By: koalafriend
Baby Faced Hiddleston Alert! See The Cambridge Cutie's First TV Role Before He Was Loki
OMG you guys! We all know and adore Tom Hiddleston as the slick God of Mischief Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or the impossibly suave spy in The Night Manager. He is the internet's boyfriend a certified Hollywood A lister and can rock a tailored suit like nobody's business. But hold onto your Infinity Stones because long before he was battling Thor or charming us all on the red carpet he was just a baby faced university student with floppy hair and a dream.
We are taking you way back to 2001. A time before the MCU was even a thing. Tom was a 20 year old classics scholar at the prestigious Cambridge University literally studying ancient texts. But a star was about to be born and his journey from Cambridge classrooms to our TV screens began with a role most die hard Hiddlestoners have probably never even seen.
From University Plays To A Professional Set
So how does a full time Cambridge student just casually land a role in a major TV production? Talent obviously! While studying Tom was starring in a university stage production of A Streetcar Named Desire. An agent just happened to be in the audience was totally blown away and signed him on the spot. Can you even imagine? One minute you are cramming for exams the next you are auditioning for your first professional gig.
That gig was in a TV adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. It was a star studded British production and a huge deal for a newcomer. Tom was cast in a tiny role as a character simply named Lord. He had no lines and was basically there to look posh in a top hat but it was the break that would change everything.
Sharing The Screen With A Future King
Here is where the story gets seriously juicy. Who was the star of Tom’s very first scenes on a professional set? None other than a pre fame Dominic West! That is right years before West became famous for The Wire or for playing Prince Charles in The Crown he was playing the flashy aristocrat Sir Mulberry Hawk.
In the film a very young Tom Hiddleston as Lord accompanies West's character to the theater. They are a pair of rowdy and entitled dandies causing a scene. It is a blink and you will miss it moment but seeing these two future titans of British acting together at the very beginning of their careers is a total trip. It is an iconic piece of pop culture history that nobody knew was happening at the time. A future Marvel villain and a future Netflix prince just hanging out in period costumes. We are obsessed.
The Acting Bug Bites Hard
For the Eton and Cambridge educated Hiddleston this was more than just a fun side hustle between lectures. It was a revelation. He has spoken about how the experience of being on that set surrounded by incredible actors like Dominic West Charles Dance and James D’Arcy completely hooked him on the magic of screen acting.
That small part as Lord in Nicholas Nickleby was the spark. It confirmed that this was what he wanted to do with his life. After graduating from Cambridge with a double first a degree with the highest honors because of course he did he enrolled at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art RADA to formally train as an actor. The rest as they say is history.
From that brief appearance as a nameless Lord Tom Hiddleston's career skyrocketed. He built a name for himself in British theater and television before his massive international breakout role as Loki in 2011's Thor. He took that chaotic Asgardian prince and turned him into one of the most beloved and complex characters in the entire MCU.
So next time you are rewatching The Avengers or binging Loki on Disney Plus just remember it all started with a top hat a Charles Dickens novel and a fateful scene with Dominic West. From a Cambridge scholar to a global superstar it is the ultimate glow up and we are so here for it.
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