Crimson Peak Takes Hiddleston And Chastain To The Dark Side

Obviously, Crimson Peak isn't the first time Tom Hiddleston has played a complex villain on-screen, having made his name as Thor's mischievous brother Loki in the Marvel movies.

Hiddleston likes mixing up his roles. "It's a cliche, but it's true," he laughs. "Variety is the spice of life! And when I got into acting, I never wanted to play one type of role. The actors I loved the most growing up were people who could move between genres, between character types. It just happens that Thomas Sharpe in this and Loki are a little bit darker, but the reason I've chosen the projects I've chosen is to prove to myself and other people that I'm more than that. Perhaps it's to prove that I'm not who you think I am. I think part of the pleasure I get from acting is in defying expectations: my own and everyone else's."

Tom Hiddleston stars alongside Jessica Chastain & Mia Wasikowska

In Crimson Peak, he also enjoyed the chance to tease the audience. "There is a sexuality in the film which is expressed, and you think you know what it is, and then you realise you're only scratching the surface," he says enigmatically about Thomas' connection with his sister Lucille, played by Jessica Chastain.

Chastain agrees: "The only happiness they've ever had in their lives was each other. I'm sure it can be very suffocating, it's very co-dependent!"

When she first read the script, she gravitated toward Lucille, whom she's reluctant to call a villain. "I see her as someone who has suffered a lot," she says, "and all she's trying to do is preserve her happiness. So I don't see her as the antagonist. I mean, yes, of course in the grand scheme of things she is, but I'm playing her, so I can't see her that way."

She also admits that getting into Lucille's head wasn't always fun. "Well," she laughs, "it was fun for Tom, Guillermo and everyone else! But I really underestimated the toll that this character was going to take on me. I was really excited to play her, but every day was intense. And when I finished, I was supposed to go off and do another film, but I had to take time off!"

Watch the trailer for Crimson Peak here: