Before Loki, did you know Tom Hiddleston auditioned to play Thor? Watch his screen test here

Tom Hiddleston is synonymous with playing Loki in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but did you know that he originally auditioned to play Thor. The actor went so far as to train rigorously for the role, and did a screen test with blonde hair and Mjolnir, Thor's hammer.

Hiddleston will reprise the role of Loki, Thor's nemesis/brother in the upcoming Disney+ series, due out in June. He has played Loki since 2011. The role of Thor went to Chris Hemsworth.

"I auditioned for the first Thor film 10 years ago in 2009,” said Hiddleston while appearing on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon. “And I just thought I was auditioning for a movie. You know, an interesting part in an interesting movie. Back then, the Marvel Universe was — they’d just made Iron Man. And I thought, ‘I’ll have a go.’ I didn’t expect to be cast at all."

He continued, “Basically, at the time, they were looking for less well-established actors so that the audience didn’t have an association. They just wanted people to see these new characters, these new actors. And the agreement was if you’re over six-foot and you’ve got blond hair you can come and have a pop at it.” He added, “I never auditioned for Loki. I only ever auditioned for Thor, which is nuts.”

After watching a portion of his audition, the actor responded to the audience's applause. "You really are too kind. I think we can all agree that they cast the right actor," he said.

Also read: ‘I’ll never forget moment we cast Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston’: Thor director recalls Marvel’s most important decision

Director Kenneth Branagh, who cast Hiddleston as Loki in the first Thor film, told Entertainment Weekly in an interview, "Tom gave you an impression that he could be ready for anything, performance-wise. Tom has a wild imagination, so does Loki. He’s got a mischievous sense of humor and he was ready to play. It felt like he had a star personality, but he was a team player."

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