As I previewed yesterday, Tom Hiddleston sat on Twitter for several hours doing a Q&A with fans. Unfortunately, the Q&A was really boring and pretentious. I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again: Hiddles is much, much too earnest. His earnestness almost borders on humorlessness. It’s like he’s incapable of being light, of making an easy quip, of interacting with his fans in a loose, genuine way. I got the feeling that the questions were being heavily vetted, because seriously, the questions that got through were like “Do you speak French?” No one asked him any sex stuff because Hiddles probably would have clutched his pearls and fainted. And this guy is all about seeming intellectual, to the point where I actually wonder if he’s just a poshly-educated robot, merely capable of parroting whatever his Cambridge professors taught him. Anyway, here are some highlights from Tommy’s Q&A:
What is your favourite Shakespearean insult.
Falstaff to Hal: ‘Sblood, you starveling, you elf-skin, you dried neat’s-tongue, you bull’s-pizzle, you stock-fish!Out of curiosity, who is your favorite poet?
Very tough to call. T S Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is one of my favourite poems. “Let us go then, you and I…”Do you speak french ?
Bonjour. Je comprends plus que je parle mais je parle un peu.What went through your head when Coriolanus sold out this fast? See you in the new year!
Huge excitement followed blind terror. What you feel before every great adventure. Good nerves and adrenalin.Care to share a few titles in Loki’s ‘prison library’?
I always liked the idea of Frigga sending a few Midgardian greats. Proust: “A la recerche de temps perdus” Plato’s Repubic. Shadows on the cave… A perfect metaphor for his imprisonment; the perpetual state of waking fear.. Alan Taylor suggested The Prison Notebooks by Antonio Gramsci.what’s the best part of working with chris hemsworth?
He makes me a better actor. We have such a good laugh. We trust each other. All my best scenes are with Chris.What do you think about the Online Petition for a Solo Loki Movie? Would you like to make it???? Tell us please!
I am flattered and amazed. Really and truly. It means the world that you love the character so much. @ThorMovies is, definitively, the only one on the slate for now. But… never say never.What do you think of Ben Whishaw?
He’s the greatest actor of my generation.How did you like portraying F Scott Fitzgerald? Were you a big fan beforehand?
I loved it. I remember walking around Paris in June 2010 listening to Frank Muller reading The Great Gatsby (Unabridged). Perfect.Which book/movie/play has ever made you cry profusely before?
I had to sit in the cinema for about 10 minutes after Beasts of the Southern Wild. @IAMQUVENZHANE’s courage made me cry.Favorite book all time?
Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”. And “Any Human Heart”, by William Boyd.What is the last book you read for your entertainment and not for role research?
I am currently re-reading the Patrick Melrose novels by Edward St Aubyn. They are very painful, very honest and very funny.Favourite disney movie, apart from The Jungle Book.
Mary PoppinsWho is your favorite playwright aside from Shakespeare?
Anton Chekhov.
I guess I liked his compliment to Ben Whishaw. Let’s face it, Ben Whishaw is a much better actor than Tom, but Ben rarely gets a fraction of the attention Tom gets, but I suspect Ben is fine with that. I also liked his answer about Beasts of the Southern Wild. SO EARNEST. I would kind of like to see Tom sobbing after a movie. Ugh, what is wrong with me? Am I just so used to casual, jaded, cynical bitches that I don’t even know where to start with Tom?
Dragonfly photos courtesy of Flaunt.
The top pic looks nothing like him-he actually looks good.
Heh. You got there before me.
On a regular day he looks average. So, I want his photographer to make me look that good.
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I agree. I always say he looks average. Nothing to swoon over. If he walked by me on the street I would keep on walking.
Ha ha that’s what I thought; he actually does it for me in that pic; even in the presence of dragonflies. Who knew
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This Q&A was sooo boring.
Yesterday’s FauxHiddles was much more entertaining.
My sentiments exactly. Might be my favorite thread to date!
I thought FauxHiddles was you, Fantster. Darnit.
No, I thought about doing it, but I have a conference paper to write by next week so was up to my eyes in the Thatcher archive, depressingly enough (actually not true: they’re fascinating).
Anyway, my answers would have been *paragraphs* long and very obviously me.
(Good luck with the paper. That’s a mass of material right there).
Ah, the mystery is as much fun as anything. I kinda want it to have been Jake (fresh from remedial English class).
No way. Jake would have tried to arrange a hook up behind the school bike shed.
Ok. Then I wish I could believe that it was Hiddles enjoying himself being FauxHiddles safe in the thought of never being discovered. I don’t suppose he has it in him, but that would be delicious.
If Hiddles came on here to face us in any capacity, he would be my new god. I’d do anything he needed to get him more movies. I would single handedly lead the tumblrites to thee promised land.
I was the star of this show. *bows*
I happen to like his taste in literature (and would have suggested Loki read Neruda’s Residencias), but overall I found the Twitter Q&A to be pretty dull and predicatable. Easy answers to favorite books, favorite movies. I expected him to talk about acting and craft, and was disappointed.
TommyAnne of the Forest – please come and role play here again. Often.
@Tfanty: I was typing everything on my iPhone while running about the city during a heat wave, so forgive me for not writing longer posts.
@Sixer: You are one of my favorites. Of course!
Fauxhiddles is clearly DUC.
Someone yesterday pointed out that Cumby was in the media talking about reading the same set of Patrick Melrose Novels. According to Barnes and Noble, they’re about the “burden of privilege.” I LOVE LOVE LOVE the thought of DUC and Tallulah having little book club meetings where they sip very expensive scotch and talk about how hard their lives are.
So how did TommyAnne get the nickname Tallulah, now?
I can’t quite remember. I think it had something to do with him becoming my housemaid. I lose track of our mythologizing sometimes.
You know it’s getting epic when we need a chart for the pet names.
I think he was the maid after you married Cumby… also, there was something about charades and fondu. I think. party games, cheese, and sex. Sounds about right?
It sounds so very, very right.
I really do not like those St Aubyn novels – they’re the literary equivalent of those dreary Joanna Hogg films TommyAnne is in.
Someone should tell these people that drama is about conflict and there’s a reason the very top and the very bottom of society are both chosen so often in drama – the conflicts are actually interesting/meaningful.
The idea of a book club about these novels is such a glorious cipher. So ripe for Celebitchy mockery I’m getting quite tingly just imagining it!
Here’s the breakdown of the club;
1- two hours of complaining about the crushing burden of privilege that we don’t understand, including Cumby’s complaints about having to do his own dry-cleaning and TommyAnne talking about the time he lived on a potato.
2 – another hour of considerably more drunkenly complaining about internet people not realizing how hard they fought to get where they are and complaining about how Damian Lewis doesn’t have to deal with this bullshit.
3 – a thirty second discussion of which role TommyAnne could play when Hogg finally answers his drunken texts and agrees to make the movie, while Cumby brazenly admits that he didn’t read the book and had a runner at Sherlock follow him around and read him the review they found in the Guardian in between takes.
4- they pass out in front of a fire amid a pile of empty bottles of Kavalan Single Malt.
5. When they wake up, it’s to text alerts from their agents: the part went to Ben Whishaw, who’s currently re-reading Armistead Maupin’s Tales of the City series.
Cumberbatch said days ago he was reading the Patrick Melrose books so Hiddles just had to name drop them too.
@ Betsy – if there’s a possible project coming up, you can bet there are more (posh) British actors rushing to read these books than just Benny the Bitch and Tallulah Tom. Anyone who thinks they’re in with a chance will be feverishly downloading to their Kindles and iPads.
Cumby won’t take a “poor me” posh role. He knows that he would NEVER hear the end of it because he can’t resist engaging in nonsense when it’s in front of him.
By the way, Sixer, your #5 was quite brilliant. Sometimes you make me feel like a mere Puddletom to your Benny T.Bitch.
I wonder what they’d make for hangover breakfast and hangover cocktails. And who would cook. No way would they go out for brunch looking unpresentable.
Breakfast is Quaaludes. If Maupin works for Whishaw…
*self-deprecating remark directed towards T.Fanty – “I wish”*
No. No no no no no. No Kaiser! I’m staring at TWO fifteen hour work days (today and tomorrow), and you’re putting up a golden Hiddles post?
Well, you are getting MY favorite Shakespeare insult: Aaron, the Moor, to Tamara the Goth Queen’s sons in Titus Andronicus:
“I have DONE thy mother!”
(Okay, I know you’re the mod and I swear I’m kidding, but damn. I can’t hang out at Thornfield until Sunday. Sadface).
I’m shipping an emergency 6-pack to you, stat. What? Everyone drinks at work…
Oh bless you, Anna. My work stash is getting low. I’ve been trying to figure out who’s been nipping while I’m away. I’ve been thinking of slipping in cans of budweiser to discourage the little thief!
God bless you for a little Titus on a Friday morning. I actually just bought a pot pie for dinner today.
I’m going to tell myself that the only reason you bought a pot pie is because I won’t have time to cook one for all of us tonight. It’s fine. I get it.
But given a choice between preservatives or teenage boys, well, at least I know the boys are fresh. 😉
What is a pot pie? And does it have any alternative uses?
aaand on that note, I am off to work. Have fun ladies! There’s some back-up microbrew in the carport fridge and the biscuits (ha!) and gravy are still piping hot so be careful.
Yes. Stewing your enemy’s children.
A pot pie is just a pie, I think. Chicken ones are GOOOOD. It’s got a kind of creamy, soupy chicken and veg mix in it.
Here you go:
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/chicken-pot-pie
Puff pastry, I hope?
@PromBeer – I shall return the favour with some scrumpy and some home-made sloe gin the next time you’re about.
*jumps up and down in excitement* My sister and I used to pick berries for my mum’s sloe gin every year. Then I would steal the bottles so that my A Level class could get hammered in the refectory after our exams.
I credit sloe gin for getting me through chemo. Seriously! I love the stuff. Make it every year.
There’s plenty for you too, Fanty, of course.
Whoa, wait a minute, who’s got a recipe for sloe gin?! And can someone explain what exactly it is? I’ve heard of it but don’t really know, other than that it’s alcoholic, right?
Binturong: I follow Nigel – http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/oct/10/nigel-slater-classic-sloe-gin-recipe.
It’s very sweet and syrupy but obviously has a big kick.
Thank you sixes! Though I had to go to Wikipedia to find out what exactly “sloe” is–I had thought it referred to the method, not the berry 🙂 So now I’m on the hunt to find sloe berries here in New England. Supposedly they grow here, but I’m a little leery of my own abilities to botanize–would rather buy them somewhere!
PS–my f’ing computer keeps correcting your name to sixes–can’t fix it, sorry 🙁
I’m sure you could use any berry really – you’d just get a slightly different flavour?
Chiming in to say the following;
1 – I love Nigel Slater’s recipes. They’re almost foolproof enough for me to manage
2 – Biturong. Don’t ever be tempted to buy sloe gin in the US. It’s an abomination. If you can’t find the berties, plant a seed, wait several years, then make your own. It’s absolutely worth it.
Oh I LOVE that!
My personal favorites, which have come in handy for me on occasion:
“I do desire we may be better strangers.” (As You Like It)
or
“You are not worth another word, else I’d call you knave.” (Alls Well That Ends Well)
Well, I for one have missed you around here, Lady With Beer. 🙂
I liked this. He really loves Shakespeare, so what. Personally, I find him less pretentious than Cumberbatch.
Again what’s the need to bring Cumbebatch in his post?? Then his fans complain why is he brought up in Cumberbatch posts….SMH
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I find Cumberbatch to be more entertaining because you never know what he might say. That THR is a fine example.
Because they’re two actors of similar backgrounds who got famous around the same time? And in every Cumberbatch post people always bring up Hiddles. I’m not a huge fan of either one of them.
Besides, I’m not the first one to bring him up.
Because Hiddles is dull and boring.
No one really knows why, but it’s the law.
You think Cumberbatch is more pretentious than this guy?! Owww…kay.
Yes. To me, Hiddles comes across as someone who likes to name-drop, qoute Shakespeare etc., but not in an “I’m so much better than you” kind of way. Cumby does.
And, I’ve never heard Hiddles complain about anything. Cumby did complain about being a poor posh little boy who only gets to play posh little boys.
If you’re an actor making this kind of money, IMO, you don’t get to complain about anything ever. Unless it’s life threatening or very insulting.
I’m a card-carrying Cumber-something and I have to admit that Spooks is a bit right. But that’s part of why I adore Drunk Uncle Cumby.
I wasn’t around for the whole “posh scandal”, so correct me if I’m wrong: did BC actually complain about his “posh/upper/middle class” background, or did he complain that OTHERS make a deal about it? I’ve always understand it to be the latter, and if that’s truly the case then I can’t understand why he gets so beat up about it.
He complained about people typecasting him for it and said it was boring and stupid (or words to that effect). A man with the name Benedict Cumberbatch should have seen the backlash coming.
It was quite funny, though.
Maureen, if I remember correctly, he was complaining about posh-bashing and saying he might leave the UK for the states because that stuff doesn’t happen in America. It was Benny the Bitch at the zenith of his talents.
At least BC stood up and said that he could have said it a little differently. I never see TH ever taking responsibilities for his faux pas. (way to leave Jane lying on the cold hard ground [AHHHHHH *sorry had to have my Swift moment*]
hiddleston has complained about etonian-bashing, which is the same as posh-bashing really. for some reason this didn’t get picked up the same way cumby’s quotes did.
Hahaha! And that is actually why I think he’s not pretentious! Haha. He says what he wants to say and not hide it behind his Shakespearean passion. He just revealed what’s happening to him with the posh thing (which is true). It’s effing stupid to complain and he deserved that backlash.
I don’t see anything pretentious with the bitchy and snarky comments from him. That’s honesty for me. TH with his cutie-patootie, saccharine self is pretentious in my book.
The point at which TommyAnne began to get up my nose was an interview about Eton. He and Dominic West (both old Etonians) had been asked together whether they thought private schools should be abolished. West said bluntly yes and he wouldn’t be sending his kids to private schools. TommyAnne said reluctantly it would be good but he couldn’t imagine it happening and that it was a “national sickness” that people noticed what school you’d gone to.
Not a national sickness that some people are privileged and some people aren’t, you’ll notice, but a national sickness that some people point it out.
Somehow, this got reported as “saintly Tom Hiddleston supports the abolition of private schools” when it was actually “Tom Hiddleston plays semantics so as to appear to do that but really to whine about posh bashing which is what he’d really like to see abolished”.
I was sitting there with itchy teeth thinking “You utter tosspot.”
@Sixer,
Was that the article where he said people think Etonians are a bunch of “braying toffs”?
God, I just can’t with him. These questions…these answers…it’s too much crap by half!
It’s “crap” to ask someone about literature? It’s “crap” to enjoy great literature?
He’s well-read and well-versed in Shakespeare. What in the everloving heck is “crap” about that? Would you prefer the idiotic “what do you want in a woman?” questions Robert Pattinson invariably answers?
LOL @ your tantrum.
I happen to LOVE literature, particularly the classics (though not Shakespeare especially), and I am happy for celebrities to talk about books because it makes reading look cool for the younger set–and reading IS cool. What isn’t cool are these ridiculously contrived questions and ridiculously pretentious answers.
THAT is what’s crap.
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So bland. Nothing interesting.
I’m a HiddleHard, but this interview mostly leaves me cold. Fairly unimaginative answers.
Also, Loki would absolutely have Art of War with him, first and foremost. Know your basics!
I think he had to comb through all the follow request, marriage proposals, when are you visiting xxx and so on, and settled on the questions he was willing to answer. It was all vanilla.
I do agree that he strikes me as humorless. Not in the lacking a sense of humor sense, but in the inability to laugh at himself.
He strikes me as a needy person with low self-esteem (for whatever reason) and has his mind made up about the persona he wants to project, and he is wedded to that persona no matter what. THIS is the reason he repeatedly comes across as bland, predictable, humorless, and constantly name-drops people and literary references. In real life, when he’s around people who make him feel secure, he’s likely charming and funny. Maybe.
I wish they would just let him off his leash and let him answer the way he wants to. That would have been far more entertaining.
And The Prince, Machievelli.
And the Dale Carnegie classic How to Win Friends and Influence People. Perhaps a Chicken Soup for the Frost Giant Soul.
Well now I’m thinking someone needs to smuggle in a copy of Roald Dahl’s The BFG.
Show him that Giants don’t have to eat people.
Since this is Loki, he may also have to be threatened with a diet of snozzcumbers. But I’m sure he’ll get the point, eventually. (I can change him!)
Are they better than snozzleberries? I like snozzleberries.
Oh my GOD, Forest Dragonfly King! I *knew* there was a “Prince” reference coming, I knew it I knew it I knew it I swear I did.
@ tommyanne ,glad ur back with us today ,but pray first do accept my apology for bein a bt snarky last thread ,and now how do i cure myself of this terrible malady u had me infected with ,is there no cure to get David hasseloffs out of tune “hold on a feeling” doin a hooga hooga out of my ears or that terrible video which has electrocuted my visual centre permanently
Careful. I may just have to invoke the Muppets singing Bohemian Rhapsody…..
i want loki to speak french to me,in my bedroom.OM FREAKIN G…Oui Oui, Loki, i would say.
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Nothing wrong with you Kaiser. I feel the same way about this dude.
Twee man…but I love him!
Q&A was pretty pointless, nothing he hasn’t said before really.
The thread here on it yesterday made it all worthwhile though! 🙂
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I just checked the post from yesterday and you are right. The fake tommyanne was much more entertaining.
supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Aw no to the Hiddles-hate. Hey, I’m a cynical old cow but I find him charming, particuarly when being interviewed. Dorky and charming. I liked the Q+A, *blatantly* nutter-screened but then anyone’s would be. I don’t find him too intellectual but fuck…maybe that means *I’m* an intellectual?! Clearly can’t be that! :-}
Maybe not intellectual, he seems professor-y. He likes to lecture.
*side-eye* nothing wrong with that.
Are you kidding me, of course I’d sit front row at one of his lectures. Color coordinated notes and all. He gets to talk for and hour and 40 minutes about whatever. He’d be a perfect fit in academia. I call him Professor Hiddleston, btw.
I would love it if he actually talked about the books he was reading, or showed some ideas. He came close with Plato’s cave. It all felt like window decoration to me. Much like the dragonfly jacket.
Do the press often describe Hiddles as intellectual too? Just curious. You see, Cumby gets it all the time. In almost every interview, from almost every colleague. I’m like, “yeah, yeah we get it”. Even his directors Condon and Wells describe him as this really crazy smart guy.
Which I kind of find interesting… since others have said he can be a bit ditzy? Maybe? Or, well, I guess Pegg (or was it M. Freeman?) said he was just very trusting and naive?
Didn’t Mark Gatiss describe him as a puppy dog? Doesn’t mean he can’t be smart, of course. I think Cumby is as wedded to his super-smart, intense actor but proper English gentleman persona as Hiddles is to his Shakespeare and enthusiasm one. I would imagine that’s a tiny part of who they are, really. And for all Tom’s Tomness, I’d still wager he’s smarter than Cumby.
Pegg and Freeman describe him as gullible because he’s so trusting apparently.
His answers were soooo made up like can he ever answer anything spontaneously. Ughhh he is has started to really piss me off these days.
Yea he looks hot in that first pic probably his best photoshoot.
not made up me thinks.In a way just like me, i like to answer question’s with an intro, so peole understand where im comming from.Looks like stalling..But its just, PLS GET WHAT I MEAN.i get him very much.
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There were sooooo many good questions that were asked but didn’t get answered. Waste of time.
Including ALL of ours.
*waves at Tommyanne* Mr. Hiddles! Come on here and give us an hour of your time! We’ll give you sore fingers and then some! Come onnnnnnnnn! We’ll love you forever!
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Haha
Will I do?
Yes! TommyAnnE, we need a direct, side-by-side comparison of your answers to these questions. It’s not fair to compare bland questions with our brilliantly saucy ones.
Do it, for the science.
Yes!
Random: You know who else is a better actor than him? Sharlto Copley. And his humbleness comes across much more sincere.
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……Boring snoozefest…….
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I was a fan of Tom but no more. That crush from Thor is dead. He just seems….I don’t know can’t put my finger on it.
That twitter Q&A was ridiculous, just canned spam and he never strayed into the more interesting questions. No doubt Luke was standing behind him with the puppet strings.
I doubt anyone except the more insane stans in the fandom actually liked it.
Tom is dead inside. And being dead inside he can barely type, that’s why the thing took three hours.
Tom is dead inside I don’t know why that made me laugh.
I was liking the logical jump from being dead inside to unable to type.
I didn’t realise poor typing was a symptom of zombiehood. I’m grateful for the warning. This will definitely help my chances of surviving the zombie apocalypse.
It’s such a dramatic statement from saying he likes TS Eliot or that he wishes he’d speak better Spanish. Yep, he’s a goner.
The following annecdote is hilarious
Toronto sun QMI best moments of TIFF :
Tom Hiddleston, who paused a roundtable so he could Google a film and reminded reporters at the end that ‘Life is like an ocean’s journey’ before giving a salute goodbye.
He really is from planet oblivious…that has an ocean of illusion and rivers of denial. LOL.
@betsy, you left out that he was “The most charming interview”.
I’d like to direct all of y’all’s attention to this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vn0SzB6JNTc
Honestly, there isn’t a person out there who’s interviewed him who hasn’t ended up fangirling over him, which is something DUC can’t necessarily boast, since we’re all comparing notes. I’m not even going to mention the people he’s worked. Grown, married men can’t keep their hands off him, for Pete’s sake.
To wit, RDJ spent multiple interviews during the Avengers press tour with his arm on the back of Hiddles’s chair, jeremy Renner’s groping his arse is well documented, Chris Hemsworth’s touchy feely bromance is many a fangirl’s wet dream, and Chris Evans got “lost in Tom’s glow”, probably while groping his pecks: http://31.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m1xnlcvi0N1rs5mg4o1_250.gif
And then there was Mark Ruffalo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYCYeRuORbY
The trend seems to continue, and it’s spread to more than just costars:
http://torrilla.tumblr.com/post/61122389731
@betsy – did he seriously do that!? He seems to feel safe quoting others only. I remember the NERD HQ interview, he said something mildly negative about the ’90s and quickly walked it back. TH can’t handle not being liked.
Oh NO. No he didn’t do that. Did he really say that? God.
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Blah I would like to see more post on actual attractive men and not overhyped Brit actors who are only known for playing Marvel costume characters.
I can’t think of any other British Marvel actors, so I’m forced to assume you’re intentionally bestowing the royal plural upon Tom.
Even the craziest fangirls don’t do that … do they?
He sounds like a pretentious twatwaffle!
I love that insult.
Did y’all notice that his favorite poem is also one of Cumby’s? Cumby has also quoted Prufrock in some of his interviews.
It’s the favorite poem of tons of people who like poetry. There is nothing strange about that.
Thoughts: What makes the Q&A pretentious is the name dropping and the lack of substance. I think he actually likes the works cited, but it’s superficial:
Q: “What are your favorite books?”
A: (Hiddles thinks, wondering which titles will really make him look like the intellectual rockstar he wants his fans to see him as, then taps out some titles.) Next question?
Sorry if that sounds cynical, but I continually find him to be very unrelaxed, not spontaneous, not truly engaged when he answers questions like this. He is way to concerned about how he appears.
I’m a hardcore bookslut by the way and love a good intellectual discussion. Cumby regularly delivers. He is also unafraid of showing a real opinion.
TommyAnnE, dear, you seem to be having an identity crisis.
Ergh. I need coffee. Or something stronger?
Or maybe I need you to hit me with that nice rabbit fur covered paddle? I always cry when I think about the poor rabbit though.
To be expected, darling – I was a bit rough with you last night.
May I have snozzleberries with coffee? Please? It would so cheer me up.
Yeah, that coffee I sent you was actually decaf. Payback from Josh Horowitz.
And I know that you love Mean Girls so stop playing this intellectual stuff.
To be fair Any Human Heart by William Boyd is an amazing book!
I was counting the number of people he flattered during the Q&A then I Lost my counts past Beasts. Nothing not-said before but I like the “Perpetual state of waking fear” quote.
I love, love, love that photo of him in the dragonflies jacket.
Liked the Q&A. Sure it revealed nothing really new or of note but I have no problem with his perceived earnestness.
I love the dragon fly jacket but I am partial to embroidery and clothing which stands out from the rum of the mill. The Q and A was fine for what it was. Twitter at best only allows for simplistic answers. It was part of the Marvel promotions and considering the range,number and repetitiveness of the questions he did well to keep it varied.
Usually I don’t see the appeal in this man but he looks pretty sexy in these pics.
I don’t see any problem with his Q&A….it’s neither here nor there, just somebody talking. Totally fine with it.
“Am I just so used to casual, jaded, cynical bitches that I don’t even know where to start with Tom?”
I think that might be part of it….Like does somebody have an axe to grind with him on here? Cuz it seems like whatever comes out of his mouth is like nails on a chalkboard to some people hahaha
Sometimes he can come across a little over earnest but this twitter thing, i dont see what was wrong with it.
I’ll take earnestness over the current trend – exuding an “I’m too cool for [insert here] and being gung-ho and committed is lame” attitude.
If he were to start firing off quips and playing a la RDJ, many would label him as “fake.” So, what should he do?
I’ll take him as he is.
The Q&A was perfectly fine for what it was supposed to be – part of overall movie promotion. It wasn’t a date where people should expect to come away with some sort of insight into his soul.
I’ll take his eager earnestness over the cold cynicism of Hollywood anyday. It’s a relief to see someone like him who isn’t pissed off by his own fame and success or tries to act offhandedly cool when he isn’t.
I think the main issue was that a lot of the people he answered were fans that he follows.
No, he didn’t. That Italian Loki Army is the only one he answered that he follows. Which makes sense to address the big unofficial fan clubs. The rest were all average safe questions from those he doesn’t follow at all. I don’t think he follows Hiddles Educates but even if he did, that still makes it most of the questions.
I noticed a bulk of the questions he was asked were 3-4 questions in one tweet and at least two of those questions were fanfic related or follow me requests or i love yous. From a PR standpoint, you stay clear of those. They picked good (safe) single question tweets to answer that were personable and friendly without being invasive. It was classic PR 101 and the exact way to go with tentpole promotions.
Just for the record: he doesn’t follow ItalianLokiArmy account either 🙂
I think he is attractive in these photos. I like men who know literature. I cried so much with Any Human Heart.
I think it was a good honest Q&A
YES! I agree +1000
Sigh. What happened to the Hiddles that had a sense of humor and made d*ck jokes?
This one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6y0C1KMN48
We must raise him from Perdition.
Hey, I lost comment. An entire comment, just *poof* disappeared.
http://i-dance-inside-my-mind.tumblr.com/post/60478130421/guys-is-it-just-me-or-is-it-literally-the
I had to include this, because someone finally noticed Chris Hemsworth’s identical face in all the Thor 2 posters on Tumblr. I love trolling it, but I’m too lazy to get one. A tumblr, not a Hemsworth. o.o I’m out of vodka 😐
That’s funny, yo
Is it just me or is the questions on here more entertaining? Plus out very own TommyAnne came out of hiding and answered them like a trooper (waves)
Only wish The real TommyAnne could see past the tumblr loons and come on here
I want to curl up at your feet and sing Rhinestone Cowboy for you, but Jane Eyre keeps beating me with her flyswatter, which makes it ever so difficult. As my dear friend Alain du Botton said to me while I made him fresh barbecued entrails at my mansion last week, “life is like a giraffe’s mocking laughter in the dark.” Wouldn’t you agree?
Oh Kaiser, ‘clutched his pearls and fainted’. Perfect. No one will mistake TH for ‘cool’, ever. He is that hot professor you just can’t keep your mind from wandering while you stare at his pants as he natters on.
I would have eaten my mobile phone for him to answer the tweet ‘what do you do in your spare time?’, to be ‘I watch porn or read my fanfiction’.
“No one will mistake TH for ‘cool’, ever. He is that hot professor you just can’t keep your mind from wandering while you stare at his pants as he natters on.” great image and yes never cool but rocks the sexy vibe anyway. Cool is so overrated. Who wants cool in bed. I want hot, passionate and eager not somebody turning down the temperature with snark and coolaid. The last actor who admitted to reading his own fan fiction said in the end it’s best to avoid it or you might start to believe you are capable of all those positions. So better he sticks with porn me thinks we do not want any bad backs interrupting filming.
I’d just like to say I’d like more Whishaw posts. He is dreamy.
According to mtv Hiddles and Cumby were seen together at Elton John’s concert about an hour after the Q&A was over. What’s going on with these two? Could Hiddlesbatch be real? Makes me wonder about that Crimson Peak role.
yes they are genuinely friends. why does this surprise people. they went to a sigur ros concert together, and prob hang out with the same crowd.
Even this person noted how overeager Luke was in trying to keep Tom on a leash: http://canadagraphs.weebly.com/6/post/2013/09/tiff13-day-0-of-the-toronto-international-film-festival-meeting-daniel-bruhl-tom-hiddletston.html
I still like him, despite his “intellectual” tastes. I always find it amusing that people are branded as “intellectual snobs” as soon as they admit they like to read Shakespeare or philosophy. There’s more to intellect than those two subjects!
I cannot stop snickering that they’re reading the same series of books about a privileged man.
Do you think one loaned his books to the other? I hope the loaner realizes he is never going to see those books again.
Perhaps, being friends, one said “hey have you read ……. it’s really good” and the other one said ” oh, right, I’ll give it a try”.
Have you never read a book a friend has recommended?
Of course I have! Dozens of times. & then I keep their book.
But yes, of course. Many of my favorites, for many years, have been recommended by friends. Friends are supposed to know you well enough to know if you will like a book! I was just poking fun at them for talking about what they were reading to the press, unwittingly ensuring that the Patrick Melrose books will have a sharp spike in sales. This is not their fault!
Also, a lot of the snickering is based upon the previous line of joking & mockery about their privileged backgrounds, which they have both discussed at length. I kid the Cumby & Hiddles team.
“(Unabridged).”
Luke.
http://maisam22.tumblr.com/image/57731343509
The same person commented under multiple nicks on this thread and the Cumberbatch thread. Their comments have been marked and they have been banned.
What did they say? What did I miss?
Oh, as in ‘nickname’! Ha! Thanks 🙂
“national sickness” that people noticed what school you’d gone to.””
I saw that interview and he said nothing about it being a national sickness” The reporter in question was just trying to get some attention by quizzing people on an issue that was totally irrelevant to the situation. His answer was perfectly reasonable considering the situation.
The Q and A was great- he did no answer questions re acting but there were negligible question on that subject and any way if he those who like to dish him would just have called him pretentious again. And really who wants a 144 letter answer on a subject that you can write a book on. Pretentious is pretty subjective and its funny often the people who label others pretentious are themselves masters of the art.
West: “fabulous. I certainly won’t be sending my children to public school”
Hiddleston: “wonderful. I think it’s a real national weakness to categorise people, in both directions, according to where they went to school.”
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/londoners-diary/abolish-private-schools-say-dominic-west-and-tom-hiddleston-8532590.html
Ok, weakness, not sickness.
Of course it was relevant. The journalist asked three people what they thought of a current issue (also Plan B).
Of course Hiddleston can have any opinion he chooses and I don’t mind what his opinion is – he can support private schools if he wants to. I’m on the fence myself.
West came out against, Plan B came out for (with reservations). Both, in my view, seemed to be genuinely held opinions. Hiddleston played semantics – and, in my view, while doing so gave away his resentment that his own privilege is a black mark against him in some people’s eyes.
You may read it however you like. But that’s how I read it and I quote to explain why and when TommyAnne started to get on my nerves.
I’d still hit it though! And that’s why I always joke that, while hitting it, I keep him gagged.
*Drooling on ball gag*
Egegdbhrndd errrrrrgfmmmm……
Wow, Tom really missed the point of that question, huh?
He sure did. I remember when this article came out and had the same thoughts. There was another interview as well where he complained about being labeled, not seeing that inequality of opportunity is the real injustice here.
The quote actually came from a live interview and if you had had any dealings with the press you would know they love to add tags to what was said. Find me the live interview where he says this and then I will give you the points.Yes weakness is quite different from sickness, was it a Freudian slip or just haste. My experience as a non Brit actually agrees with him. I do not agree with the system but people and the press do not half have a moan about it. But nobody ever comes up with ways to change the structure.
The comment was “”I think it’s a real national weakness to categorise people, in both directions, according to where they went to school.” as opposed to was a “national sickness” that people noticed what school you’d gone to”Its all about perception and how you chose to interpret it. If you are going to use a quote to dish someone at least quote it correctly,
“”Both direction””” means that no one should be labelled according to whatever school they go.He is right the UK is a country to often people are categorised from an educational background standpoint. He is not denying he had advantages but as in the earlier article he had said to label people as “toffs” just because of the school they went to is wrong. And it is. I find it annoying when wealthy actors say they will send there kids to state schools knowing full well that the neighbourhood they love in will probably mean they will attend one of the best state schools.He has never implied he was victim but called people out on their prejudice-there is a difference. Sixer it is a touchy subject which is why how we interpret what people say is as important as the subject itself.
ETA: sorry, was trying to reply to Fanty and failing miserably.
Quite. And all’s I’m saying is that I, me, Sixer, know exactly how much in the way of life chances (in all sorts of ways) I got from my posh private school education, and I hope, when people ask me about it, I’m prepared to own it.
I really hope I never become the person that would take all those advantages and turn them into implied victimhood. To me, that person is TommyAnne even more than Benny the Bitch, who at least whines right out in the open when he whines.
And perhaps I just find it a touchy subject, too. I’ll try at least to own that!
It’s quite a a spectacular navel-gazing response to a question that is essentially about poor people, and to be honest, it angers me a little. I doubt that there is a kid on a council estate in Birmingham feeling *really* bad for TommyAnne. As someone who grew up poor, and I would kill for the advantages they had. To say that wealth and private education is anything but a privilege is an insult to people who made do and couldn’t afford such opportunities. I was unable to attend a prestigious drama school because I couldn’t pay for it. God bless these boys for being able to go, but not for a second can they claim that their life isn’t better due to privilege.
Cumby doesn’t quite as obviously imply it’s hard being privileged. In fact he regularly expresses appreciation for it and just complains that it’s annoying people stereotype him for it. Being names Benedict Cumberbatch and just looking to English and upperclass means that DUC can never assimilate. Tom could and chooses to advertise his privilege in his occasional intellectual sanctimoniousness while claiming victim hood. Seriously – what the hell was he thinking talking about the Patrick Melrose novels?
Thanks a) for replying and b) for including some personal experience. I wanted to reference you a little bit but didn’t like to without you having said a little something first.
I understand the attitudes at these schools because I went to one (although mine wasn’t quite as blue-blooded as Eton, it wasn’t far off).
The thing that really distinguishes them is that they teach a belief in oneself as a special snowflake with endowed destiny. Overtly, they are about decent values and being a good person, but the subtext is noblesse oblige, not egalitarianism.
It’s never said, but the implication is that you’ll become a doctor, a dentist, a political leader, a CEO and you, as a special snowflake, will benefit society to the good of the peasants who will receive your beneficence and your special snowflakeness because they aren’t special snowflakes and probably couldn’t do it for themselves.
And I should take care to add: this is the school’s view of its pupils. As a scholarship student, I was never made to feel unworthy or treated any differently by teachers or peers. I was at the school ergo I was a special snowflake too.
It’s a shock to these people that anyone could see it differently. It’s a kind of manifest destiny, truly. The nicer ones react like Hiddles and are unable to see that even that reaction is offensive to the 99%. The less nice ones are the braying toffs we all love to hate.
When you take a school like this, add it to parental cultural capital and family wealth, you’d have to be an idiot not to see the crashing extent of the advantage.
I had the school and the parental cultural capital, but not the money. You’ve said to me before, Fanty, that your family was unprepared for a child at uni and your school was a bog standard comp. From TommyAnne, me, and you, I know which person I think deserves the plaudits. (I hope that I didn’t presume and say too much there).
@Sixer:
“Overtly, they are about decent values and being a good person, but the subtext is noblesse oblige, not egalitarianism.”
THAT’S IT! You have put your finger on exactly what it is that annoys me so much about Hiddles and why, among other things, I am just not impressed by his charity work. There was something missing from it all, and this is precisely it. Itis very, very patronizing, and it is very clear that he has no ability to see this at all.
Thank you TFanty and Sixer for posting this. As an American, I don’t have this same direct experience, so this really helps.
Apart from that comment in the Standard (correctly or incorrectly quoted) when has he ever whinged about his priviledge?
It’s fine. I don’t begrudge anyone their privilege – hell, I’m doing all I can to give my own kids every advantage I can possibly give them. If a person is lucky enough to be born into such a position, then god bless their luck.
However, being a part of the final generation born into the a government that protected my right to higher education and then moving to the US, I have a deep appreciation for the scarcity of such privilege. In spite of all this, I still know that because of my cultural deficit and the way I speak, certain doors will always be closed to me, and that stings. So, for Hiddleston to turn a political discussion into a moment of self-pity for what ultimately amounts to a f&ck if a lot of envy and resentment directed at him enrages me.
Not sure from your post if you are enraged at the envy towards him or enraged at him but this is my take;
“I think it’s a real national weakness to categorise people, in both directions, according to where they went to school.”(from the Standard- hope I’m not breaking any rules doing it this way)
Funnily enough, if this is the one you are thinking of, I don’t see that as self-pity, I see it as a recognition of the ways things are in the UK – unfortunately.
He also said he didn’t want to be the go to guy for tails and waistcoats, which I took simply to mean he didn’t want to get pigeonholed. Can’t blame him for that.
Now, we all know that I enjoy a bit of Hiddles bashing, but everything you have described about your education teaching you that you are a “special snowflake” are things that Cumby has taken to heart, in exactly the same way as Hiddles, his interviews around the time of Parade’s End confirm that – his reference to feudalism and “care” in the Edwardian era show that he believes in this stuff. They are both products of privilege, and Cumby constantly tries to make it seem as if his education was somehow hard won, because his mum had to do adverts (the horror!) to pay for his prep school, then Harrow. I get what you’re saying about Cumby being up front about his whining – he wears his bitchiness on his sleeve, sometimes – but, for me, I find both ways pretty distasteful. Going to Harrow, Eton, or wherever does not make you bad person – just realise that not everyone has had the same opportunities as you and that doesn’t make them inferior. It must suck to be judged on the school you went to, I just think it probably sucks less when the school you went to has furnished you with connections that will serve you in later life.
TommyAnne is back to doing what he does best on Twitter- quoting inspirational article and quoting them. Does anybody remember when he used to tweet pictures of his dessert? I loved the funny comments he made with them
yes Tom tweeted a great article on kindness http://t.co/JJfNtOf8d1 which was spot on.And another on Mark Rylance who is one of my best ever actors.
I have a friend on my facebook who does the same thing. Posts some great articles which wide -its one of the joys of the internet that people are able to share what makes them tick in a positive and enlightening way
So posting pictures of desserts gets your respect more for him than inspirational pieces that can motivate you to get through your day? And he gets called out for being shallow? smh
I’ve found that funny interview lady video with TommyAnne. Am I allowed to post it here?
I say give it a try. CB are generally quite fair when real regulars post links.
Here it is, the funny crazy lady dressed as Thor interviewing Our TommyAnne. http://youtu.be/g8iNgyr2QJE.
His face is like WTF?
OMG, it’s both hilarious and creepy
Inverted snobbery is as bad as the real thing. And there is a lot of inverted snobbery around in Britain.
A lot of it at the moment is due to the fact that we have a prime minister who is unpopular but who went to Eton.
I think it’s more to do with the fact that a large section of the house of commons, on both sides of the floor, went to public school, then Eton or Cambridge. People question why it’s such a small pool of people, with such limited life experience that end up being MPs. Look at the current government’s policies and read Sixer’s take on her own school days and see how that is being played out now in British politics. As for inverted snobbery – I don’t dislike Cameron because he’s upper class and I’m working class – I’ll admit that being Scottish means i have a knee jerk reaction to the tory party, and it ryhmes with punts – I dislike Cameron because when he is not being self-serving, he is serving the needs of big business over the vulnerable of society, because of his party’s malicious representation of the poor in society and because he is unable or unwilling to change his views in light of the damage his policies are wreaking. He could have went to a public school or a comp and I would still think he was a ham faced tw@t.
Trouble is, everyone who went to public school, and particularly Eton is getting tarred with the same brush at the moment.
And I can’t help but agree with you over Cameron although i wouldn’t be so rude as to call him those names.
and unsurprisingly TH follows both Cameron and Osborne. So yeah, the man is clueless.
“and unsurprisingly TH follows both Cameron and Osborne. So yeah, the man is clueless””
and why because to me that means he listens to both sides of the argument.
“Inverted snobbery is as bad as the real thing. And there is a lot of inverted snobbery around in Britain”
Inverted snobbery has existed in this country long before Cameron. For a while it seemed to be less of an issue but is currently having a revival. It may be Cameron or it may be the recession which highlights the rich/poor divide.
He looks like a younger Gary Oldman.
No he’s not. Oldman has a rough edge to him and has always have. TommAnne is refined , although I’d like to see him play a role with a cockney accent and being a hard barstard! Haha
You asked and as I am a benevolent mistress of snark, I mined the horror of the internet after dark and delivered. Behold, the joy of Tommyanne drunk tweeting:
http://gofuckyourselftomhiddleston.tumblr.com/post/31838704611/lokispants-hey-does-anybody-remember-toms-new
(yeah, I pretty much just googled it)
all that tells to me is that he spent that NYE alone.
Oh please , please , please TommyAnne do this again. I love the care free unrestricted side of him.
Where exactly does Tom say his education was not a privilege. My impression is that he recognises this and feels grateful for what has been given to him. Note his constant use of I am privileged. He is just saying do not judge people by the school they went to. I do not agree with the system of education not only is it elitist but it encourages segregation between those who can and those who cannot which breeds prejudice on both sides. But elitism exists in most education systems in most countries usually created through wealth.I was in and out of public/state school system although not always in this country on a personal level both have plus sides. Its funny in other countries it is not such a big thing.
My friends gay son was beaten up by a group of public school boys and another gay friends was beaten up by inner city kids. Both systems breed the good ,bad and the ugly. That’s why I dislike it when people from any school are judged on their educational background and even more so when their words are twisted to imply that they have no real understanding of the situation.My kids went to tough northen schools in their early years were they educationally that good no but they gained something about street smart that their dad who was public had to learn later in life. Much of his neurosis’ stemmed from his education and privileged background. Luckily my kids never had to deal with that What is sad is that the system in the UK continues to propagate the great divide.
Tom said wonderful if it disappeared but he was honest enough to admit it might never happen. He called people out on educational prejudice and I cannot se why that is so wrong.
“However, being a part of the final generation born into the a government that protected my right to higher education and then moving to the US, I have a deep appreciation for the scarcity of such privilege.”
Until recently the grant system in the UK offered higher education to everyone regardless of their parents financial position. This has sadly been steadily eroded through the years. Many of the people in the acting profession that I know had grants to attend drama college.
I went to a drama college which was 90% state school. RADA is the only drama college I know of that does not work within the grant system but it does offer scholarships.
Having seen both side of the system from the UK and N American perspective I think the biggest issues are wealth. There are poor inner city schools in most both the UK and the USA the amount of money your parents have usually dictates which one you end up in.Even in the school I went to which because of its large catchment area had kids from all levels of background it was still much easier for the kids from professional families to aspire to University despite the loan system which was off putting to kids from poorer backgrounds.
Not saying that the UK system is right but it seems to me that in the UK there is stronger focus on who goes to public school than what can be done about it.
“It’s a shock to these people that anyone could see it differently. ”
I have known scholarship students who loved it because of the opportunities it gave them and the friends they made their. I know people from wealthy backgrounds who hate it and felt bullied. I know people with the same views as you. I know a single mum who kids were out of control and was given state help at that time to send them to public schools and both she and her kids swear it was the best thing that could have happened.
Experience shapes out opinion but it does not mean that everyone will have that same opinion whether they went there or not.
Although I agree re the elements of noblesse oblige, its quite demeaning to say that all public school attendees cannot see this element as well. Your experience has obviously led you to this belief but mine have been very different. And that to me is what Tom was saying. Its about people making general categorisations about what your feelings and opinions based on what school they went to not on who they have become. What would really be interesting is if this country had a referendum re incorporating public schools into the state schools system-just seeing what the turn out for voting was or the outcome would be interesting. But it ain’t going to happen because the political parties are too afraid of loosing votes to ever consider tabling it.
Here’s TommyAnne’s new photo shoot without white shirt and with grandpa pants shocker http://vivillrocku.tumblr.com/post/61462185528/torrilla-pall-mall-barbers-tomhiddleston hopefully Kaiser will pick this up and we can have a discussion on it like the famous dragonfly
Two threads about TH on DataLounge have been deleted. Neither were particularly spicy. Any ideas?
I think I saw the deleted threads too, plus I know a few blogs that have been requested to not share personal comments concerning Tom Hiddleston. Strange?
Bet it was Luke tightening his control on Hiddlesworld domination…lol.
Caroline, blogs requested not to share personal comments? Is this new?
Although DL seems strange at times, I’ve never seen anything that suggests Trolling or any comments threatening TommyAnne. What I’ve seen is they like to talk about him ageing quickly, FWB (although that stopped ages ago). The latest one being weather he’s sincere or not. (Some people thought actually Luke and TommyAnne were on there!)
But even though I don’t agree with what some say, none of it was harmful or could affect his career.
He’d probably laugh like I did at some of the comments if he has seen it.
Plus there is a long running thread discussing weather RDJ and TommyAnne were in a reationship (WTF?!) that being a tiny bit slanderous hasn’t been deleted
I think what was different about those two threads I noticed is that people were commenting on that british film documentary that is being made by some fans that Tom was interviewed for. Maybe they heard about it and didn’t like it.