Tom Hiddleston has hinted that his romance with Taylor Swift changed the way he approached his career.
The actor dated the musician for three months in 2016, and their relationship caused a media frenzy.
Hiddleston made headlines after being photographed wearing a tank top emblazoned with the words “I love TS”, which prompted fan theories that the romance was, in fact, part of an extravagant music video.
The actor, who will return as Marvel villain Loki in his own TV show in June, has noticeably kept his head down in recent years and, while speaking to Empire, suggested that this media storm was a reason why.
Hiddleston described it as “a moment of consideration”, hinting that this enhanced popularity made him even more cautious about the number of roles he was accepting.
“A few things crossed my path and I thought carefully about them, but they didn’t feel quite right, so I didn’t do them,” he said.
“I’d been playing so many different people in so many different parts of the world, and it’s very important to distinguish what’s real in one’s own life, and look after those things.”
He continued: “Because if you don’t look after them, they can be lost, or they can be marginalised, and then you come home one day and they’re not there anymore.”
The actor compared his viewpoint to one upheld by Tilda Swinton’s vampire character in Only Lovers Left Alive, the 2013 Jim Jarmusch drama Hiddleston also starred in.
“She says life is about surviving things, appreciating nature, nurturing kindness and friendship, and dancing – so perhaps, in the moment, I needed to come back and do it.
“I don’t know, to be honest, that I danced a lot. I should have danced more. But I’m sure there are some people who’d say I’ve danced far too much.”
The full interview with Hiddleston will appear in the new issue of Empire, which is on sale Thursday (15 April) and available to pre-order here.
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As well as Loki, which lands on Disney Plus on 11 June, Hiddleston will star in new Apple TV+ series The Essex Serpent.
