Watch a YouTube video featuring Tom Hiddleston and you’ll probably notice the phrase “MY OVARIES JUST EXPLODED” somewhere in the comment section. The same can be said of the many Chris Hemsworth clips on the popular video-sharing website, though perhaps not quite as frequently (sorry Chris). Now while some of these may be for fans only, many are genuinely worth watching, whether you’re a Hiddlestoner or Hemsworthian or none of the above. So here we’ve assembled the very crème de la crème, bringing in other gems from fellow Thor cast members, including Natalie Portman and Idris Elba. Still, be sure to carefully monitor your ovaries throughout this feature, just in case.
To start, here’s a sure-fire cracker. Alongside Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson failing to die and Chris Evans’ Captain America swinging off a tree into the floor, there’s loads of Loki and Thor-y goodness, including a near-dead Tom Hiddleston repeatedly corpsing and a butter-fingered Chris Hemsworth failing to keep his hands on his hammer.
Elsewhere in behind-the-scenes funtimes, there’s this moment where Loki pretends to shoot his spear like a machine gun and the time when, in rehearsals, Loki gets to wield Mjolnir{
James Lipton’s Inside The Actors Studio interviews include certain standard questions that he asks each time, Pint Of Milk-style, and one them is this: “What’s your favourite swear word?” It turns out Jane Foster’s answer to that one is pretty full on, even if it isn’t in English, so click play to hear her drop the KE bomb.
And if you’re wondering how “kus emek” is spelled, well, there’s your answer. This particular use of fruity language is in sharp contrast to Portman’s appearance on Sesame Street{
The 2012 BAFTAs boasted many big names, from Gary Oldman to Nick Frost, Daniel Racliffe to… Tom Hiddleston and a Thermos of soup (jump to 1.30 in the video for details). The star walked up the red carpet wielding this Beano-emblazoned vacuum flask of Heinz’s finest, all because a) our Chris Hewitt jokingly asked on Twitter whether Hiddleston could supply a little pick-me-up, since it was literally snowing that day, and b) Tom Hiddleston is the kind of excellent human being who obliges requests like that.
Quick fan question: if Tom Hiddleston could have any soup, what kind of soup would he have? That’s right, Cock-A-Loki. (Tip your waitress, etc.)
Thor, or “Chris Hemsworth” if you insist on his Midgard name, wasn’t actually at the Thor: The Dark World panel at Comic-Con this year – but you probably didn’t notice, what with Tom Hiddleston arriving on stage in character as Loki and taking Hall H by storm (well, there were flashes of lightning, at least). Prompting the 7,000-strong crowd to chant his name and kneel before him, his appearance raised the roof in a probably-literal sense and turned even the most resistant into a raving fan. As for the Hiddlestoners, it was hard for them to push their beating hearts back into their chests, such was the sudden outpouring of glee that his arrival caused.
Fellow Marvelite Hayley Atwell was in Hiddleston’s dressing room before the surprise visit, chatting away with Mr. Mischief, and you can hear more about the event from her perspective in this Empire Podcast. For Tom’s point of view, check out our video interview with the man himself here{
Neither Chris Hemsworth nor Tom Hiddleston has appeared in a music video, but fortunately Natalie Portman makes up for both of them with not one but two guest spots in Paul McCartney’s audio-visual back catalogue. On the left is her black and white mime-athon for ‘My Valentine’, a single from Macca’s 2012 studio album, Kisses On The Bottom. You can also check out an alternate version where Johnny Depp does something very similar{
Portman’s other McCartney video appearance was for ‘Dance Tonight’ in 2007, which is significantly jollier, boasting Ms. Portman as a ghost playing pong with another ghost in the mandolin-strumming Beatle’s living room. This will probably be the only time that Natalie Portman, Paul McCartney and Mackenzie Crook will share the same billing, so it’s worth celebrating for that fact alone.
P.S. If you’re a Idris Elba fan, you can watch Heimdall make some breakfast and go for a walk in the woods during Mumford & Sons' ‘Lovers Of The Light’ video, and enjoy what he looks like with a comedy Viking helmet on here.
Sarah Dunn shot Tom Hiddleston for Empire’s April 2011 issue, and during the experience, the star of stage and screen felt inspired to bust out some cartwheels on camera. Here’s the video footage to prove it, but for more on the God Of Mischief / Master Of Light Gymnastics, be sure to track down an original copy of the mag to hear about his appearance on Casualty{
In 2006, Chris Hemsworth appeared on Australia’s celebrity/reality show Dancing With The Stars, strutting his stuff on the dance floor at the height of his Home & Away fame, half a decade before he became the God Of Thunder. Speaking of Home & Away, Hemsworth enjoyed, or perhaps endured, more than a few awkward moments on the set of that particular soap, with perhaps the best of the bunch being the time he had to faint on the beach due to a eating disorder. It’s… not great.
Jay Leno, the soon-to-be-retired US chat show host, managed to embarrass Thor (kind of) live on air with clips of both his dancing and his fainting, and it’s so enjoyable that we had to share it with you here. If you want to see Hemsworth’s one-scene appearance on rival Aussie soap opera Neighbours back in 2002, meanwhile, jump to 1.00 in this video{
“Tom Hiddleston teaches Cookie Monster about self-control” is the kind of video that could break the internet. Threatening to tumble Tumblr in under ten minutes, this cuter-than-cute clip sees a RADA-educated Etonian with a double-first in Classics from Cambridge telling a googly-eyed biscuit obsessive not to eat a chocolate chip cookie. “Maybe this could be an exersice in delayed gratification?” he suggested to the furry Hobnob fiend. “Yes, it could…”, say his legion of fans. Also, a tip of the ludicrously-horned hat for whoever came up with the hashtag #TomNomNom.
No only does Tom Hiddleston do great impressions, but he does great impressions willingly and frequently, taking the opportunity to whip out his Raptor – steady now – at every available opportunity. Other stand-outs in his back catalogue include Alan Rickman, Owen Wilson and, most recently, Owen Wilson pretending to be Loki{
On the left is just one collection of Tom’s impersonations, but for extended versions, watch this video.
Chris Hemsworth appeared on Lisa Snowdon’s Capital FM show during his Avengers press tour, and over the course of proceedings he managed to win an arm wrestle with her co-host and embarrass a lazy husband. Doing his finest, prithee-est, Thoriest voice, he reads from a letter that reprimands a Hampstead resident – though he pronounces it “Hamsteed” – and his deadbeat dad to a chorus of chortles. Sure, it’s no Simon Pegg and Nick Frost covering Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’{
There were quite a few great moments left on Thor’s cutting room floor, and the best have been collected into this video. The first (and most enjoyable) deleted scene sees the two brothers bickering and bantering, with Thor deciding not to wear the silly winged hat after all. There’s even some genuine emotion in there, and you’re going to love it. Elsewhere, there’s shakier stuff involving The Warriors Three – “Who wants to polish my sword?” was definitely a misstep – and Selvig singing a drinking song with The God Of Thunder, playing what looks like a Scandinavian version of pattycake afterwards.
Outside this compilation, Thor sprinkles a crushed healing stone on Selvig’s wounds to save the stricken scientist.
In 1998, Will Smith unleashed his debut album, Big Willie Style, onto the unsuspecting public, and in the process brought the world ‘Miami’{
For more singing (of a sort), watch Christina Hendricks and Tom Hiddleston belt out The Jungle Book’s ‘Bare Necessities’ here – jump to 1.00 for the good stuff – and check out Loki mouthing ‘Get Loki’ to Daft Punk’s song of the summer at this year’s Comic-Con.
Who wins in a cute-off between the burgeoning bromances of Ruffalworth (Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth)? The answer is, of course, the internet. Both pairs really are adorable – so several YouTube commenters tell us, anyway – and here are the Empire video interviews to prove it, one in honour of Avengers Assemble and the other a War Horse joint. We’ll let you guess which is which.
The story goes that when he was in Korea, Tom requested Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ from the DJ, but instead… they played something else{
Fuse’s Mark Hoppus isn’t afraid to ask the tricky questions, like, say, “Which Avengers actor has the best backside?” Hiddleston handles the potentially creepy query with grace, giving undoubtedly the only correct answer. Elsewhere on his appearance on the show, he busts out his favourite Henry V speech – no points for guessing which one – but fails to mention how much he loves Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, which he revealed on Film 2011{
Author Sally Gardner unveiled her young adult novel The Red Necklace in 2007, bringing the French Revolution and gypsy magic together to great tween-bothering effect. Nothing to do with Thor or its cast, you might think, but it turns out that Tom Hiddleston did the audiobook, and since there’s a rather saucy scene in it, Hiddlestoners have been listening to it over and over and over for quite some time now.
Yes, it’s weird. And creepy. And strangely addictive. In fact, it’s a lot like this compilation video of Tom’s “He he he he he” laugh{