Thor, Avengers actor Tom Hiddleston turns Loki, the fallen Prince of Asgard, into an iconic cinematic villain

Actor Tom Hiddleston at the Channel 7 studio in Martin Place. Picture: Tim Hunter Source: News Limited

 

 

Maria Lewis, The Daily Telegraph, reports

It has only been a few years since Tom Hiddleston debuted as Marvel villain Loki in Thor but already his portrayal has become one of the most iconic cinematic villains. Post the blockbuster success of superhero team-up Avengers - which has now grossed over $2 billion - Hiddleston has donned Loki's golden headdress for the third time alongside Chris Hemsworth in Thor: The Dark World."It honestly feels like the greatest privilege," said the 32-year-old, who arrived in Sydney yesterday to promote the film. "When I was first cast in 2009 I don't think beyond very diehard, passionate comic book fans Loki was a particularly known character - especially as a Marvel bad guy." The fact that people know who he is, I'm very touched and flattered by it."

Like The Joker, Dracula and Hannibal Lecter, fans have rallied behind the villainous Loki just as strongly as they have the protagonists like Iron Man and Captain America.

For Hiddleston - who comes from a strong Shakespearean background as a stage actor - he "can't explain" the hysteria surrounding the fallen Prince of Asgard.

"I never expected it," he said.

"From going back to the first stage with Kenneth Branagh (Thor director) and Chris Hemsworth and sitting around a table and building this story together, to evolving the character with Joss Whedon, I'm intensely grateful for the way fans have latched on to it. It would be ungracious not to be.

"Actors love to tell stories playing different characters and it's all for nothing if there's no audience."

At the beginning of Thor 2 he said "it's no secret" that Loki has been incarcerated and thrown into the "deepest, darkest dungeons of Asgard".

Hiddleston said he was able to draw from his experience visiting a high-security prison as part of a drama program and that he was "fascinated by the effect incarnation has on the mind". In the meantime, the Midnight In Paris actor is teaming up with another Aussie - Mia Wasikowska - on "spooky" horror film Crimson Peak. Directed by Guillermo del Toro - who is also behind his "favourite film of the summer" Pacific Rim - Hiddleston said he is also a massive fan of the filmmaker's The Simpsons intro for Treehouse Of Horror. Del Toro's crazy Simpson's intro "That was hilarious, I liked the Lisa in Wonderland piece. He is so brilliant. He's one of the most broad-minded, curious, searching, excitable, diligent and gifted filmmakers I've ever met." Thor: The Dark World is released in cinemas on October 31.

Thor's wife Elsa Pataky hammers magazine over topless shots

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth and his wife Spanish actress Elsa Pataky at the London Olympics 2012. Picture: Alastair Grant Source: AP

Amy Harris and Joel Christie, The Daily Telegraph, report

Chalk up another win for privacy. Chris Hemsworth's actress wife has won her case against a Spanish magazine which published topless photos of her taken on a beach in Mexico.

The Aussie Thor star's partner, Elsa Pataky, was awarded almost $400,000 on Monday by Spain's Supreme Court after the photographs were ruled to be an "invasion of privacy".

A snap of Pataky topless appeared on the cover of a Spanish publication in March, 2007, after being taken by a paparazzo while she modeled for a photoshoot with Elle magazine.

The actress had been posing topless for the shoot, covering her breasts with her hands, but was snapped with a long-lens camera while changing between shots.

The Supreme Court found the actress was entitled to expect privacy as the shoot had taken place at an exclusive resort and not in a public place.

Fifty shades of Hemsworth sibling rivalry as brothers face off over part

Luke Hemsworth and his brother Chris arrive at the premiere of Thor in Hollywood, California. Picture: Gabriel Bouys Source: AFP

The Daily Telegraph reports

Talk about sibling rivalry. The super-hot Hemsworth brothers, Chris and Liam, are auditioning against each other for the same movie.

No strangers to competing with one another in the cut-throat hustle and bustle of Hollywood, the siblings battled for the part of Thor, with director Kenneth Brannagh choosing elder Chris.

Now they have their eyes set on the biggest film adaptation of a book series since The Hunger Games - Fifty Shades Of Grey.

Stateside sources say 29-year-old Chris has emerged as a favourite for lead character, billionaire-philanthropist Christian Grey, along with Ryan Gosling, Man of Steel's Henry Cavill and White Collar's Matt Bomer.

Liam - AKA Mr Miley Cyrus - is said to have originally put his hand up for the part, but is now firming well for the role of Elliot, Grey's brother in the racy E. L. James tome.

Chris Hemsworth had to fight nothing

Had to fight nothing ... Chris Hemsworth in a scene in Snow White and the Huntsman battles computer generated trolls. Supplied by Universal Source: AP

Caris Bizzaca, The Daily Telegraph, reports

With Thor, The Avengers and Snow White and the Huntsman under his belt, he’s approaching being an action movie veteran.

As the Huntsman in Snow White and the Huntsman, Australian Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth has to go up against a computer-generated (CG) troll, which meant he was literally fighting thin air in the shoot.

"Obviously (the CG troll) didn't exist when we were there and I was running around in the river, kind of swinging at nothing,'' he says.

"That's when you feel ridiculous.

"It's like ``oh, woah'' (pretends to fight) and there's nothing there.''

It was entertaining for his co-star, Twilight's Kristen Stewart, though.

"We got to respond to very real things the whole time and then that one day, he was flailing around at nothing. It was very funny,'' she says.

Snow White and the Huntsman is a dark and visually stunning new take on the classic fairytale and Hemsworth says the troll scene was one of many highlights for them watching it for the first time.

He says a lot of people made a big deal about this being Rupert Sanders' first feature film, but he was never concerned, having seen Sanders' award-winning work in commercials for campaigns like Halo 3.

''(From the) commercial work I'd seen I thought, ok he's a talented visual director, but what I noticed in all of it was he knew how to tell a story, with some real heart and truth and characters,'' he says.

''(We) knew he was going to do something pretty special.''

Sanders says it was about three years ago that he actively starting looking for a feature film to tackle.

"Then this came along and ... I got really excited about the opportunity to make a big historical epic, with very modern characters, and a very modern retelling of it really,'' he says.

The result is a Snow White film that has the apple, the dwarfs and the evil queen, but also trolls, fairies, armies and a Snow White who wears chain mail and leads a rebellion.

Stewart says she appreciated that even with the differences, she could still recognise Snow White in it.

"It wasn't so intentionally trying to be this like, I don't know how to say it, like gruff, like action movie,'' she says.

"It was so rooted in a world that I completely believed in and I think that she became a really awesome representation of a strong woman and not like some weird imitation of a guy.''

The filmmakers were originally looking for an unknown to play Snow White, until Sanders met with Stewart in New Orleans, where she was filming the last Twilight movie.

Sanders, who hadn't seen the Twilight movies when he met Stewart, felt like something clicked.

"There's something so spirited about her and she's really got the weight of the world on her shoulders and she carries it very, very well for someone so young,'' he says.

"And I think all of those elements to me are what this contemporary version of Snow White should have.''

Sanders says he sees Snow White as almost like a female Luke Skywalker.

"She's the rise of a hero and I think, you know the Skywalker story is taken from fairytales, and this is the fairytale taking the fairytale back in a way,'' he says.

Australian stunt woman Ky Furneaux retires after winning Best Stunt Done By a Female category at Taurus World Stunt Awards

Winner of stunt industry's equivalent of an Oscar ... Australian stuntwoman Ky Furneaux, who won for her work on 'Thor', before attending the 2012 Taurus World Stunt Awards in the US. Picture: Lockerz Source: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reports

Australian stuntwoman Ky Furneaux has been honoured with the stunt industry's equivalent of an Oscar.

Furneaux, 38, has won Best Stunt Done By a Female category for her work in Thor at the 2012 Taurus World Stunt Awards in the US.

In the 2011 film Thor, starring another Australian Chris Hemsworth, Furneaux doubled for actress Jaimie Alexander who played warrior goddess Sif.

Her winning scene was when her character jumped from a building to spear The Destroyer through the chest - and the stunt was so complex Furneaux rehearsed it for five days before filming.

"It was one of those days where you realised you might not come home at the end of it,'' she told Seven Network.

With this in mind, and holding the industry's highest accolade, Furneaux says she's now retiring from the stunt game because of the increasingly dangerous work demanded of its women.

Hollywood reunion for star brothers

Leonie, Chris, Luke and Craig Hemsworth. Picture: Richard Dobson Source: Herald Sun

Nui Te Koha, The Sunday Herald Sun, reports

THE Hemsworth family has celebrated a belated Christmas lunch in Hollywood.

Parents Craig and Leonie Hemsworth arrived in LA last week to enjoy food and festivities with sons Chris and Luke, Liam and their respective families.

Luke, starring in the coming Channel 10 series Bikie Wars, brought his wife, Samantha, and their two children, Lalita and Dante, while Thor star Chris sat beside his wife of one year, Elsa Pataky. Liam, boyfriend of Miley Cyrus, flew solo.

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth up for BAFTA Award

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth portrays the title character in a scene from the 2011 film Thor. Photo: AP/Paramount Pictures/Zade Rosenthal Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

CHRIS Hemsworth is still hammering away at Thor glory.

The Aussie actor, whose action film was a massive box office success worldwide, is up for the British Film And Television Academy's rising star award, the entertainment news website Variety reports.

Also on the longlist for the award are Tom Hiddleston, Felicity Jones, Eddie Redmayne, Adam Deacon, Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris O'Dowd.

These eight will be whittled down to five on January 17. The winner, who will then be voted by the public, will be announced at the BAFTA ceremony on February 12.

In the past, the gong has gone to the contender who appears in the year's highest grossing film, thus putting Hemsworth among the favourites.

UK actors Simon Pegg and Sienna Miller were among the jury who put together the longlist.

Since taking on the title role in Thor, Hemsworth has packed on more than 9kg of muscle to become the rippled Norse god of thunder - and the new body requires constant protein to maintain it.

Hemsworth played the hammer-wielding Norse god Thor in the superhero movie from Marvel directed by Kenneth Branagh.