Tom Hiddleston gets friendly with Bentley the cat for Shortlist: amazing?

More men should agree to do photoshoots with cats. Tom Hiddleston should definitely try it more often, even though he’s probably in danger of breaking the internet. Tumblr meltdown + cats = Armageddon. The whole point of Tom doing a photoshoot with a cat (named Bentley) is that Shortlist Magazine is calling him a “cool cat.” Is he though? Since it’s been so long since we’ve been knee-deep in a full blown Hiddles promotional tour, I kind of forgot that A) he comes across like an overeager puppy sometimes and B) his interviews are not great reads. It’s not that he’s morose or humorless, he’s just earnest, verging on too serious to be “cool.” The comparison always comes up: where Benedict Cumberbatch would be pithy, funny and quotable with an answer to any given question, Tom will verbally consider the question from every angle like he’s preparing a doctoral thesis in response. Anyway, you can read the full Shortlist piece here. Some highlights:

Loki changed his life: “It’s so interesting now. I haven’t actually played the character for three years. Marvel is clearly on a roll, and so my association with the company and with the universe of its films is always there. Loki did change my life. I was predominantly an actor in the British theatre. I’d worked with Kenneth Brannagh in television and the West End, then he cast me as Loki and within a year I was a part of this phenomenon.”

The future of Loki: “When you meet children and they have that really authentic response, that’s really cool. They are so generally enthusiastic and you realise they love these characters unashamedly. The enthusiasm is so genuine and so infectious. I am continuously amazed at how people like Loki. Yeah, he’s got mischief – he’s a bit bad. I don’t know where it goes from here. It feels like Marvel is expanding at such a rate, with so many new characters and so many new films, so I don’t know what my place is in all of that.”

Why he’s not crazy gossip-fodder: “I just try to keep my head down, and the work for me is the far more interesting thing. That’s why I’m in it. Acting for me is about curiosity and imagination, and I get a real kick out of scratching around doing my research and building characters.”

The Real Hiddles: “I try to be myself [in interviews]. Pretending to be someone else, you’re just setting yourself up for a fall. Or it can just be confusing. So, honestly, there are things that you want to keep private, but I can simply say I try to be myself.”

How he deals with criticism in real life & online: “I can’t control what anyone’s opinion is of me as a human being, good or bad. I can only be myself in every context. I’d like to think, if anyone did have any ill feelings towards me, that if I meet them I’d say, ‘Hey man, did I do anything to offend you?’ It would be unhealthy to worry about that. I guess we’re all in the age of increased transparency. We’re all vulnerable to criticism and people are perfectly entitled to exercise their right to criticise anything. Personally, I’m so aware things are more complicated than they seem – before I judge, I think, ‘Do I know the whole picture?’ I’m not pretending I don’t have bad days, but making those public? Feelings are transient, but if you make them public, post them, it’s forever. You can’t eradicate the record of what happened yesterday. There’s more than enough negativity in the world and I don’t feel like I need to contribute to that. I should add that I believe in accountability. If you’ve got something to say, then you should say that in person to somebody, as opposed to hiding behind anonymity, just throwing it over the wall like a paper aeroplane.”

Whether he’s encountered bitterness: “I don’t think I gave you a proper answer, when you asked if I’d encountered any bitterness. I’m sure there’s negative energy out there, but the last thing I want to be is divisive. I’m an actor because I believe in the power of cinema to bring people together. I get disheartened when things are interpreted along divisive lines. That’s not the business I’m in. I’m not saying I’m some kind of unifying force – I just like being a part of it. That might just be the most sincere thing I’ve said today.”

[From Shortlist]

I think he’s coming close to answering why he hasn’t been as active on social media as he once was. He really started to tighten up his social media game last year. Is it because he didn’t want to participate in the wave of negativity? The thing is, Tom has crazy-obsessed fans online, and while they are crazy, he really doesn’t get a ton of negative stuff coming his way. Like, the worst thing I can say about him is that he seems too eager and earnest. That’s it. It’s practically a compliment!

Photos courtesy of Shortlist.