Tom Hiddleston says fatherhood has changed what gives his life meaning, bringing a responsibility he places above the characters he has played on screen and stage.
The 45-year-old actor discussed raising his two children with Zawe Ashton in Esquire UK‘s November/December issue. His comments were reported by PEOPLE on Oct. 13.
Hiddleston and Ashton played a married couple in the 2019 stage revival of Betrayal. They announced their engagement in 2022.
Their first child arrived that year. Hiddleston confirmed the arrival of their second in a December 2025 interview with GQ, without sharing the baby’s birthday, according to the Associated Press.
He Says Being There for His Children Feels Like ‘Heaven’
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“It’s the most important thing I’ll ever do, the most important role I’ll ever play,” Hiddleston said. Being present for his children, he added, feels like “heaven.”
He described experiencing emotions with an intensity he had not anticipated before becoming a parent. Asked whether feeling everything more deeply was necessarily a good thing, he answered, “Yes, because you’re just more alive.”
Hiddleston compared parenthood to discovering “the best room in the house.” He had been happy with his life before, he explained, but had not understood what this part of it could feel like.
He also recalled returning from a mountain shoot, landing at 6 a.m. and heading straight to the playground to spend time with his children. Asked about their future, Hiddleston said he would support them if they wanted to become actors, although their happiness mattered most to him.
His Children Give Him a Reason to Stay Strong
In a separate September interview with Men’s Health UK, quoted by USA TODAY, Hiddleston explained that his fitness goals now extend beyond preparing for physically demanding roles. “I want to be fit and strong for my children,” he said.
He wants to carry them, run with them, swim and play soccer as they grow. Hiddleston also said he is conscious that they watch what he does and that he can introduce them to the enjoyment of movement through the time they spend together. Keeping up with them for as long as possible has become his motivation for continuing to train.
Ashton Gave Him a Rule for His Creative Work
Hiddleston credited Ashton with advice he carries into his projects: “My wife says the specific is the universal,” he told Esquire, in remarks published by Just Jared.
Ashton previously explained that she and Hiddleston use husband and wife when referring to one another. During a July 2025 appearance on Miss Me?, she said they had not married at that point, despite reports that prompted relatives to wonder why they had missed a wedding invitation, according to Entertainment Weekly.
Loki’s Success Required a Different Kind of Adjustment
Hiddleston also recalled the scale of the opportunity he received when he was cast as Loki in 2011’s Thor. The character gave him a complex part in a production far larger than anything he had previously experienced.
He compared adjusting to the resulting fame with acclimatizing to altitude. Once his public profile changed, he said, his priority became holding onto his “ordinary self” and approaching acting as work instead of allowing the attention around it to define him, according to PA Media‘s account of the interview.
‘Tenzing’ Brought Him to the Himalayas
Hiddleston plays Edmund Hillary opposite Genden Phuntsok’s Tenzing Norgay in Jennifer Peedom’s drama about their 1953 ascent of Mount Everest. His children have learned about Hillary through his work, he told Esquire, as well as subjects including Pompeii.
For the film, Hiddleston and Phuntsok spoke with Kanchha Sherpa, then the last surviving member of the expedition. Hiddleston told EW in September that Sherpa remembered Hillary’s laughter, relaxed manner and willingness to eat alongside the Sherpas without putting on airs.
Hiddleston described seeing the Himalayas as a reminder of how brief an individual life is against the mountains around it. He said that awareness encourages him to follow his curiosity and connect with other people. Apple released Tenzing in select theaters on Oct. 9. It begins streaming globally on Apple TV on Oct. 16.