Tom Hiddleston has opened up about his “heavenly” life raising two children with his fiancee Zawe Ashton.
The Marvel star, 45, met Fresh Meat actress Ashton, 42, when they starred together in a stage revival of Betrayal, and they got engaged in 2022. The couple welcomed their first child that year, and their second child was born in 2025.
Fatherhood changes the centre of meaning
Hiddleston, who previously dated Taylor Swift, said fatherhood has made him feel “more alive”, adding that it feels like his “heart has expanded”.
“[Fatherhood] has changed the centre of meaning in my life,” he told Esquire UK. “It’s the most important thing I’ll ever do, the most important role I’ll ever play. And to be there for them, alongside them. It’s… it’s… heaven.”
He added: “I don’t think I could have ever been prepared for how your heart expands, becoming a parent. You just feel more of everything. You feel more deeply… it’s a love like no other… You’re just more alive.”
Domestic life and ordinary moments
The 45-year-old previously described fatherhood as the “most beautiful, profound, earth-shattering, life-altering” experience there is. Discussing his domestic life with Ashton, Hiddleston recalled returning home to London after a gruelling film shoot in Nepal.
He recalled sitting on the sofa watching the US Open on television with Ashton, he told the magazine: “I was reading the FT, and I was like, ‘This is great. A perfect night. Dog on my lap. Everyone’s here!’ I was feeling so happy to be together, to be the pack. I love my ordinary life and I like the part of myself that’s really ordinary.”
Marvel fame and holding onto his ordinary self
Elsewhere in his new interview with Esquire UK, Hiddleston talked about how his life changed when he landed a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The actor skyrocketed to international fame in 2011 after making his debut as villain Loki in the superhero film Thor.
Hiddleston has continued to portray the character in subsequent Marvel films and his own Disney+ series, and will also reprise the role in upcoming film Avengers: Doomsday. “Once you cross that bridge, you can’t re-cross it,” he said. “You have to acclimatise because it’s an unusual experience. But I quickly became really aware of just trying to hold onto my ordinary self.”
The award-winning actor has since appeared in films beyond the MCU including I Saw The Light, Midnight In Paris and War Horse, as well as TV series such as The Night Manager and The Hollow Crown. He has also continued his theatre work with notable roles in Shakespearean productions of Hamlet and Much Ado About Nothing.
The full interview can be read in the November/December issue of Esquire UK, which is on sale from October 14.
