Tom Hiddleston has joked he was finally seen “for what I am” when he was cast to voice an overweight, frustrated middle manager in a new Aardman animated film.
The Thor star lends his voice to pompous, money-loving tyrant Lord Nooth in Early Man, the new film from Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park.
#EarlyMan is in cinemas NOW! Grab your popcorn, gather your tribe and get ready for an @Aardman adventure 2.5 million years in the making!Book tickets: https://t.co/DsgEN6TrPp pic.twitter.com/IlQALtqg4O
— Early Man (@earlymanmovie) January 26, 2018
Speaking about how he got into character to play the ridiculous villain, he said: “The script was delivered to me with the model and when I read it, it made me laugh.
“The idea of this overweight, frustrated middle manager with small hands… it made me think, ‘Nick Park is the first person to really see me for what I am!’
“Our first session was about finding his voice. Nick said ‘I think you should do it in French, but an ‘Allo ‘Allo school of French’.
“So I basically just tried to make Nick laugh.”
Hiddleston also revealed how Park drew the right sound from him for a scene in which Lord Nooth is massaged by a pig in the bath.
See how the cast of #EarlyMan fared behind-the-booth when recording the lines for their characters! Don't miss @aardman's prehistoric adventure in cinemas Friday! https://t.co/a9Be6bJPOY pic.twitter.com/ICFmrqopWB
— Early Man (@earlymanmovie) January 25, 2018
He said: “Nick massaged me to get that sound. It was odd, more physical than I expected.”
Park added: “There were about 10 takes that are unusable because of the laughing.”
Early Man is released in UK cinemas on January 26.