While reflecting on his tenure playing the God of Mischief in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Loki star Tom Hiddleston revealed why Chris Hemsworth was cast as his on-screen brother, Thor, instead of him.
Hiddleston spoke about the casting decision in "Untold: Tom Hiddleston," a short promotional video for the Disney+ series posted on YouTube. In particular, during the two-minute video, which augments Hiddleston's narration with cutesy animations, he described the physical demands of suiting up as the God of Thunder.
"There was at one point in the training -- there was a board, I think in the stunt gym, there was like a thing of 1,000 meters on the rowing machine, 100 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, and 100 squats, and doing it for time," he said. "And Chris Hemsworth would put his time on the board. And I thought, 'OK, I'll give that a go.'"
With a laugh, Hiddleston admitted, "I didn't get past 15 pull-ups, so that's the reason he was cast as Thor."
Hiddleston initially auditioned to play Thor himself in 2011, which he previously described in a 2019 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. Instead, he went on to play Loki in the three Thor films, three Avengers films, as well as the Disney+ series, Loki. He noted, "I have been playing Loki now for 11 years, which is just over 25 percent of my entire life."
Season 1 of Loki is currently available to stream in full on Disney+.
Source: YouTube