Tom Hiddleston has a pretty decent interview in the new issue of TimeOut London. You can read the full piece here – he talks a bit about The Night Manager (which is airing in the UK right now), but the bulk of the interview seems to be about High Rise. While I’ve been feeling like Tom has been making the effort to tone done the Tumblr part of his fandom (like Bendy Cumberbatch before him), I also think Tom has been making an effort to work on better answers to some of the more sensitive questions he gets frequently. Like, in his Guardian interview a few months ago, Tom came across as rather blasé about the whole posh-versus-working class actors issue, but in this interview, he tries out a new argument.

Power: “The film and the novel could be read as a reflection of what is happening today. Power lies in the hands of a very small percentage of the populace, in all professions: politics, law, the media and, yes, the arts too. That’s why the education of actors, including myself, has become a recurring theme and a cause for debate in recent times.”

Acting should not be dominated by posh actors: “It is unhealthy for any society to be represented in any sphere of life, including the arts, by one social group. I understand that. I strongly agree with that. More must be done to keep the doors open for everyone. The picture of your life shouldn’t have to be dictated by the circumstances in which you were born. Everyone deserves the chance to follow their chosen vocation. Britain is not yet a meritocracy. I hope that changes in my lifetime. If I could think of an easy solution, I’d advocate it right now. These are complex, uneasy times.”

What makes him angry: “Prejudice. If I witness prejudice, it drives me bananas. It’s incredibly limiting, on any level. Race, background, religion. I mean, look at Trump, and the sort of things he’s said about Muslims. I was furious about it. That’s hate speech.”

Whether he’s experienced prejudice: “Probably. I try just to dodge it. Of course I think people have got me wrong; I think people have certainly made quick judgments which are perhaps not accurate, but then you spend your life trying to prove people wrong – I love doing that. I don’t get angry about prejudice towards actors. That’s just part of the job.”

Whether he’s considered what he would be like serving in the military: “Yes I did, and the answer is: I don’t know. I’ve thought about it a lot because I’ve played so many soldiers. If you take Loki out of the equation, almost everybody I’ve played is a soldier. There was Captain Nicholls in “War Horse” and Freddie Page in “The Deep Blue Sea”. I’ve played Shakespearean soldiers in “Coriolanus” and “Henry V”.’

British actors finding consistent work in America: “Maybe there was something that happened around the time Hugh Laurie started to be in “House” on TV. What trickled down to my generation was a sense that as a British actor you didn’t need an invitation to go over to America, you could just go and try your luck. I think that is what’s happened. British actors who are succeeding – like Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Nicholas Hoult and Idris Elba – these are people who decided to go out there and see what happened. Before then, you had to be in some extraordinary British success and then you could head out there. I remember that new sense of possibility.”

[From TimeOut London]

It’s both amusing and upsetting to continually hear about British and European reactions to Donald Trump. Like, I get it. After eight years of Obama’s even temper, America is working out some internal drama and it’s messy and people out there are concerned. But… the UK has hyper-conservative wingnut politicians too. As does France, Germany and nearly every NATO power. As for Tom’s poshness and his hope that the doors are kept open for everyone… it feels like he’s still shrugging and saying, “But what do you want me to do?” While I agree that it’s not like he should refuse to work until more working class actors get jobs, there are things he could do. I mean, even Benedict Cumberbatch is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, which hands out scholarships to poor and working class kids.

Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.