Tom Hiddleston recently opened up about a key influence behind his portrayal of Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The actor revealed that a certain grinning villain from a 1989 blockbuster played a major role in shaping his early approach to the God of Mischief.
Tom Hiddleston reveals major inspiration behind his Loki portrayal in MCU
Tom Hiddleston said Jack Nicholson’s Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman directly inspired his portrayal of Loki in the MCU.
Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hiddleston said, “Truthfully, I don’t think I would’ve played Loki without that film. I think the way Jack Nicholson played the Joker was so… at the time in my life when I saw it, it made such an impact on my imagination.” He added, “I understood he was the villain, but he was having such a good time… and he was so charismatic and so inventive and so free.”
Hiddleston confirmed that he “consciously carried” Nicholson’s performance in his mind while shooting the first Thor film. He and director Kenneth Branagh experimented with different performance styles on set, including what he called “a Jack Nicholson take, where I was having the most fun in the room.” This approach contributed to Loki’s complex and charismatic personality on screen.
In a 2013 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hiddleston also referenced Nicholson’s Joker as one of the classic villains who influenced him. “I’m standing on the shoulders of the villains I loved as a child and take my hat off to,” he said. “Jack Nicholson as The Joker in Tim Burton’s Batman, and I bow even lower for Alan Rickman in Die Hard and James Mason in North by Northwest.”
Hiddleston further elaborated on how he experimented with Loki’s character during Thor. He said they tried “the Peter O’Toole take” and “a Clint Eastwood take,” each showing different emotional layers. This gave director Kenneth Branagh “different flavors of things in the edit” to help shape Loki’s complex personality.
Hiddleston will next return as Loki in Avengers: Doomsday. Audiences last saw the character in Loki Season 2, where he became the God of Time.
Originally reported by Anubhav Chaudhry on SuperHeroHype.com.
