Tom Hiddleston

Thomas William Hiddleston was born on February 9, 1981, in Westminster, London, England. He is a Golden Globe- and Olivier Award-winning actor, best known for his role as Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Initially raised in Wimbledon, Hiddleston started at Windlesham House School, a boarding school, at age 7 before transferring to the Dragon School in Oxford and then the prestigious Eton College at age 13. He went on to study classics at the University of Cambridge's Pembroke College, graduating with a double first degree, before going on to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and graduating in 2005.

He made his professional acting debut in 2001 in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby for ITV and continued to land small roles on television for the next few years, including parts in Conspiracy (2001) and The Gathering Storm (2002). His first recurring role was Bill Hazeldine in Channel 5's Suburban Shootout in 2006, and his first feature film role was Oakley in 2007's Unrelated.

Following student productions and even an appearance in Journey's End at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1999, Hiddleston's stage career kicked off in 2006, landing roles in the Cheek by Jowl productions of The Changeling and Cymbeline (in 2007). He toured internationally with both productions, including stops at London's Barbican Theatre, and went on to win the Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play for Cymbeline in 2008. Since then, he has starred in three productions at London's Donmar Warehouse: as Cassio in Othello (2008), as Lvov in Ivanov (2008), and as the titular character in Coriolanus (2013), with the latter broadcast internationally to cinemas courtesy of National Theatre Live. He has also participated in a benefit performance of The Children's Monologues at the Old Vic Theatre in 2010 and a reading of The Kingdom of Earth at the West End's Criterion Theatre in 2012. In 2017, he would also return to his former acting school, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, to star as the titular character in a production of Hamlet.

In film, Hiddleston's big break came in 2011 after being cast as the villainous Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He debuted in Thor, under the direction of Sir Kenneth Branagh, and became an instant fan favorite. He would reprise the role as the main antagonist in 2012's box office smash The Avengers, and again in 2013's Thor: The Dark World, 2017's Thor: Ragnarok, 2018's Avengers: Infinity War, and 2019's Avengers: Endgame. His other notable film roles include Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris (2011), Steven Spielberg's 2011 film adaptation of War Horse, The Deep Blue Sea (2012), Muppets Most Wanted (2014), Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak (2015), I Saw the Light (2015), Kong: Skull Island (2017), and Aardman Animations' Early Man (2018).

On television, Hiddleston's crowning achievement to date is his performance as Jonathan Pine in the BBC's The Night Manager, leading to his first Golden Globe win in 2017 (following his 2016 Emmy Award nomination). Over the years, he has also appeared on the small screen in Miss Austen Regrets, Wallander, and Return to Cranford, all for the BBC in 2007, 2008, and 2009, respectively. He also starred in the BBC's The Hollow Crown series in 2012, taking on the roles of Prince Hal in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part I and Part II and the titular character in Shakespeare's Henry V.

Hiddleston returned to the West End stage as Robert in Harold Pinter's classic Betrayal, playing an extended limited run at the Harold Pinter Theatre from March 5 through June 8, 2019. The production, once again under the direction of Jamie Lloyd, transferred to Broadway to play the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre from August 14 through December 8, 2019, and marked Hiddleston's Broadway debut.