Tom Hiddleston and Anna Sawai are addressing their recent roles in an emotional conversation.
The 43-year-old Loki star and the 32-year-old Shōgun actress sat down together as part of Variety‘s Actors on Actors series.
During the discussion, Tom got candid on saying goodbye to Loki, as well as his sympathy towards the character, and Anna spoke about the response from Japanese women to her portrayal of Toda Mariko in the hit series, which briefly brought her to tears.
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Tom, on saying goodbye to Loki:
“I just felt this wash of relief because it had been a very meaningful experience. That sense of … the exhale…It’s changed the whole course of my life, no question.”
Tom, on his sympathy towards Loki:
“I always saw Loki as a broken soul with a shattered heart, deeply damaged by the fact that he was unwanted. He’s mischievous and playful on the surface, but it’s masking all this pain. What I’ve loved about this series is tracing my way back to that vulnerable soul and healing that damage. Showing that pain can be transformed into courage and strength…”
Anna, on the response from Japanese women to her portrayal of Toda Mariko in Shōgun:
“I’m trying not to get emotional…we were on the press tour in Washington, D.C., and we showed our first two episodes to a Japanese community. After the screening, multiple young girls came up to me being like, ‘This is the first time I’m seeing a real Japanese character that I can really relate to.’ They were getting emotional as well, because it was something that they had internalized—not being able to speak, having to behave—and they thought that’s the way that they should be. I feel like if I had seen characters like Mariko on-screen growing up, that would’ve formed me in a different way. I wouldn’t have internalized all those expectations.”
If you missed it, there’s big news about the FX series!
Watch the full conversation…