Flaunt Magazine: It's Not Abstract, This Kindness (2013)

April 2, 2013:

Flaunt Magazine released their April 2014 issue. To date, this is still my favorite photoshoot and interview with Tom Hiddleston. You can read the full interview written by Laura Havlin here.

This was Tom's first major print interview after he started his work with Unicef UK. He talks a lot about his experience in Guinea and how it changed his perspective.

"All I am really, is a sort-of town crier. I'm someone who can write about it and make people aware, but I'm not distributing vaccines; I'm not organizing transportation; I can;t make fortified milk for infants who are malnourished; I can't build schools and find jobs and build training systems; I'm not a chemist; I'm not an engineer' I'm not a politician - I'm just in the position where, some people, a few people, will read what I've got to say."

"The Guinea trip made me feel like I'm useful, and that really is what any human being wants to feel, that they're useful in the world. It becomes problematic when you start feeling useless. I've always been plagued by this question: 'What is the best use of my time on this planet?' And doing all of that has been so rewarding because it's quite clearly a good use of time."

Tom also applied that feeling to his work as an actor.

"It's made me question the contribution of a project, and it's made me resolve only to attach myself to projects where I believe in what that film or piece of writing is going to communicate to the world. It doesn't matter if I have to go through some terrible hardship in order to play the part as long as the whole is inspiring and has a good impact. The reason I'm here, the reason I became an actor is because, sat there in the audience, my world was once changed by a film or by a piece of theatre... It's that feeling when you see a film and it's changed the way you think about something. It's touched you; there's something about it that you believe in."

On War Horse.

"It doesn't matter if they're spending 150 million dollars on it or fifteen hundred - the job's the same. Your job as an actor is to represent the truth of human nature in whatever shade or color it comes to serve the story. I love War Horse. I remember reading the script and it made me cry because it made me cry because it was about decency, and the horse is a kind of vessel or a metaphor for our capacity for kindness in a difficult situation."

Tom told a story about how a routine physical changed his outlook on life.

"It was incredible because he was saying that's the grit in the pearl of the oyster - if you can get through all the other stuff about life, paying bills and trying to do the right thing and basically looking after yourself and living with dignity, then the fun stuff is trying that answer that question (Who are we really?)."

My favorite quote from the interview:

"I'm an optimist. I choose to be. There's a lot of darkness in our world, there is a lot of pain and you can either choose to see that or you can choose to see the joy. If you try to respond positively to the world, you'll spend your time better. If you respond negatively, you might one day look back and say, 'Why did I spend the whole time complaining? Why didn't I acknowledge the stuff I have, never mind the stuff I didn't have?' I'm a glass-half-full person, simply because it's a better use of my time."

The photoshoot by Jason Hetherington.

Embroidered jacket and shirt by Alexander McQueen

Striped suit by Acne, scarf by John Varvatos, ring by Duffy.

Leather jacket by Balmain, shirt by John Varvatos.

shirt by John Varvatos

The accompanying video shot by Joe Conner deserved an Oscar.

It begins with Tom Hiddleston reading The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. While posing and looking forlornly at the camera Tom also talks about his characters.