Happy Sad Confused - Tom Hiddleston (2021)

Episode Date: October 9, 2023

LOKI is back so we're taking a look back at one of our frequent guests on HAPPY SAD CONFUSED. Enjoy this chat with Tom Hiddleston from 2021 when LOKI was first launching on Disney+! Josh and Tom cover everything from LOKI to Broadway to Tom's love of Tom Hanks and CAST AWAY. Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes of GAME NIGHT, video versions of the podcast, and more! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!⁠ BetterHelp -- This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/HSC today to get 10% off your first month Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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New episodes every Wednesday, wherever you get your podcasts. Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now. I'm Josh Horowitz, and today on Happy, Sad, Confused, it's the God of Mischief himself, Mr. Tom Hiddleston, one of our favorites is back talking Loki, Broadway, his love of comfort movies, and so much more.

Hey, guys, I'm Josh Horowitz. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Welcome to a bonus episode this week. Got two episodes for you this week. we thought we would bring this one out of the archives because not many people have seen this in video form if you're watching us on YouTube. And if you haven't heard this in audio form, here it is. Or if you've heard it before, here it is again. From summer 2021, when first season of Loki debuted, I had this great chat with Mr. Tom Hittleston. It's an extensive chat. It's

about Loki, about his comfort movie. We were digging into comfort movies at the time in the thick of the pandemic and this is a fun deep dive into his love of castaway and Tom Hanks and all geeky movie stuff that you know I love to chat about. This also touches upon his Broadway run and betrayal and a great many things. I'm sure you will enjoy it. Listening to Tom talk about acting, his craft and all of it is always entertaining and I've had a nice long story history with Tom. If you know my work doing podcasts, doing sketches, doing red carpet interviews, He's one of the best out there, both in terms of his acumen as an actor, but also his humility and emotional intelligence, and just he's a good guy to be around. And I'm proud to call him a friend and acquaintance.

So that's the main event on Happy Second Views today. I will note on the production side of things, if you're watching this on YouTube, you may notice, this might not be a bad thing, that for the next 40 minutes, you're not going to see me. You're going to hear me, but you're not going to see this smiling face. Not my fault. I'm not going to take the blame for this one. This was a production problem. Whoever was recording it forgot to hit record on poor old Josh's face. So you'll hear me.

It'll be fine. Look, you get to stare at Tom Hiddleston for 40 minutes. You're welcome, Internet. And on the audio side, you won't even know the difference. Other things to mention, I want to say we are gearing up for hopefully a very busy end of the year. The strike, as I tape this, is not over, but we're hoping we're fingers crossed that the actor's strike is going to follow the writer's strike and end very soon. If that happens, as soon as we all hope it will,

I would expect a lot of exciting live events for Happy, Sad, Confused. We're talking to a lot of really interesting folks. Remember, the first place you're going to hear about that stuff is on our Patreon page. Go to patreon.com slash Happy Sad Confused. Remember, that's where you get the early access. You get discount codes. You get merch. You get all. all the bells and whistles. And like I said, it's going to be a really busy, exciting time, I think, at the end of the year with some superstar A-list guests. So that's the place to be. That's about all, I think. I hope you guys are enjoying season two of Loki as much as I am. And I know you're going to enjoy this flashback 2021 chat with one of our faves around here.

Here is me and Mr. Tom Hiddleston. Enjoy. Tom, it's good to see, man. Thank you so much for rejoining. on the podcast. Are you feeling happy, sad, or confused from the reception to Loki thus far? Happy. Happy. Happy. Yeah. So happy. It's pretty remarkable. I mean, this is a different. Is it a different experience? This must feel a little bit different than. I mean, you've had these quintessentially unique Marvel experiences, these global blockbusters. But there's something about the week to week, the interaction with the audience. Have you been enjoying that? develop? Yeah, the week-to-week thing is so, it is so fun. Every Tuesday night, I get a bit

nervous again. Every time, oh no, another one tomorrow. It's sort of like, you know, the opening night nerves, I suppose. But it's, but to, I suppose to understand, to really understand the engagement week by week and that people have engaged with the show with such kind of curiosity and affection is just it's so I never take it for granted I don't take it for granted it's a wonderful thing I feel very it's very meaningful for me we work really hard on this we thought about it a lot and And this extraordinary crew worked through the pandemic through so many challenges and keeping the goal of a great show in mind.

So it's a real honor. You're reaping the rewards in many ways, the good reviews, the fans just reveling in it. And finally, at long last, getting your own cereal. Congratulations. Thank you. Oh, goodness. Just listening to the podcast, I'm showing Tom the image of Loki Charms, which I don't know what genius in what board meeting came up with this, but give them a raise. Sure, yeah.

I'm yet to, I'm yet to partake. You haven't tasted your own charms yet. I haven't supped or breakfasted on a bowl of Loki Charms, but, you know, expect the unexpected, I guess. Yeah, I don't know if that's what I want out of a cereal necessarily. Yeah, like, whoo, you know what's in them? Can't they be trusted? Can't they really be trusted? Like any local.

Exactly. Yeah. So as we tape this, there's one more episode to go, so we can't get into full spoiler territory. But five episodes in, we've seen a lot of exciting surprises as we've gone, including the legend that is. We knew that Richard E. Grant was going to be in the show. So I'm sure you, I guess, again, judging from our conversations over the years, whether it's with Nail and I or his performance in Hudson Hawk, which I will stand by, as scene stealing, amazingness, did you delight in watching Richard E. Grant, Don, the Loki gear, the quintessential, the old school Loki gear.

A legend in our lifetime. Yes. I was so excited. I really don't know what we would have done if he hadn't said yes. Because we sort of... It's perfect. It's like it was the... It was the only... It was only him. And, yeah, I think, you know, if I'm completely honest,

Richard is probably part of my unconscious kind of inspiration for aspects of Loki. You know, I first watched with Nail and I when I was 14 and it was, as that film already was, this enormous classic in British culture and now of course I know it's beyond these shores and he was so charismatic and unpredictable and funny and brilliant and just he's just a genius and all of that sort of sense of all the sort of with nailish qualities are quite loki-ish qualities or maybe they're just Richard D. Grant qualities. But he was so, he came so ready

and so generous and so kind as everyone who's worked with him knows and funny and just up, he was just up for it and, and committed, completely committed with the whole thing. and wearing that costume and he'd read the comics. And, you know, I think he really, he really enjoyed it. It really tickled him. One of, one of our listeners, Kelly Fowler, actually had a question. She said, did you give Richard any tips on how to manage the horns? Do you just let him fend for himself or do you?

Yeah, I just, I just let him go. I mean, do you give Richard E. Grant tips on anything? I don't think so. But, you know, there's a, there's a, I don't. tell you a story about Richard is I remember I had been there was a day I had been wrapped for the afternoon it was a Friday I think and it was about two o'clock in the afternoon and I was it I was in my I was at base camp in my trailer and there was a lot of sort of new pages and I was there was some admin I had to do

and it was you know Friday afternoon I thought, I could just stay here and do the admin, and it would save me having to do it tomorrow morning. But then I heard one of the assistant directors, the ADI said, is it Richard, is he, is Richard, what's Richard doing this afternoon? And it was a scene where he was confronting Eliath. And I suddenly said, can you let me know,

can you just let me know when he's doing that? And so there was a knock on my door and they said, just so you know, they're doing it now. And I ran over to the sound, stage and I'm so glad that I didn't do whatever admin it was that I had to do because I turned up and there was about 25 minutes left and it was Richard on this enormous sound stage covered in you know what looks like kind of rather drab English countryside lots of earth lots of grass lots of beautiful bits of design with an extraordinary light show

around him, orchestrated by Autumn Dural, their amazing DP. But it really, and a camera on a crane above, sort of dancing around him, but it really was, and it was classic Loki's final confrontation with Eliath. But of course, as anyone who knows anything about making these films knows Eliath, we were, you know, greatly assisted by our visual effects team in post-production. And so what I got to, what I got to see was I had a front row seat to absolutely pure imagination from Richard. And it was incredibly moving, actually. I can imagine, I mean, I got a chance to talk to him a bunch on the can you ever forgive me kind of train, which I love that move and I love that performance. And he was so enthusiastic

about every aspect of that opportunity. He's been in the business for a long time and he's been through the ups and downs and just so grateful and just, I mean, filled to the brim with stories, his love of Barbara Streisand. Everything about him brims with just joy. And I can imagine seeing him at work, it must be the same kind of thing and must be inspiring as another actor.

It was pure commitment. Pure commitment to the act of imagining. You know, in that moment, there was nothing else to assist him. Right. But he believed he was classic, you know, going up against Eliathan. And there was all of that sort of vulnerability

in his resistance. It was just, it was actually an amazing afternoon. And it was his last shot. I was really happy I was there. Was it ever on the table for you to portray any additional variance? We obviously saw President Loki by the time I've seen through episode five. Yeah.

I mean, I suppose there's an iteration of the show where you're playing dozens of variants. Were there any other specific ones on the table or ideas on the table? is on the table for you to play it as soon ones. Yeah, I think so. We certainly wanted to, maybe to suggest that that the variant

that we're kind of running, we're trying to, that we're running towards in episode two might be, you might be, you know, might be suggesting to the audience that this Loki could be coming up in front of a mirror image of himself.

Right. And that he is our surprise. as anyone when it's not it's Sylvie yeah or someone who is revealed to be Sylvie later on and yeah I think there were always there's that scene in the when B-15 and Mobius are trying to explain to the the team of Hunters and Minuteman about what you know the danger of this particular variant and there's a sort of some kind of presentation of all these different loki's and there's a loki who's like won the tour de France and and I sort of I don't know there's all these all

these which had images I hadn't seen which made me laugh of different particular loki's with my face on it which I think this loki my loki finds quite surprising right but you know because up until this point he thought he was unique turns out there's dime a dozen yeah right It's a long road to humility, right? It's a long road to humility. I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the LA Times. And I'm Paul Shear, an actor, writer, and director.

You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters. We come together to host Unspool, a podcast where we talk about good movies, critical hits. Fan favorites, must season, in case you missed them. We're talking Parasite the Home Alone. From Greece to the Dark Night. So if you love movies like we do, come

along on our cinematic adventure. Listen to Unschooled wherever you get your podcast. And don't forget to hit the follow button. Goodbye, summer movies Hello Fall. I'm Anthony Devaney. And I'm his twin brother James. We host Raiders of the Lost Podcast, the ultimate movie podcast,

and we are ecstatic to break down late summer and early fall releases. We have Leonardo DiCaprio, leading a revolution in one battle after another, Timothy Salome playing power ping pong in Marty Supreme. Let's not forget Emma Stone and Jorgos Lanthamos' Bougonia. Dwayne Johnson, he's coming for that Oscar in The Smashing Machine, Spike Lee and Denzel teaming up again, plus Daniel DeLuis's return from retirement.

There will be plenty of blockbusters to chat about, too. Tron Aries looks exceptional, plus Mortal Kombat 2, and Edgar writes, The Running Man, starring Glenn Powell. Search for Raiders of the Lost Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify and YouTube We've talked many times about Kenneth Brana who's inextricably linked to your casting in this role and developing what you did in the first place

I'm just curious have you kept in touch with him since in recently like has he caught the new the new Loki and I'm also curious if like you've ever explored obviously he never returned tomorrow hasn't yet it's a long career who knows have you ever discussed Brana returning to helm or write any further Loki story? Um, do you know, last time I was in touch with him, he was in, he sent a very kind,

um, a note in honor of my 40th birthday. Um, and, um, uh, yeah, he mentioned it then. Um, I haven't actually, I think he's been making something and I've been making something, I've been making something so actually I would love to to check in we always do anyway we kind of look each other up and catch up on things and he's always making such things he's always I mean he never he never stops his creative engine is is always running I suppose it's the in and the yang like in the second front of the second part of what I was talking about is like part of the

joy over the years has been putting loki in the hands of people like kenneth or tyca or now kate and michael waldron yes yes letting them their own take filter through the loki absolutely yeah loki magic right but i remember we so um kenneth brown had directed a production of hamlet in the summer of 2017 uh in which i played hamlet and we loved making that it was just the most incredible incredible honor to be guided through that play by him who knows the play so well and he was so generous with me in opening up his knowledge of the play but also understanding that it was also going to be my interpretation that there were going to be things I discovered in the play that that were my own but during that process we talk of course

we talked a lot about I think by then I had I had filmed the scene in Infinity War I can't remember if I told him, but we definitely talked about Loki. We always do. And that first Thor film remains one of the most special experiences of my life. Just was a very special time. And we all remember it. Everyone who was there remembers it. It was Ken, Chris, myself and Anthony Hopkins.

and Mono Russo and Natalie and Kat and Jamie and everyone remembers it with real affection. How many offers over the years have you received to officiate a wedding in the guise of Loki? You must get these outlandish bizarre requests. No, not weddings, actually. Really?

I don't think I have... This is an unexplored revenue stream that would be very lucrative for you in your next decade. I mean, it's a gamble to ask Loki to offici. a wedding. I mean, like... Well, look, marriage is a gamble.

I suppose. It is most people getting married. They at least want the wedding to go well, you know. Fair enough. Yeah. It's a hell of an image. It's a hell of a tone to strike to say, you know, we're going to set out on this journey together with the God of Mischief in our midst.

So, yeah, that's one that hasn't come my way thus far. But, you know, as always, expect the unexpected. Have you been keeping up with, I know you've been working, but did you watch Wanda Vision and Falcon and Winter Soldier? Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Yes, I did. I love them both. I mean, I just, what I love is that there's this endless capacity for invention.

And to take characters who are familiar and put them in different contexts and find new ways of exploring their depth and, and all the complexity that they contain. Both very different, I thought, very different in tone. I mean, the way Jack Schaefer and the team on Wonder Vision sort of explored the nature of television through the prism of Wanda's grief and her mind and the nature of creativity in and of itself is just so clever and so enjoyable. And so brilliantly performed as well by everybody. And then I think, you know, what Malcolm Spellman and Karas Groglin and Anthony and Sebastian did and the whole team on Falcon with a Soldier is really taking these two characters

and understanding their loss and the whole that has been left by the absence of Captain America and what that means, what being Captain America means now today and really looking into some very complex issues which I thought was really interesting and yeah, I enjoyed that enormously. It felt like it had weight.

Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, if nothing else, these first three shows, show the risks that Marvel is dueling to take, even maybe more so than ever. And the goodwill, I feel like that Fagy and company have accumulated, they're like, they're spending it in the right way, like, by taking chances, which is so inspiring and exciting. If you'll indulge me, I asked you for a comfort movie, my friend. And I've been asking folks in the last year, especially when we needed a lot of comfort in our lives for movies that they've returned to

over the years. And, you know, I was guessing, you know, we've talked before. about Heat and Ghostbusters, you went a different way. I did. But in some ways, this film, I'm not surprised in many ways. Tell us what your comfort movie pick was. My comfort movie pick is Castaway. And in a nutshell, yeah. What's your, what's your

sell us on Castaway, as if it needs selling? So Castaway. Tom Hanks plays a a very stressed and busy man who works for FedEx and he needs to get this delivery on time and it's Christmas and he sort of absent mindedly says goodbye to his family but he'll get back and see him soon and and he's flying across the world and the next thing he knows he's you know washed up on a deserted island bruised and battered and and And he's on his own and hopes sort of within hours to be rescued.

And the hours turn into days and the days turn into weeks and it really is a story about survival and isolation and perseverance and resilience and really finding meaning in the experience of being alive. And who better to carry you through those deep themes than Tom Hanks? So it's a bit of history that I remember I was, I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I was in my sort of late teens and I think during the holiday period I suddenly kind of got, I got rather ill, I got very, I woke up with a fever and had a, and I had a, and felt very, very shivery and really unwell.

And so kind of canceled some plans and went to bed and on the sort of, as I was sort of coming out of that, it was nothing serious at all. It was just, you know, some winter bug that was just not bad timing. Right. And it was on, I'm ashamed to say, I didn't see it at the movies for the first time

I saw it on television at home. coming out of this illness. And it was, I was just completely, I was completely emotionally overwhelmed by it. I found it so moving because it's about holding on. And not that I, I'm not drawing any analogy between my state of health and where Tom Hanks is.

It was just sort of, I just felt very, had this very private connection to the film. I watched it on my own and, It's so touching that it's about finding ways to carry on when the going gets tough or when you find yourself in impossible circumstances and you're looking for something to carry you through. I still think the way that it's handled is just really moving. No, it's very primal, it's very basic.

And like some of the speeches he talks about is, you know, just like the sun rising and falling, breathing in and out every day, just taking it one day at a time and just. Well, there's something he learns about life. You know, he had a, his life was busy and it was probably over busy and, and relentless. I think he talks about it at some point. The character talks about being relentless. And I think he probably, a lot of life passes him by because he's not paying attention. And it's this period of adversity which teaches him to pay attention. But also those who he carries in his heart are the things that keep him going.

And that there are two things to say, really. The first is the relationship with Wilson. You know, like we all, I don't know anyone alive who doesn't love that relationship. It's just so, it's so touching and it's so sweet. And, you know, one of the packages that's washed up on the shore is this little football. And it's made by Wilson and he's like to sign. And somehow he projects his own kind of, in effect,

some rage at his ineffectuality because he's, you know, he's hurt himself or something and he's picked up this inanimate object and thrown it across the beach. And then he realizes he left a handprint, and it looks like a face, and he decides that he can externalize these terrible, tormented conversations he's having with himself and have them with his other character. And you become, how does he do this?

I don't know. How does Tom Hanks do this that you care so much about this inanimate Wilson? And when he's trying to build that raft and trying to get past the reef and he realizes in his confusion that Wilson washes away, I mean, I defy anyone not to just burst in ball. It's one of the most heartbreaking scenes. Yeah, because you realize it's been the thing that's been whole, it's been like a, his adoptive thing, the thing that's been given him meaning and purpose and it's and it's floating away. And the second thing to say is the, um, when he's finally reunited with his wife, who

who long ago has had to, you know, has had to move on. Yeah. And he's able to, to integrate that into his understanding and say, and say that, you know, all it mattered, mattered that you were there because I, what is it, what's the quote? I had to keep breathing. Because the next day the sun will rise and who knows what the tide could bring. That's it.

Yeah. And for anyone who has ever gone through a hard time, any challenge or any difficulty, and sometimes those experiences can feel extremely isolating and extremely lonely. That is a lifeline. And it's, yeah, it just is a beautiful tribute to that capacity. Well, it doesn't surprise me. In addition to everything you just said, it checks other boxes that I, you know, innately know about you. We've talked about the Hank's performance. It has one of the great, like,

just screen performances. It has, it's directed by the director that I'm sure means a lot to you from the 80s and 90s, Robert Zemeckis, who just, by the way, one of the amazing facts behind the making of this film, as anyone that's seen the film knows, Hanks Goat undergoes this remarkable physical transformation, which necessitated them shooting it, basically a year apart. And in that intermittent year, Robert Zemeckis made one of the great thrillers, what lies beneath. which is a very underrated great piece of pulp entertainment. Not to mention one other thing I'll mention that I thought of when I thought of you picking this is it features a great, I know you love a great film score.

And Alain Silvestri's score is so moving and is, you know, it's the cliche to say it's another character in the film. But with a film where there aren't that many characters, Sylvester's score really carries a lot of the weight. Well, Sylvester's score in that moment when Wilson, when Wilson floats away is... Yeah. We'll tear your heart out. Yeah.

And in a way, maybe Sylvester's score is Wilson too. And Wilson is a co-creation by Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis and Alan Silvestri that we believe in Wilson because they do. Yeah. Yeah. Tom Hanks obviously is maybe the quintessential movie star, Everyman actor of the last 20, 30 years in cinema. When you look at his career,

is that the role that, like, if you could, like, dip your toe in and give a swing at a Tom Hanks performance, is that the one that jumps out? I mean, there's probably a few. There's only one, Tom Hanks. He's the original T.H. Tom H. I don't know. It's one of those ones. I mean, I think

maybe it's a childhood question I always had of, of, we all I think we all would be intrigued to know how we would fare on our own on a desert island. It's one of our great, it's one of the great kind of existential questions we all have. If faced with that challenge, how would we measure up? You know, there's this terrific radio program that's been running in this country on the BBC for Desert Island Discs. If you could take music onto a desert island, what would it be? And I think this idea of the durability of the human spirit is something that will always think about.

And if you actually, if you took away all the things that were familiar to us, if you took away home, if you took away community, if you took away family and friendship, if you had to fend truly for yourself and be returned to the wilderness and that wilderness was hot and sandy and full of strange predators and, you know, how would you get on? We were all intrigued by that question.

It gets that a little bit and I remember we talked about this when we were talking about betrayal and I asked you about at that time kind of like you stepping back from social media and you were talking about like kind of getting back to reality, getting back to what's important

And what you were talking about before really reminds me of that. It's just another mechanism or a way of stripping back and just accepting what's real, the real stuff of our lives. And I think in the film, that's what happens to Tom Hanks. He experiences so much loss, but also he discovers who he is. Perhaps in a way that he never would or never would have. if he hadn't undergone that experience. I'm hoping it's not an experience I have to commit my life

to find out who I am. There are other ways of challenging oneself. You know what? This will be gold as a podcast if by some horrible stretch of fate you end up on the Desert Island, I'll be able to at least say, look at this crazy conversation we had

that is missing on the Desert Island. Well, can you, you know, can you just keep, just don't stop looking, Josh, okay? I think you know of all the people in the world. Just come and find me. I'm in the top 10 of people that will keep looking for you, my friend. Come and find me. Just leave.

I won't be doing very well out there. You know, I won't be doing well. To quote Daniel Day Lewis and Lassen Mohicans, I will find you. Oh, that's another, there you go. That was one of the choices for a comfort movie. It really was. I almost, I actually almost, that's our unconscious transmission right there because I almost picked that film,

and I did watch it in lockdown as well. The last 15 minutes of that film, again, no dialogue music is one of the great pieces of film ever. Yes. Hey, Michael. Hey, Tom. Big news to share it, right? Yes, huge, monumental, earth-shaking.

Heartbeat sound effect, big. Mink is back. That's right. After a brief snack nap. We're coming back. We're picking snacks? We're eating snacks. We're raiding snacks.

Like the snackologist we were born to be. Mates is back. Mike and Tom, eat snacks. Wherever you get your podcast. Unless you get them from a snack machine, in which case, call us. It's ticklish business anyway. You look at it. Come on.

We'll stick together. Love movies? Love classic movies? So do we. Ticklish Business is the podcast where classic film is discussed in modern times. hosted by me, film journalist Kristen Lopez, and my co-host author Emily Edwards, we dive into the golden age of cinema with fun, heart, and serious expertise. As published film historians and lifelong classic movie buffs,

we bring insider insights, deep research, and lively debates with a variety of special guests, linking from celebrities like Holly Madison to TCM luminaries Dave Carger and Eddie Muller, and even family members of Old Hollywood Legends. Subscribe now to ticklish business on your favorite podcast app, And let's talk about old Hollywood today. Betrayal was our last, like, lengthy chat before all the madness. We talked recently, of course, about Loki. But I'm curious if that, my sense is that experience, you know, it's always the cliche, like, did this change you as an actor?

Is it fair to say that that experience doing the play in London and in New York, based on the material and the, and just the way it was done, Do you feel like that has some lasting changes on you as an actor, whether it's the actual acting or the priorities or whatever? Certainly, yes. I've never performed something for that many performances and for that length of time. I think we did 272 performances across one year. and the privilege of doing it was almost bound up with the discipline of doing it was something was going was knowing that every day you go in and and excavate that material often twice a day and that the the audience coming to see it

on any given evening has never seen it before and deserves as much commitment and as much rigour as the first night audience and the discipline of that is real and I find it really part of the commitment of being an actor which is you've got to

you know turn up and give your best and throw your shoulder to the wheel and open your heart And it's a privilege to do the job. It really is. And I felt very, because of it, I went straight from betrayal into Loki and felt very, I don't know,

I felt very fresh. I felt very like all the tools have been sharpened somehow, maybe. I don't know. Do you think you'll be producing more? You produced on Nightmanager, you produce, you're an executive? like if you're on Loki, is there a desire to develop your own material?

Um, does that feel like something that's important or does it, I mean, it seems like you're getting, you're obviously getting the opportunities you want to need, even if you're not self-generating them, but is that something you think you'll prioritize at some point? Uh, I hope so. I, I, I've really enjoyed what the role is, um, um, um, on, on both Loki and the night manager because for me what it really was was the privilege of being included with a place at the table of the collective imagination as it's a it's a it's just more comments you have deeper conversations about the work much much earlier and it runs through the whole project and you keep having the conversation still much

much later than you would if you were simply an actor for high. Now, I love being an actor and I would continue to do it. But it was something about being part of the, being in the engine room where you're generating stories and having time to, because sometimes when you're filming, you don't have, we have often have time, but not a lot of time to invent and create new things. But some of that time, the true creativity of like, let's just spend a couple of hours talking about this and having ideas and discussing them and going down avenues that maybe lead to extraordinary opportunities or going down that avenues, you go, well, that's a cul-de-sac, ignore me, pretend I didn't say it, you know, often, in my case. and saying, is that the right way of doing this, of transforming this particular idea?

Is there some other way of getting this in? Do we need to put a bit more of this flavor in this scene? Do we need to dial up this scene? Do we need to refine this or simplify this or make this more complex? And so being a part of those conversations was just hugely, was a huge privilege. And it felt like there was this incredible, and it's quite rare, so worth saying. But this incredible team of people whose watches were completely synchronized.

And there was so much respect. And that's Kate Heron, Michael Waldron, Kevin Wright, Stephen Broussard, of course, Kevin Feigey, Louis di Esposito and Victoria, Alonzo. but really the five of us on the ground in Atlanta just constantly... In the trenches, just digging into the material and that must be just, yeah, and have the tools, you have the budget you need, and it's just like, oh, we can really, we can create, we can...

We can create, yeah, but a lot of it is sitting around a big table, much of it is a social distance. So we've got more tables, in to sit further apart and opening up the scripts and and saying what do we think for hours on end and having you know some really interesting discussions um a lot of two for two so far on your executive producing if all the projects you produce are as good as night manager and loki forget the acting just produce man you're making amazing material okay here's my ulterior move i want you to produce because let's just get the next real clear

collaboration between you and Benedict, the two-hander film that like we, we, like, here's what I wanted. I'm bummed. There's a face off two sequel. Face Off two should star Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hylston. I'll let him know. You know, you know, it's a, that's an idea. That is an idea. Wow. Do you need, do I need to somehow? That's a bad idea. That's it. It's a, it's definitely an idea, Josh. It's an idea. Look, you know, he, yeah, you're opening, my, my, my, my, my, my, My mind is suddenly kind of exploded with ideas and opportunities. We could go really meta with it as well. Have a bowl of Loki charms.

That fuels my creativity. Okay. Have a bowl of Loki charms and lie down and stare at the ceiling and picture the scene. Imagine the ceiling is a movie theater and everything will become clear. That's my creative process. Thank you, as always, my friend.

I know, we talked recently about Loki, but I appreciate you taking the time for a bit of a deeper dive, and it's always a pleasure to have you on the podcast. And I have a feeling hopefully next time we'll meet in person, and that will be... That would be so nice. I can't wait for that.

That would be really, really nice. All right, be welcome, my friend. Thank you again. Yeah, well, let's hope that, you know, those amazing scientists and doctors and nurses can bring that about. Where would we be without them? Yeah.

Don't get on any sketchy FedEx planes. Okay. To lose you in the Pacific. I won't. I wrote, even if it's to see you, that would be tantalizing. Don't take that risk. Imagine if I just sent you a quick note. Hey, Josh, I'm on my way.

I'm coming to see you. And then you turn up and be like, is it on? What happened? Where's Tom? It's like, well, my heart can't take it. Don't do that. It's the horrible way to end us. He was traveling on it.

There was a cargo plane with some extra. There were some Wilson balls. Not even secreting that into the universe. We're going to see each other, and it's not going to be in those circumstances. Yes. Thank you, buddy. I appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

Always. Talk to you soon. And so ends another edition of happy, sad, confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh. American history is full of infamous tales that continue to captivate audiences, decades or even hundreds of years after they happened.

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