis, and Colin Is allowed to smile when he talks to the press. Colin must know the secret!
Tom is currently attending NYFW, he's wearing a Ralph Lauren Tux, and he is standing near Kanye West. Okay...what will they talk about?
https://hiddlesfashion.tumblr.com/image/177852399657
>>819 Aaaaaaaand he’s right back into the celebrity life. Guess he could always fall back on his spokesmodel career!
Tom is in the latter part of this video. Oprah is making a toast at the high table w Ralph Lauren, Anna Wintour, and Hillary Clinton. And Tom is on his mobile : )
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bncn-1cFWJf/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=11re8s38w5iwq
>>821 He usually has such lovely manners, but he's addicted to his phone!
More pix from the Ralph Lauren event:
His tide may have turned; kaiser at celebitchy led with Tom in his coverage of the event and didn't mention TS: https://www.celebitchy.com/591438/tom_hiddleston_showed_off_his_ginger_curls_at_the_nyfw_ralph_lauren_event/
And he even let a fan take a selfie with him: on instagram at: /p/BnjYKcOnRra/?taken-by=male_amato
I find it funny that this latest spurt of appearances happened almost two years to the day after the official TayTo breakup....
>>823 the comments on the CB article are interesting. Some nice ones about how after metoo being ambitious and a bit needy are not perhaps the worst sins.
I also thought it was perceptive to observe that he looks like a wet weekend on the RC( though obviously enjoying the event once inside) in part because the reboot is focussed on him not appearing to be thirsty. I had assumed it was primarily because he now loathes the paps as a result of Tayto.
Interestingly though, even the more stannish CBers do now accept that, whether you think the romance was real or fake, the decision to take it public was a totally conscious one (and very possibly one of which Luke disapproved - ie as we have always said a decision of TH/his American publicist). Nobody, but nobody, is buying the crap “people with camera phones victimise me” story that TH wheeled out last year. Seeing TS hidin her new partner and seeing how utterly he can change/control his image has perhaps made them realise that what we saw in the summer of 2016 was a conscious attempt to manipulate media coverage.
>>824 The tone of the CB comments was quite different, wasn't it?
I think his if-I-were-any-moe-subdued-I'd-be-dead look on the GQ RC could have been for both reasons, really. He unclenched a little for some of the RL pix, possibly because it was in the US, possibly because the focus was more on the clothes than on him - here are a couple of the ones I mentioned in >>823:
https://www.weibo.com/torilla?is_hot=1#_rnd1536719773973
https://www.weibo.com/torilla?is_hot=1#_rnd1536719773973 (note the right eyebrow...)
He was relaxed enough inside the GQ shindig that he imitated Jeff Goldblum, in front of Jeff Goldblum: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERg5rV74vQk
That Luke disapproved of the PR stunt might have contributed to him not being the one to shepherd Tom about during that summer.
The item that finally convinced me that Tom had to have been in on the PR ploy (however he might have felt about TS) was when it came out during IW promo that he had found out about the plan for Loki's sudden demise during a trip to LA in May of 2016. I could see him feeling that the plug had been pulled on a major part of his career, and a resulting sudden desire for all the publicity he could get.
>>825 Torrilla posted some pics of TH when he was publicising ISTL in Toronto - the relative minimalness of the unclenching at the RL event is noticeable when you look at his happy little face in those pics. Also I think wearing clothes he picked himself. Happy days before Yours Truly and TS got hold of him.
I have an alternative theory about the Summer of Swift. I think that it was part of a carefully orchestrated plan which was dreamed up a lot earlier and was intended to follow like a blaze of light from the spring of 2016 when he was promoting ISTL and TNM very hard. He had his little US grooming and lurve team (remember cheezetheboard, his one and only attempt at professional social media?). He had a new PR team in the US, Yours Truly and a LOT of appearances - on every outlet you can name and a few you can’t for ISTL and then TNM. He was on every front page in the UK for about 6 weeks when TNM was on tv.
The reason I say it was dreamed up earlier than May 16 is that there was a small but noticeable crumb trail. Out of the blue he followed her on Twitter in February 16, and then having deliberately avoided talking about EO he gave an interview in April 2016 saying “you can write that I’m single; there’s no ring on this finger.” That always struck me as an odd comment in the context of his (then) reticence about talking about his love life. Sounds a bit like clearing the decks so that a new relationship wouldn’t look like overlap. Then the Met Gala and the video leaked of them dancing, the account of him helping her off with her shoes, and so on.
Of course he could have found he was attending the Met Gala when she was hosting and followed her for that reason. But to my mind it all fits with the publicity activities of the spring rising to a long thought out pre-planned crescendo and him becoming genuinely pop culture famous (which he did, but not quite as planned!).
I think it’s easy to forget that in May 2016 he was riding very high. He had done critically well received work in a number of projects (even if the films overall were patchy). He had just finished shooting Skull Island. If he had revealed in May 16 that Loki was to die we would have thought, so what - he has other strings to his bow and it’s time to move on. He turned up to the TR set two weeks later than planned, with his squeeze, tanned and too fat (cf comments from our mole at the time). He didn’t seem that bothered about it being a huge part of his career any more (I have wondered subsequently if that explains the supposed tension with Taika Waititi). The loss of Loki only looks bad viewed with the benefit of hindsight now we know that there isn’t anything else at present. That’s why I don’t think it was a reaction to knowing Loki was going.
>>826 That's exactly what happened. I don't doubt this was planned way before the Met Gala. What his delusional fans seem to not realize is that he's super ambitious and will do anything to get to the upper echelon of Hollywood. He always says what everyone wants to hear and that's constant flattery and charm. He's very shrewd.
If only he'd continued with the publicity he garnered from TNM and be satisfied with that he would be in a much better place now. But as always his ego got too big with the little accolades he garnered and took part in the most fake celebrity relationship anyone has ever seen. His fans love to put all the blame on Swift but he chose to take this route and he has only himself to blame knowing how this woman does bearding.
>>828 God I have done that so many times! Very annoying. There is a way to get back to your text but I can’t remember which it is - I think when it says wrong captcha you have to press the back button in your browser. But I always forget which it is and do something which loses the lot...
Or you could highlight and copy the message before you click on the reply button.
>>827 I concur. The actors we respect the most, regardless of their era in the industry, we know very little about: Montgomery Clift, Brando; DeNiro; Mark Rylance; Ralph Fiennes; Daniel Day-Lewis; Oscar Isaacs...Tom needs to recognize that. Brand new pics of Tom back in London on the Underground. And he was spotted by a fan at Pret a Manger. Also, a video clip of his paparazzi posing pal Lizzie Olsen, in which she praises his ediquette in remembering the names of and in writing thank you notes to the entire cast and crew of ISTL. I think Tom is quite kind, but also so image conscientious.
https://m.tw.weibo.com/5304602143/4284305489819780
https://m.weibo.cn/status/4283772704452047
Who is Phil Wang and why does he hate Tom? https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=254&v=TvcOva3m8PI
>>832 Phil Wang is a comedian and he's in a comedy show. I don't think he hates Tom he's just saying that for the show.
>>831 Interesting point. All of those you listed, though, had the advantage of establishing their careers before the internet, with the new expectation of being able to know anything about anyone almost instantly. Oscar Isaacs - I guess I haven't watched enough movies in the past few years, but I had to look up what he's done, and I have seen him in at least one film. Therefore, I think that to some extent, Tom has to be conscious of his image so as not to be lost in the crowd of all the millenial actors. (And think of how much information and entertainment we're now bombarded with - it can take being a bit "noisy" to stand out.) So that makes it even more unfortunate that he damaged his image.
Working my way backwards, to see if I can reconstruct some of my pre-captcha thoughts from the other night.
The main reasons I don’t think that the SoS was planned too far in advance:
• The longer they planned it, the more time there was for someone on his team or in his family to question whether it really was a good idea and persuade the rest.
• The longer they had, couldn’t have they have come up with a more realistic-looking romance? (“Let’s get them photographed in the new paparazzi hot spot, Rhode Island! Let’s have them meet each others’ families after only a couple weeks!”)
The reasons I think it more likely came together in May (at least on his end) - although we might see him as having been riding high then, he may not have felt that way, especially if he’s extremely ambitious:
• CP had poor box office and mixed reviews; ISTL had poor reviews for the film itself (which killed his chance of lots of awards noms for his performance); and High-Rise had both low box office and mixed reviews, most of which focused on Wheatley’s interpretation and not on Tom’s performance. Yes, TNM was a huge hit in the UK, but it wasn’t over here. And the reviews of it from major US outlets uniformly made a crack about “one long Bond audition tape.”
• KSI turned out to be not the leading-man role he’d signed up for, but a comparatively small part in a very large cast.
• Then came the news about Loki. While I agree that he probably didn’t care about the role from an artistic standpoint any longer, it was a great safety net for his career – a big paycheck, lots of publicity, and good reviews every few years. Not easy to get that kind of good thing going as an actor.
• So at that point, he might have been off balance enough to agree to a really bad idea to get him a lot more PR.
All that said, I hadn’t heard that he started following TS in Feb. ’16; I knew she had followed him several months before the Met, but not the reverse. And that “no ring on this finger” comment was strange, though it could have been a Freudian-slip message to his current FWB (EO, JA, who knows?) that their thing wasn’t serious (right up there with “nothing to write home about”).
>>836 The PR thirsty Team Swift started following Tom way back in 2014, b/c they're always desperate to portray her as a sexual being. This is partly why her PR relationships are so utterly unbelievable. She's not a Rihanna or an Angelina Jolie, or a Scarlett Johansson-type (and who is, by the way?) She is just a stiff model wannabe who knows how to awkwardly attempt to hold hands w a man while mimicking his style of fashion, and looking down at the ground demurely. And then her fans, others suburban girls, live through the fantasies that her PR team create in the tabloids, which is why they are so protective of the fictional narratives. Anyway, they followed Tom after relationship expert and future Real Housewives of New Jersey star Siggy Flicker was asked to analyze a potential relationship between them for an US magazine Valentine's Day article. And Tom didn't follow back till right before he presented at the CMA Awards in 2016.
https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/taylor-swift-and-tom-hiddleston-and-more-celebrity-couples-wed-like-to-see-2014142/
Career news! Tom and Elizabeth Olsen will be doing a Loki/Red Witch tv series for the new Disney streaming service under Marvel Studios?! "The actors who portrayed these heroes and villains in the Avengers films and their spin-offs, such as Tom Hiddleston and Elizabeth Olsen, are expected to play them in the streaming shows." I'm nonplussed.
>>838 It sounds prettt speculative TBH. I see Marvel has not commented!
Not sure of the credibility of the Standard but they're saying that TNM2 may not happen.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/the-londoner-light-fades-for-the-night-manager-a3939916.html
Looks like the good and the bad happened to him in the past 24 hours.
>>841 Two inaccurate statements in that article:
>>836 Sorry for not responding to this earlier - a lot to chew over re timing. I’d be interested to know if you now think it was fake (separately from the question of when exactly TH bought into the publicity plan).
I just keep looking at how she has been with her new lover - almost totally off grid even though she has supposedly been seeing him for more than a year. There have been maybe two or three stories with fake (ie arranged) pap shots, and maybe one or two with genuine fuzzy as hell pap pics. It feels real in a way that a lot of her other relationships just haven’t (not only Tayto).
>>843 I’m still mulling my answer to that - more to come. In the meantime, I found this for potential discussion, related to Tom’s film career going forward: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/lostinshowbiz/2018/sep/13/juicing-work-outs-monetsising-self-obsession-acting-mark-wahlberg
The reintroduction continues: https://www.jw3.org.uk/event/ahjw3-speaker-series-tom-hiddleston-and-josie-rourke , and it’s sold out, of course.
The reintroduction continues: https://www.jw3.org.uk/event/ahjw3-speaker-series-tom-hiddleston-and-josie-rourke
Sorry for the duplicate - I thought captcha ate the first one!
Taffy is still milking her 15 minutes of fame, now with the lovely comment she apparently made to Tom of "Tom, this has been the best week of my life. You should try to enjoy this more. I know it was tough with the Taylor stuff, but this is really amazing."-- https://www.celebitchy.com/593530/taffy_brodesser-akner_has_a_great_story_about_tom_hiddleston_apologizing_to_her/
>>848 I saw this a few days ago - was going to comment and never got round to it. That woman is a piece of work isn’t she? Does a hatchet job, then milks it frantically for weeks on end, then mills it again while revealing she has been a complete bitch!!
The news on the other front is - interesting. I didn’t bother getting tickets though they hadn’t sold out when I looked (a few hours after it had been announced). The rehabilitation rollout continues.
Do we think this presages a work announcement? Or is it part of a plan to get that work by showing/reminding everyone that he is - well, let’s not put too fine a point on it, not as nuts as Tayto might have led one to believe. I am inclined to think the latter. I reckon that after it became apparent that Tayto had killed his buzz, he did what was already booked (IW filming in April 17, contractually required publicity), took a loooong holiday from auditioning (grew beard, bought dog etc), started the rollout very quietly and is probably only recently pursuing projects more assiduously.
Pretty harsh words, and uncalled for, calling her a bitch. Obviously Tom didnt think the interview was bad since I'm sure his publicist gave the ok to run it and Tom himself was liking Twitter posts that approved of it the day the interview was released. I'm sure he's still friends with Taffy now much to your displeasure. The disgusting ageism and misogyny of his fanbase never fails to surprise me.