B E T R AYA L
5
S TA G E
→ Marvel’s resident god of
mischief is sowing discord
on a very different stage.
Before stepping back
into the role of Loki for his
just-announced Disney+
series, Tom Hiddleston
will make his Broadway
debut in a revival of Harold
Pinter’s classic play
Betrayal (opening Sept. 5).
The oft-revived drama
uses reverse chronology
to spin the story of a
marriage unraveled by a
wife’s years-long affair
with her husband’s close
friend. Here, Broadway’s
latest leading man tells
EW’s Jessica Derschowitz
about giving New York
audiences something
quite new to marvel at.
What was it about Betrayal
that interested you?
I find this play fascinating.
It’s about the complexity
of relationships, the
profound commitment to
trust, about knowledge,
about time. And what’s
thrilling about it for
[my costars] Charlie Cox
and Zawe Ashton and
myself is none of us
leave the stage. There’s
a charge between the
three of us that we hope
reveals something new
about the play, that these
three relationships—the
marriage, the friendship,
and the affair—are
actually codependent.
And when one breaks
down, they all break down.
Why has this 1978 play
endured the way it has?
It’s strange how it contin-
ues to feel modern,
because the play’s also
about loneliness and try-
ing to connect. These are
enduring themes, and I
don’t think these are
human characteristics
that are going out of fash-
ion anytime soon.
Do you remember the first
Broadway show you saw?
I think it might’ve been
Follies. I saw Samuel L.
Jackson and Angela
Bassett do The Mountain-
top, James Corden in
One Man, Two Guvnors.
I remember coming to
shoot the last three days
of Avengers in New
York and The Book of
Mormon had just opened,
but we were all trying
to get a ticket and we
couldn’t get one. Not
even the Avengers could
get in—that’s how big
a hit it was.
You’re doing a Loki series
for Disney+. When do
things begin on that front?
Loki will start at the top
of next year. He’s such a
classical character. [Thor
and Loki], they’re from
Norse myths—they have
a kind of gravitas to
them. Robert in Betrayal is
much more earthbound.
They’re both very com-
plex, but Robert is a
publisher and a husband
and a father. Loki is the
god of mischief. [Laughs]
Two quite different figures.
The Must List
14 SEPTEMBER 2019 EW ● COM
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