#politely though

In 1953, Mexican photographer Nacho López photographed actress Maty Huitrón walking through a busy market, capturing the public’s spontaneous reactions.

The (male) public's reaction:

If Tom Hiddleston’s success wasn’t quite overnight, his ascent was swift. His turn as Loki in Marvel’s Thor caught fans’ attention, and the character grew in stature as he became the charismatic central threat of blockbuster crossover Avengers Assemble – leading to many more appearances through the MCU, a headline role in the BBC’s hit John Le Carré spy thriller The Night Manager, and major roles in movies including High-Rise, Kong: Skull Island, and Crimson Peak. But his brief appearances in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame aside, Hiddleston has kept a lower profile in recent years – taking stage roles in London and New York, and retreating somewhat from screen work.

As he prepares to make a major comeback in his own MCU series, Loki, on Disney+, as well as starring in the upcoming series adaptation of The Essex Serpent, Hiddleston spoke to Empire in our world-exclusive cover interview about where he’s been these past few years, and why now was the time to come back. “A few things crossed my path and I thought carefully about them, but they didn’t feel quite right, so I didn’t do them,” he says of roles that came his way.

If Hiddleston’s retreat from the spotlight was preceded by a greater tabloid focus on his personal life, his time away was less a conscious choice on that front than “a moment of consideration,” he says. “I’d been playing so many different people in so many different parts of the world, and it’s very important to distinguish what’s real in one’s own life, and look after those things. Because if you don’t look after them, they can be lost, or they can be marginalised, and then you come home one day and they’re not there anymore.”

He relates his viewpoint and philosophy to that of Tilda Swinton’s character, Eve, in the Jim Jarmusch vampire drama he starred in, Only Lovers Left Alive. “She says life is about surviving things, appreciating nature, nurturing kindness and friendship, and dancing,” he explains. “So perhaps, in the moment, I needed to come back and do it. I don’t know, to be honest, that I danced a lot. I should have danced more. But I’m sure there are some people who’d say I’ve danced far too much.”