Originally published May 7, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
With the eagerly anticipated release this week of I Saw The Light, the biopic of legendary country musician Hank Williams, Flickering Myth’s Scott J. Davis sat down with its director Marc Abraham to talk about the film and all things Tom Hiddleston.
I Saw The Light marks the sophomore directorial effort from Abraham, who is a renowned producer of such films as Children of Men, The Commitments and Air Force One, and it was his love of Williams that made him grab the opportunity to direct with both hands to make a slightly different biopic:
“I loved Hank Williams’ music from the early times so I was really interested in it…I never wanted to make a cradle to grave movie and it’s interesting that many people didn’t understand what I was doing and say ‘Why didn’t you show him as a little boy?’… What I was trying to do was make a portrait of an artist at a very early age imbued with this talent that no-one could explain.”
After meeting with a few young actors in Hollywood, Abraham knew that Tom Hiddleston was his man after watching Steven Spielberg’s War Horse: “I saw (Tom) Hiddleston in War Horse and the first thing I thought was ‘Jesus, the guy looks just like Hank Williams!”
Indeed, Hiddleston threw himself into the role and worked with renowned country music artist Rodney Crowell on learning the music and singing, but rather than stay in a hotel, Hiddleston went one further: “He stayed with a guy called Rodney Crowell… and Tom lived at Rodney’s house for five and-a-half-weeks and they worked every day and would work 12 or 13 hours a day to help make the experience visceral for you (the audience)”
You can watch the full interview in the player below…
Co-starring Elizabeth Olsen (Captain American: Civil War), I Saw The Light is in UK cinemas now.
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