The time I met Tom Hiddleston...
It all started as a sort of dare.
I was casually chatting with some friends about some really creative con photo-ops I’d seen over the years. They asked me if I would ever do a photo with Tom and I thought for a moment, because I don’t do that sort of thing normally, and said, “Maybe, if I came up with a good idea. If I did, I think I would ask to do a Hamlet photo. Like, I would be Hamlet and he could be Ophelia.” (Backdoor Brag: I have played Hamlet, when I was in college. So it’s like the ONE thing Tom and I have in common, hahaha.)
Anyway, like THREE days later, they announced Tom would be at NYCC 2019 and I already had tickets. Now I had to put my money where my mouth was.
I decided to ask a prop master friend of mine if she happened to have a skull and then did my best not to think about the fact that I was going to meet Loki. I shelved all thoughts of it.
Fast forward to yesterday. I am in line to meet Tom Hiddleston, with a foam skull in my backpack. I am nervous as all hell. I don’t do this sort of thing like ever, but I am not going to chicken out. I am going to meet Tom Hiddleston, dammit! Also, I had already paid.
So I move through the line. At one point, I spilled water all over the crotch of my pants, so that was a fun panic attack. It had time to dry, thank goodness. I gave the bag-check guy his own panic attack when I didn’t warn him about the skull in my bag. We had a good laugh. That calmed me a bit.
Blah blah blah. Queue queue queue… (BTW, the NYCC staff for the photo op were excellent. They were energetic, funny, and they all seemed genuinely thrilled to have been assigned to Tom.)
I enter the room where Tom is.
He’s wearing that outfit he always wears.
The whole photo-op thing moves pretty quickly and I was most nervous about communicating the Hamlet idea without tripping over my words. I am from Philadelphia and people have a hard enough time understanding us when we speak slowly. In addition to the skull, I am also holding paper flowers.
I will go more into describing him in a bit, but let me just say that looking at him in person is like looking at a photoshop’d photo. It’s surreal. He is of high quality, y’all.
It’s my turn. I am one person in a sea of people, but this turn is mine.
Me: Hi. Could we do a Hamlet pose? I have this skull and…
Tom: All right… *He reaches for the skull*
Me: No, I would like for you to play Ophelia.
Me: If you could just do a stereotypical Ophelia, that’s all I’m going for with this.
Him: I did the best Ophelia I could.
Me: I’m sure it’s perfect.
I thank him and get the hell out of Dodge…. and then I sort of kick myself for not fully savoring the moment. I regret not really taking it in. I was so nervous. Or at least, that’s how it feels immediately following.
So, I go to get my photo and I see that, oh no, my eyes look totally closed.
I cringe. I ask if the way I look warrants a do-over, which I am reluctant to do. I don’t want to be that person, but again the NYCC staff are all incredibly kind and reassuring, and soon I am standing next to Tom again.
Me: Yes, you were perfect. It was my Hamlet that was the problem.
The second photo happens. But this time, the staff asks me to stand to the side and wait. Apparently, the problem is being caused by the glare coming off my glasses. So, I take them off.
Me: I am so sorry. They asked to me do it without the glasses.
The third photo is taken.
By this time, I had calmed down, believe it or not. I am able to actually look at him and take the moment in. I felt daring enough to give his bicep a squeeze before I left. I thanked him and went to take my photograph, however it looked.
But I think it’s perfect:
So once upon a time, I played Hamlet with Tom Hiddleston.
As promised, here are my thoughts on Tom specifically. He looks good. Haha. He looks almost like a photograph. Like a photoshopped photograph. He’s that level of physical quality. *Italian finger kiss*
He’s not as imposing as I expected, due to his height. I don’t know why, but from a distance, he has always seemed much taller than he actually is. I am about 5′4′’ and he seemed like a normal-sized person when for some reason I was expecting a giant.
His demeanor is what will stick with me the most. Even though we had to shoot the photo more than once, each time he treated me like he was more than happy to oblige. He never looked less than perfectly patient. He comes off as a very collected, gentle person. He seems sensitive and intuitive, which honestly makes perfect sense given his performances and every else’s stories about him. He is just kind, plain and simple. This is going to sound strange, but he has the gentle, placating nature of a sweet old grandmother. Hahaha.
Okay, that’s it. My story isn’t anything super special and it didn’t probably didn’t warrant all these words, but it’s my story and I wanted to write it all down. I hope you like the photo. :) :)
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