AMC may refer to:

• AMC (automobile), a short-lived British steam car manufactured in London in 1910
• AMC Networks, an American media company
  • AMC (TV channel), originally American Movie Classics, a cable television channel owned by AMC Networks
• AMC-3 and AMC-18, geostationary Lockheed Martin A2100A communications satellites owned by SES Americom
• AMC 34, a French tank built originally for the French Army cavalry units
• AMC 35, a French cavalry tank of the later Interwar era that served in the Second World War
• AMC Airlines, a charter airline based in Cairo, Egypt
• AMC Theatres, one of the largest movie theater chains in North America

In education:

• Andhra Medical College, a medical college in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India
• Australian Maritime College, a tertiary education institution based in Launceston, Tasmania
• Ayub Medical College, a Pakistan Medical College
• Army Medical College, Pakistan Army Medical College

In music:

• American Music Center, a national information, service, and support center for new U.S. music
• American Music Club, an indie rock band from San Francisco
• Asian Music Circuit, a promoter of Asian music in the UK
• Aylesbury Music Centre, an arm of the Buckinghamshire Music Service

In military:

• Air Mobility Command, an American military organization
• Armed Merchant Cruiser, a type of vessel serving in WWII.
• Army Materiel Command (disambiguation)
• United States Army Materiel Command, A major command of the US Army

Motor Companies:

• Amalgamated Motor Cycles Ltd, the parent company of a group of motorcycle manufacturers
• American Motors, a major American automobile manufacturer purchased by Chrysler Corporation in 1987
• Associated Motorcycles, a British motorcycle manufacturer founded as a parent company for the Matchless and AJS motorcycle companies

Three-letter acronyms[link]

• Academia Mexicana de Ciencias, a non-profit organization comprising over 1800 distinguished Mexican scientists
• Academisch Medisch Centrum (Academic Medical Center), the academic hospital affiliated with the University of Amsterdam
• Adaptive modulation and coding, the matching of several signal and protocol parameters to the conditions on a radio link
• Advance market commitments, a guarantee used to encourage the development of medicines
• Advanced Mezzanine Card, a telecommunications specification
• Agartala Municipal Council, the municipal body which governs and maintains the city of Agartala
• Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, a corporation responsible for the administration of the city of Ahmedabad
• Air Mail Center, a facility-type used by the United States Postal Service
• Air Malta, via its ICAO code

• Albanian Mobile Communications, the first Albanian mobile phone operator
• All My Children, a popular American soap opera

• American Mathematics Competitions, a series of competitions in high school mathematics that determines the United States Math Team
• American Mideast Conference, an affiliate of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics

• American Muslim Council, an Islamic organization
• Ameriquest Mortgage Company, a subsidiary of Ameriquest
• Appalachian Mountain Club, one of the United States' oldest outdoor groups
• Arizona-Mexico Commission, an organization that creates programs impacting the relationship between Arizona, Mexico, and Latin America
• Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita, a muscle disorder that causes multiple joint contractures at birth
• Asset management company, a firm that invests the pooled funds of retail investors in securities in line with the stated investment objectives
• Associate Members' Cup, the former name of an English football tournament

• Association management company, a group of skilled professionals
• Atlantic Modal Cluster, a genetic Y-chromosomal modal grouping
• Australian Mathematics Competition, a mathematics competition run by the Australian Mathematics Trust
• Australian Medical Council, the Australian national standards advisory body for medical education and training
• Australian Multiplex Cinemas, a chain of movie theatres in Australia

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Amy Adams
Amy Adams at the Academy Awards in 2011
Born	Amy Lou Adams (1974-08-20) August 20, 1974 (age 37) Vicenza, Italy
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1999–present
Partner	Darren Le Gallo (2002–present; 1 child - Aviana Olea Le Gallo)[1]

Amy Lou Adams^[2] (born August 20, 1974) is an American actress and singer. Adams was born in Vicenza, Italy to American parents, and began her performing career on stage in dinner theaters, before making her screen debut in the 1999 black comedy film Drop Dead Gorgeous. After a series of television guest appearances and roles in B movies, she was cast in the role of Brenda Strong in 2002's Catch Me If You Can, but her breakthrough role was in the 2005 independent film Junebug, playing Ashley Johnsten, for which she received critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Adams subsequently starred in Disney's 2007 film Enchanted, a critical and commercial success, and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance as Princess Giselle. She received her second Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations the following year for her role as a young nun, Sister James, in Doubt. Though she has appeared in a range of dramatic and comedic roles, Adams has gained a reputation for playing characters with cheerful and sunny dispositions.^[3][4] Adams starred in Sunshine Cleaning with Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin, and the following year appeared as Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. She appeared in Julie & Julia in 2009 portraying writer Julie Powell followed by Leap Year in 2010. Her recent role as Charlene Fleming in The Fighter earned Adams her third Academy Award nomination, her third Golden Globe Award, second BAFTA Award, and fifth Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. In 2011, Adams appeared in the critically acclaimed musical film The Muppets alongside Jason Segel. She is scheduled to play Lois Lane in the upcoming Superman reboot Man of Steel in 2013.

Early life[link]

Adams was born in Vicenza, Italy,^[5] the fourth of seven children of American parents Kathryn (née Hicken) and Richard Kent Adams.^[2] She has four brothers and two sisters.^[6][7] Her ancestry includes English, as well as Danish, Swiss, and Norwegian.^[7] Her father, a US serviceman, was stationed at Caserma Ederle at the time of her birth,^[8] and took the family from base to base before settling in Castle Rock, Colorado, when she was eight or nine years old.^[9] Thereafter, her father sang professionally in restaurants, while her mother was a semi-professional bodybuilder.^[9][10] Adams was raised as a Mormon, although her family left the church after her parents' divorce when she was 11 years old.^[11] She said her religious upbringing "... instilled in me a value system I still hold true. The basic 'Do unto others...', that was what was hammered into me. And love."^[12]

Throughout her years at Douglas County High School, she sang in the school choir and trained as an apprentice at a local dance company with ambitions of becoming a ballerina.^[13] Her parents had hoped that she would continue her athletic training, which she gave up to pursue dance, as it would have given her a chance to obtain a college scholarship. Adams later reflected on her decision not to go to college: "I wasn't one of those people who enjoyed being in school. I regret not getting an education, though."^[14] After graduating from high school, she moved to Atlanta with her mother.^[9] Deciding that she was not gifted enough to be a professional ballerina, she entered musical theater, which she found was "much better suited to [her] personality".^[12] She said that ballet was "too disciplined and too restrained and I was always told off in the chorus lines"^[15] and her body at the time was "just wrecked from dancing all these years."^[12] Upon turning 18, Adams supported herself by working as a greeter at a Gap store while performing in community theater.^[13] For a few weeks after graduating high school,^[16] she took her first full-time job as a hostess at Hooters, a fact that became her "entire press career" for a while.^[17] Adams left the job three weeks later after having saved enough money to buy her first car. She admitted: "... there was definitely an innocence to my interpretation of what Hooters was about. Though I did learn, quickly, that short shorts and beer don't mix!"^[9]

Career[link]

1995–2004: Early work[link]

Adams began working professionally as a dancer at Boulder's Dinner Theatre and Country Dinner Playhouse. There, she was spotted by a Minneapolis dinner theater director, Michael Brindisi, in 1995.^[18] Adams relocated to Chanhassen, Minnesota, and worked at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres for the next three years. While she was off work nursing a pulled muscle, she auditioned for the satirical 1999 comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous, which was being filmed in Minnesota, and was cast in her first film role. Persuaded by her Drop Dead Gorgeous co-star Kirstie Alley, Adams moved to Los Angeles, California, in January 1999.^[10][18] Describing her first year there as her "dark year" and "bleak",^[12] she recalled that she would "pine for that time" at Chanhassen because she "really loved that security and schedule", and said, "The people I worked with there were also a great family to me."^[19] Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, she was cast in Fox Network's television series spin-off of Cruel Intentions, Manchester Prep, in the role of Kathryn Merteuil. The series did not live up to the network's expectations and following numerous script revisions and two production shutdowns, it was canceled.^[20] The filmed episodes were then re-edited to be released as the direct-to-video film, Cruel Intentions 2.

From 2000 to 2002, Adams appeared in a series of small films like Psycho Beach Party while guest-starring on television series such as That '70s Show, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville and The West Wing. She then appeared in Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can as Brenda Strong, a nurse with whom Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) falls in love. It was, in Spielberg's words, "the part that should have launched her career" but she was unemployed for a year after that.^[6][21] However, Adams said, "It was the first time I knew I could act at that level with those people. To be believed in by Steven Spielberg... it was a huge confidence booster."^[22] In 2004, she starred in The Last Run as well as voicing characters on the animated television series King of the Hill. She was also cast as a regular in the television series, Dr. Vegas, in the role of Alice Doherty but was later fired after a contract dispute.^[23]

2005–2007: Critical success and breakthrough[link]

Prior to leaving Dr. Vegas, she had received the script for the low-budget independent film Junebug and auditioned for the role of Ashley Johnsten, a young, cheerful and talkative pregnant woman.^[9] Director Phil Morrison explains his decision to cast Adams: "Lots of people looked at Ashley and thought, 'What's the sorrow she's masking?' To me, the fact that Amy didn't approach it from the angle of 'What's she covering up?' was key."^[24] The film was shot in 21 days in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.^[25] During that time, Adams turned 30 and was worried about her film career: "I thought maybe I should move to New York, maybe I should do something else. It wasn't that I was quitting or making a dramatic statement. It was more like maybe this just wasn't a good fit."^[26] On the experience of making Junebug, Adams said, "It was really empowering. At the end of the summer I was unemployed but I was happy and I was proud. I was like, you know what, I'm done with being pushed around."^[25] Junebug premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival with Adams winning a Special Jury Prize for her performance.^[27]

After the theatrical release of The Wedding Date, in which Adams appeared alongside Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney, Junebug was released in theaters by Sony Pictures Classics. Adams earned critical accolades for her work in Junebug; Carina Chocano of Los Angeles Times noted, "Adams' performance in a role that could have easily devolved into caricature is complex and nuanced."^[28] Joe Leydon of Variety commented, "Partly due to her character's generosity of spirit, but mostly due to her own charisma, Adams dominates pic with her appealing portrayal of a nonjudgmental optimist savvy enough to recognize the shortcomings of others, but sweet enough to offer encouragement, not condemnation".^[29] She received several awards for Best Supporting Actress including the National Society of Film Critics award and the Independent Spirit Award. She was also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited Adams to become a member in 2006.^[30]

Adams as Giselle in Enchanted, 2007

Although Junebug had a limited audience, Adams' critically acclaimed performance in the film helped to increase interest in her acting career. Adams went on to appear in films like Standing Still and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, and played the recurring guest role of Katy on the television series The Office. After providing the voice for Polly Purebred in Walt Disney Pictures' Underdog, Adams starred in Disney's 2007 big-budget animated/live-action feature film, Enchanted. The film, which co-stars Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, Susan Sarandon and James Marsden, revolves around Giselle, who is forced from her 2D-animated world to real-life New York City. Adams was amongst 300 or so actresses who auditioned for the role of Giselle,^[31] but she stood out to director Kevin Lima because her "commitment to the character, her ability to escape into the character's being without ever judging the character was overwhelming".^[32]

Enchanted was a commercial success, grossing more than $340 million worldwide.^[33] Her performance was well received by the critics, with Todd McCarthy of Variety describing Enchanted as a star-making vehicle for Adams the way Mary Poppins was for Julie Andrews.^[34] Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times commented that Adams was "fresh and winning",^[35] while Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe stated that she "demonstrates a real performer's ingenuity for comic timing and physical eloquence".^[36] Adams garnered a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, a Critics' Choice Award nomination for Best Actress, and the Saturn Award for Best Actress. Three of the film's songs were nominated for Best Original Song at the 80th Academy Awards. Adams performed one of the songs, "Happy Working Song", live on stage during the Oscar ceremony. "That's How You Know", originally performed by Adams in the film, was sung by Kristin Chenoweth at the ceremony. In an interview, Adams remarked that the song was "perfect" for Chenoweth since Chenoweth "was a huge inspiration for how [she] approached Giselle".^[22]

The success of Enchanted increased Adams' media exposure during the 2007–08 film awards season. As well as appearing on the covers of Interview, Elle and the Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair, which named her as one of the "10 fresh faces of 2008",^[37] Adams hosted the seventh episode of the 33rd season of Saturday Night Live in March 2008. In the episode, she played various characters, including Heidi Klum, as well as singing "What is this Feeling" from Wicked in a mock battle with SNL cast member Kristen Wiig during the opening monologue. Adams appeared in Charlie Wilson's War, co-starring with Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Adams portrayed Bonnie Bach, the title character's administrative assistant. On the experience of making the film, Adams said, "It was so much fun. Just to be on that set and learn from these people and get to watch Philip Seymour Hoffman and Tom Hanks do these amazing scenes together, directed by Mike Nichols, it was for me like going to school."^[38] Adams' next project was Sunshine Cleaning playing a single mother who starts her own crime scene clean-up business in order to make enough money to send her son to a private school. The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and received mixed reviews.^[39] When it received a limited theatrical release in March 2009, it was generally well received.^[40] Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle gave the film a positive review, saying: "The play of emotion on Amy Adams' face is the main reason to see Sunshine Cleaning."^[41]

2008–present[link]

Adams at 81st Academy Awards in 2009

Her first theatrically released film of 2008 was the 1939-set film Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, in which she plays Delysia Lafosse, an aspiring American actress living in London whose life is changed after meeting a governess named Miss Pettigrew, played by Frances McDormand. While the film received generally favorable reviews,^[42] Adams' role was noted to be similar to her joyful and naïve characters in Junebug and Enchanted. Carina Chocano of Los Angeles Times stated that "Adams is amazingly adept at playing smart playing dumb".^[43] Similarly, Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "Adams more or less reprises her princess from Enchanted, only with a beguiling touch of ditzy naughtiness".^[44] When asked whether she is in danger of being typecast, Adams responded, "Not at this point... Right now I'm just doing what I enjoy and I've done some different films, I've done some different types of roles. I've done drama this year, we had a film at Sundance (Sunshine Cleaning), but I enjoy playing upbeat characters, I really do because you take your characters home with you whether you intend to or not."^[45] In another interview, Adams said, "I think I just respond to those kinds of characters... They're so layered, and I love the fact that they've made this choice to be joyful... I really identify with that sense of hope."^[46] She also noted that before dyeing her naturally blonde hair red, she mostly played the role of "the bitchy girl".^[3]

In late 2008, Adams starred in Doubt, an adaptation of John Patrick Shanley's play of the same name, as the young and innocent Sister James alongside Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Viola Davis. After being informed of the project by her Sunshine Cleaning co-star, Emily Blunt, Adams pursued the role of Sister James but was told that it had already been offered to another actor.^[47] Shanley eventually cast Adams in the role because "she's got this Ingrid Bergman thing going on, this luminosity. You see a good person struggling in this complicated world. She's fiercely intelligent but has this peculiar innocence about her. She has a beautiful face of light."^[48] On acting alongside Streep and Hoffman, Adams revealed that there was "a sense of uncertainty, a sense of doubt, a sense of wanting to please these amazing actors".^[49] The film was well received by the critics, while Adams' role was noted to be the "least-showy" among the four major parts.^[50] Though her performance was criticized by Manohla Dargis of The New York Times as "unsteady",^[51] Todd McCarthy of Variety commented that "Adams does all anyone could with the role of a nice young nun."^[52] Mick LaSalle of San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Adams provides one of the film's singular advantages. She takes the role of Sister James, which onstage seemed little more than a sounding board for Sister Aloysius, and turns the young nun into someone quite specific and lovely."^[53] Adams was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 81st Academy Awards, the 66th Golden Globe Awards, the 15th Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the 62nd British Academy Film Awards.

Adams with Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller while promoting Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in May 2009

Adams' next role was Amelia Earhart in Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian, opposite Ben Stiller. The film premiered over the 2009 Memorial Day weekend and topped the U.S. box office with a gross of $15.3 million on its first day, beating Terminator Salvation.^[54] Although the film received "mixed or average reviews", Adams' performance was praised by most critics.^[55] Among those to give it a positive review, Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune thought that the film "radically improves whenever Amy Adams pops up as aviatrix Amelia Earhart... she's terrific —a sparkling screen presence"; and Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Battle of the Smithsonian has plenty of life. But it's Adams who gives it zing."^[56][57] On the other hand, Ty Burr of The Boston Globe disliked the film, describing Adams' Earhart as "a flighty pill with no resemblance to the woman herself".^[58] While Lael Loewenstein of Variety thought Adams was "trying a bit too hard", Roger Ebert commented that she was the only actor who surpassed the material.^[59][60] The film's director, Shawn Levy, says of her: "I don't know that there's a better actress in her generation... I mean, there are other big female actors, but someone who can do Doubt and Julie & Julia, and Night at the Museum 2, all in the same year? Her range is almost unparalleled. It's a huge part of why we feel that this movie is even better than the first."^[61] That same year Adams starred in Julie & Julia alongside her Doubt co-star Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Adams as government secretary, Julie Powell, who decides to cook all of the recipes in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

In 2010, Adams appeared in two films, the romantic comedy, Leap Year, and as Charlene Fleming, the aggressive and gritty girlfriend of Irish Micky Ward, in The Fighter. The Best Picture nominated-film received critical praise for its actors in which Adams starred alongside Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo. Adams received acclaim for her work and was praised for taking on such a volatile and aggressive character. This was noted to be Adams' definitive performance because of the rough edges and darkness mixed with authenticity that she brought to the role. For her role in The Fighter, Adams was nominated for the BAFTA Award, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress losing the latter three awards to her co-star Leo. In 2011, she again worked with Disney, starring in the acclaimed film The Muppets alongside Jason Segel and The Muppets; in the film, she returned to singing.

Her upcoming projects include Daughter of the Queen of Sheba^[62] and an adaptation of Adena Halpern's novel The Ten Best Days of My Life, which she will also be producing.^[63] Adams is also set to appear in the film On the Road opposite Viggo Mortensen. It was recently announced that Adams will portray Lois Lane opposite Henry Cavill as Superman in the upcoming comic book reboot film, Man of Steel. Produced by The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan, director Zack Snyder said in statement, "We are excited to announce the casting of Amy Adams, one of the most versatile and respected actresses in films today. Amy has the talent to capture all of the qualities we love about Lois: smart, tough, funny, warm, ambitious and, of course, beautiful." Adams had previously worked in Superman-related media in 2001 on the series Smallville.^[64] She is also set to star in the upcoming Paul Thomas Anderson 2012 film, The Master as the wife of Philip Seymour Hoffman's character.^[65]

In March 2012, it was announced that Adams will play the role of the Baker's Wife in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods to be staged in Central Park by Shakespeare in the Park this forthcoming summer.^[66]

Personal life[link]

As of April 2008^[update], Adams is engaged to actor and artist Darren Le Gallo,^[9] whom she met in 2001 in an acting class.^[67] On May 15, 2010, Adams gave birth to the couple's first child,^[68] a girl named Aviana Olea Le Gallo.^[69]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Amy Adams

• Amy Adams at the Internet Movie Database
• Amy Adams at AllRovi
• Amy Adams at Yahoo! Movies
• Amy Adams at People.com

Tom Hiddleston
Hiddleston at the Avengers Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in NY, April 2012
Born	Thomas William Hiddleston (1981-02-09) 9 February 1981 (age 31) Westminster, London, England
Alma mater	Eton College The Dragon School University of Cambridge RADA
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2001–present
Relatives	Emma Hiddleston (sister)

Thomas William "Tom" Hiddleston (born 9 February 1981)^[1] is an English film, television, radio, and stage actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), and he rose to prominence through a number of TV roles and more recently major film roles. He played Loki in the 2011 Marvel Studios film Thor, Captain Nicholls in Steven Spielberg's World War I film War Horse (2011), and also Freddie Page in the British drama The Deep Blue Sea, alongside Rachel Weisz. He played author F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Woody Allen film Midnight in Paris (2011). He returned to his role as Loki in The Avengers (2012) and is set to reprise the character again for Thor 2 (2013).

Early life and education[link]

Hiddleston was born in Westminster, London,^[1] to parents Diana Patricia (née Servaes), a former stage manager and arts administrator, and James Norman Hiddleston, a scientist in physical chemistry who was the managing director of a pharmaceutical company.^[2] His father is from Greenock, Scotland and his mother from Suffolk, England.^[3] He is the middle child with two sisters, Sarah (oldest), a journalist in India,^[4] and Emma (youngest), is also an actor. He was raised in Wimbledon, in his early years, and later in Oxford.^[3] When Hiddleston was 13, he boarded at Eton College, at the same time that his parents were going through a divorce. "I think I started acting because I found being away at school while my parents were divorcing really distressing." He went on to act at The Dragon School^[5] in Oxford, then continued on to the University of Cambridge, where he earned a double first.^[6] He graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2005.

Career[link]

During Hiddleston's second term at Cambridge, he was seen in a production of A Streetcar Named Desire by talent agent Lorraine Hamilton, of Hamilton Hodell. While still doing student plays, he began doing British television, landing parts in Stephen Whittaker’s adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby for ITV^[7] the BBC/HBO co-production Conspiracy, and as Randolph Churchill, the son of Winston Churchill, inthe BBC/HBO drama The Gathering Storm.

On graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Hiddleston won his first film role, playing Oakley in Joanna Hogg’s first feature, Unrelated. He also appeared in the leading role of Edward in Joanna Hogg's second feature, Archipelago, and had leading roles in Declan Donnellan's company Cheek by Jowl's productions The Changeling, and Cymbeline. His Donmar Warehouse credits include Cassio in Michael Grandage's production of Shakespeare's Othello alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor and Ewan McGregor to critical acclaim^[8][9][10] and later Lvov in their West End revival of Chekhov's Ivanov.

His TV credits include Magnus Martinsson in the BBC detective drama Wallander, Bill Hazledine in Suburban Shootout, John Plumptre in the BBC costume drama TV film Miss Austen Regrets and William Buxton in the BBC drama series Return to Cranford.

He is best known for his portrayal of Loki in the 2011 Marvel Studios film, Thor. He was invited to audition by Kenneth Branagh, the film's director, after having previously worked with Branagh on Ivanov and Wallander. "Ken has had a life-changing effect. He was able to say to the executives, 'Trust me on this, you can cast Tom and he will deliver'. It was massive and it's completely changed the course of what is available to me to do. Ken gave me my break."^[11] In the beginning, he originally auditioned for the part of Thor. "I initially auditioned to play Thor. That was what I was being considered for, because I’m tall and blonde and classically trained, and that seemed to be the mold for what Thor was, he was to be a classical character. And it was in my auditions. I owe this entirely to Marvel and their open-mindedness, they saw something that they thought was interesting. They saw some temperament that they liked."^[12] The casting director gave Hiddleston six weeks to bulk up, so he went on a strict diet and gained twenty pounds of muscle. In the end, Branagh decided he was more suitable as the antagonist and cast him as Loki. To prepare for his role as Loki, Hiddleston trained in the Brazilian martial art of capoeira.^[13]

In 2011, he portrayed novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald in writer-director Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris. The noble Captain Nicholls in War Horse, a film based on the 1982 novel by Michael Morpurgo, directed by Steven Spielberg. And Freddie Page, a RAF pilot in the British drama The Deep Blue Sea, alongside Rachel Weisz.

He reprised his role as the supervillain Loki in the 2012 movie The Avengers. While filming a scene with Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, the film's director, Joss Whedon told the fighting duo that the scene didn't look real enough, so Hiddleston told Hemsworth to really hit him for the fight scene. "I said to Chris, 'Dude, just hit me. Just hit me because I'm protected here and it's fine.' He's like, 'Are you sure?' I was like, 'Yeah, it will look great. Just go for it.'"^[14] Hiddleston is scheduled to reprise his Loki role again in Thor 2, which is set to start filming in August 2012.^[15]

In 2012, he will portray Prince Hal in the TV-movie adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry IV Part 1 & 2 and Henry V in Henry V. Other scheduled projects include Jim Jarmusch's film Only Lovers Left Alive, set to shoot in 2012,^[16] and the film adaptation of Elliott Chaze's 1953 crime novel Black Wings Has My Angel, co-starring Anna Paquin and Elijah Wood.^[17]

Hiddleston narrated the audio book The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner,^[18] poetry for iF Poems on iTunes,^[19] for the British Museum on the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead, and was the voiceover for BBC's documentary on the Galapagos Island.^[20]

Awards and nominations[link]

Awards:

• 2012 Glamour Awards, Man of the Year ^[21]
• 2012 Jameson Empire Awards, Best Male Newcomer, for, Thor ^[22]
• 2012 Richard Attenborough UK Regional Film Critics' Awards, Rising Star Award, for, War Horse, Thor, The Deep Blue Sea, Midnight in Paris and Archipelago ^[23]
• 2009 Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Award, Best Supporting Actor in a Play, for, Othello and Ivanov ^[24]
• 2008 Laurence Olivier Award, Best Newcomer in a Play, for Cymbeline ^[25]
• 2007 Ian Charleson Awards Third Prize, for, Othello ^[26]

Nominations:

• 2012 Saturn Awards, Best Supporting Actor ^[27]
• 2012 London Evening Standard British Film Awards, Best Actor Award ^[28]
• 2012 BAFTA Awards, the Orange Wednesdays Rising Star Award ^[29]
• 2012 Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards, Best Ensemble Acting ^[30]
• 2012 SAG Awards, Best Ensemble Acting ^[31]
• 2011 My Cinema Awards, Best Supporting Actor in a Drama, Action or Horror Award ^[32]
• 2010 ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards, Best Supporting Actor ^[33]

Filmography[link]

Hiddleston at a press conference for Thor in April 2011

Film[link]

Theatre[link]

Radio[link]

Video game[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tom Hiddleston

• Tom Hiddleston at the Internet Movie Database

Hugh Jackman
Jackman at the Sydney premiere for Real Steel, September 2011
Born	Hugh Michael Jackman (1968-10-12) 12 October 1968 (age 43) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Spouse	Deborra-Lee Furness (1996–present)

Hugh Michael Jackman (born 12 October 1968) is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.

Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters. He is known for his role as Wolverine in the X-Men film series, as well as for his leads in Kate & Leopold, Van Helsing, The Prestige, Australia, and Real Steel. Jackman is a singer, dancer, and actor in stage musicals, and won a Tony Award for his role in The Boy from Oz.

In November 2008, Open Salon named Jackman one of the sexiest men alive.^[1] Later that same month, People magazine named Jackman "Sexiest Man Alive."^[2]

A three-time host of the Tony Awards, winning an Emmy Award for one of these appearances, Jackman also hosted the 81st Academy Awards on 22 February 2009.^[3]

Early life[link]

Jackman was born in Sydney, New South Wales, the youngest of five children of English parents Chris Jackman and Grace Watson, and the second child to be born in Australia (he also has a younger half-sister, from his mother's re-marriage).^[4] One of his paternal great-grandfathers was Greek.^[5] His parents divorced when he was eight, and he remained with his accountant father and siblings, while his mother moved back to England.^[6] As a child, Jackman liked the outdoors, spending a lot of time at the beach and on camping trips and vacations all over Australia. He wanted to see the world: "I used to spend nights looking at atlases. I decided I wanted to be a chef on a plane. Because I'd been on a plane and there was food on board, I presumed there was a chef. I thought that would be an ideal job."^[7]

Jackman went to primary school at Pymble Public School and later attended the all-boys Knox Grammar School, where he starred in its production of My Fair Lady in 1985, and became the captain of the school in 1986.^[8] Following graduation, he spent a gap year working at Uppingham School in England.^[9] On his return, he studied at the University of Technology, Sydney, graduating in 1991 with a BA in Communications.^[10] In his final year of university, he took a drama course to make up additional credits. The class did Václav Havel's The Memorandum with Jackman as the lead.^[4] He later commented, "In that week I felt more at home with those people than I did in the entire three years [at university]".^[11]

After obtaining his BA, Jackman completed the one-year course "The Journey" at the Actors' Centre in Sydney.^[4] About studying acting full-time, he stated, "It wasn't until I was 22 that I ever thought about my hobby being something I could make a living out of. As a boy, I'd always had an interest in theater. But the idea at my school was that drama and music were to round out the man. It wasn't what one did for a living. I got over that. I found the courage to stand up and say, 'I want to do it'."^[7] After completing "The Journey", he was offered a role on the popular soap opera Neighbours but turned it down^[12] to attend the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, from which he graduated in 1994.^[13]

Jackman has said he "always loved acting but when I started at drama school I was like the dunce of the class. It just wasn’t coming right to me. Everyone was cooler, everyone seemed more likely to succeed, everyone seemed more natural at it and in retrospect I think that is good. I think it is good to come from behind as an actor. I think it is good to go into an audition thinking 'Man I’ve got to be at my best to get this gig.'"^[14]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

On the night of his final Academy graduation performance, Jackman received a phone call offering him a role on Correlli: "I was technically unemployed for thirteen seconds." Correlli, devised by Australian actress Denise Roberts, was a 10-part drama series on ABC, Jackman's first major professional job, and where he met his future wife Deborra-Lee Furness: "Meeting my wife was the greatest thing to come out of it."^[7] The show lasted only one season.

After Correlli Jackman went on the stage in Melbourne. In 1996, Jackman played Gaston in the local Walt Disney production of Beauty and the Beast, and Joe Gillis in Sunset Boulevard.^[4] During his stage musical career in Melbourne, he starred in the 1998 Midsumma festival cabaret production Summa Cabaret. He also hosted Melbourne's Carols by Candlelight and Sydney's Carols in the Domain.

Jackman's early film work includes Erskineville Kings and Paperback Hero (1999), and his television work includes Law of the Land, Halifax f.p., Blue Heelers, and Banjo Paterson's The Man from Snowy River.