Tom Hiddleston Recalls Loki's Emotional Last Day Of Filming

Tom Hiddleston recalls the last day of filming the Disney+ Marvel series Loki Season 1, challenged by the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tom Hiddleston Recalls Loki's Emotional Last Day Of Filming

Tom Hiddleston gave some insight on Loki‘s last day of filming season 1. Loki‘s season 1 premiered on Disney+ on June 9th and finished its run on July 14th, with the reveal of Jonathan Majors’ He Who Remains pulling the strings of the Time Variance Authority. Marvel announced a Loki season 2 during the finale’s mid-credit scene, and production on the second season has recently begun in the United Kingdom, with Hiddleston and Owen Wilson recently spotted on set.

However, production on Loki season 1 began a month before the COVID-19 pandemic caused all movie and TV productions to shut down indefinitely. Once filming resumed for most productions, studios implemented safety measures to prevent the spread of the virus to the cast and crew, which meant that everyone had to be in their separate bubble. Amidst the COVID-related challenges, Loki‘s season 1 was positively received by fans and critics, who hailed it as one of the best Phase Four projects to date.

In an interview with Gentleman’s Journal, Hiddleston recalled not only the challenges of shooting a large-scale series during the COVID-19 pandemic but also expressed his relief after pulling off the impossible when it was over. He also mentioned that shooting during the pandemic allowed for some human contact after five months of lockdown with no end in sight. The actor was also thankful for the supportive crew who encouraged one another through the pandemic, which made the shoot special, according to him:

On the last day on set of Loki‘s first season, after the very last shot, we all, without instruction, seemed to stand in a circle — with nowhere to go, with the job done, and clapped. It’s hard to describe the feeling of relief, of the gratitude we felt for each other, for every member of our cast and crew. Filming had been interrupted by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic one third of the way into our planned schedule — we locked down for five months — and we restarted after that first hiatus to resume exactly where we had left off, and to finish the story.
For the next twelve weeks, everyone working on Loki was in a contained bubble. And finishing those last months was, for most of us, during that time, our only human contact. On that last day, we had made it through the pandemic and told our story, before any vaccine against Covid-19 had been made available, and with a company, a cast and crew, who — in my experience — supported each other with a spirit, care and kindness in a way I have never seen before. ‘Whatever happens to this series’, I thought, ‘whichever way it goes, the making of it was meaningful. There is meaning in the doing’.

Loki was one of many productions halted due to the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s great to hear from Hiddleston that all crew members supported themselves during such a difficult time and pulled through to deliver a great series amidst the challenges that COVID brought upon them. The pandemic has shifted how film and TV productions were shot, and Hiddleston’s recollection of the experience has shown that it was challenging. However, after wrapping the series and knowing how good it would be, it’s justifiable to hear Hiddleston say that the shooting was meaningful since few industries resumed when Loki started filming again.

Loki season 2 is also shooting during the pandemic, but most film and TV productions have removed COVID mitigation measures and returned to normal. What makes Hiddleston’s experience in Loki season 1 particularly meaningful is how he (and the entire crew) produced a quality series in some of the most stressful times in human history. When film and TV projects started shooting again, there was lots of uncertainty for the safety of the cast and crew, as Hollywood wondered if they could pull off the filming of these projects without incident. Tom Hiddleston and the rest of the Loki cast and crew not only pulled off the impossible in shooting during the pandemic but also delivered a great show.