The Life of Chuck is a film of earnestness. It explores all the loss, connection, complication and devastation of a life in a brief window, all while shouldering a profound hope that it intends to share with the viewer. With the rise of social media came the rise of cynicism. Earnesty became a weakness, leaving anyone sharing their deepest joys on the receiving end of mockery. While this nihilsm has extended into reality in many ways, seeping into all corners of our day to day lives, creators like Mike Flanagan and actors like Tom Hiddleston simply have no interest in that kind of outlook. And that shared view on life is exactly what made Hiddleston the perfect addition to the Flanagan family and the role of Charles Krantz.
Really, though, the titular Chuck is a shoe in when it comes to Hiddleston’s filmography. The Life of Chuck posits that each of us contains multitudes. An entire universe lives within all of us. Meanwhile, Hiddleston’s role before this — that of Loki Laufeyson, a role he has played in the MCU for well over a decade now — doesn’t just contain his own multitudes, but finds himself keeper of the multiverse as a whole, protecting not just his universe, but all of them.
In sitting down with the incredible creatives behind The Life of Chuck, I had to ask Hiddleston what drew him to these kinds of roles.
"I think it [roles like Chuck and Loki] resonates very deeply with my experience of life. It's really kind of why I became an actor. As an actor, you get to explore your multitudes. You get to play different characters in different stories and connect to all of them and see where you're the same and see where you're different.
For me, the role of the proper stuff of acting is actually about imagination and compassion. It's about extending yourself to circumstances which maybe aren't yours, but trying to see your own humanity in them.
I really relate to the wisdom in this film, which is that behind the exterior of how we're seen in the world, of how we present in the world is an internal world of infinite possibility that every single human being, and I really believe this, contains an internal world of majestic inspiring multitudes and possibility of none of us are one thing.
All of us have that universe within us, which is a universe of connections, both real and imagined and when a life comes to an end and so does that universe. Those people, the memories, the experiences, the love you shared, the books you love, the music you danced to, the movies you watched, the times you lost, the times you loved. It's all so unique. It's all the human heart has a unique experience. To your point, I think I'm often drawn to characters who may have an external appearance which doesn't tell the whole story of their internal reality."
What’s so striking about Hiddleston’s answer is how uniquely it sums up the film itself despite Hiddleston talking about personal choices rather than Flanagan’s recent film. Really, it just goes to show that no one was meant to play Chuck Krantz but him.
Thanks for 39 great years, Chuck.
