To my understanding, a ‘Hiddlestoner’ is a fan of British actor Tom Hiddleston.
I count myself among this collective description, however, I find that time and time again the name is somewhat tainted in the media and that is grossly unfair.
Almost all Hiddleston fans I have come across have been intelligent, generous, kind and respectful individuals brought together by a mutual adoration and admiration for the man’s talent (easy), intellect and the way he presents himself to the world. Of course, he is a beautiful man so the occasional “well, fuck me” has been uttered watching movies and exhaled in a combination of frustration and genuine bemusement when witnessing appearances but there’s nothing wrong with a little fantasising every now and again, now is there?
I have witnessed the odd exception to this- screaming, jostling and unpleasantness and I have heard tell of invasions of privacy but that is a minority. It is unfair to tar all with the same brush when it is but a few who are acting or have acted in an inappropriate fashion.
Tom Hiddleston is one of the most talented actors out there and he will achieve incredible things in the industry (beyond the honours he has already bestowed upon him) and I am proud to support his career and admire his progress and projects. No one should ever be made to feel guilty or uncomfortable sharing what they are passionate about.
Tom Hiddleston reads an excerpt from Extreme Metaphors- Interviews with J G Ballard featuring an interview with the author from Search & Destroy; first published in 1978.
Get the book here, read the original article here and check out the transcript of the snippet Tom reads below and see just how incredibly well Ballard predicts the growth and changes of our relationship with technology:
After being absolutely devastated that I had to give away my tickets to the High Rise gala screening on Friday, I was still very much looking forward to seeing the movie this morning (11/10).
You can imagine my surprise when before the film the director of the London Film Festival walks out and introduces the director Ben Wheatley who goes on to explain he will be doing a short Q&A after the film and that Tom Hiddleston will be joining him then, too. (!!!)
I couldn’t believe my luck! And then the film- well the film was just incredible. I’ve written a short (spoiler free!) post on my thoughts that you can read here.
The following Q&A was amazing- I wasn’t prepared for one as I say so unfortunately I didn’t record much because the memory was almost all taken up on my phone and the pictures I got aren’t great either. Both Ben and Tom were delightfully insightful and funny and play off each other so well. Tom brought with him a book (Extreme Metaphors) containing an interview with J G Ballard from 1978 he found to be particularly poignant and read it aloud to us. Ballard was right on the money and despite it being decades before time he describes so well our relationship with technology it’s quite incredible. You can find the snippet Tom read to us here as well as the full article- which I highly recommend, here. As soon as a video appears of the Q&A I’ll be sure to share it with you guys. I got two small clips that I’ll post right after this.
After the Q&A I took a walk around the block because the crowd was insane and stumbled across the back exit to the cinema and a small group of people waiting so figured I’d give it a go too. Ben came out like a minute later and I got to tell him I thought the film was incredible as he was passing to go to the car. He signed for a few things and did a couple of photos I think but security were quick to move him along. Tom then came out and the same story- few photos, few signatures then got moved to the car. As he was just about to get in he was talking to a girl who’d gone round it then as he turned to climb in I called out thank you and he waved at the group, split second of eye contact then he was in the car and away.
Words can’t explain how awesome today was. The film is everything I wanted and more and it is Tom’s best performance yet. You’re all gonna love it, I swear.
