Tom Hiddleston has said that his upcoming Stephen King adaptation The Life of Chuck reminds him of The Shawshank Redemption.
The new film is an adaptation of a short story from King’s novella If It Bleeds, a collection of four tales first released in 2020. It will depict three stories from the life of Charles “Chuck” Krantz.
Appearing on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, the actor, who will play the title character, said that of all King’s well-known works, it is a previous film adaptation that he feels his new project most closely resembles.
“What I love about this material and the short stories out there, was it seemed to be resonant of the Stephen King who wrote The Shawshank Redemption,” he said.
“There’s a warmth and a kind of spirit that’s really on the side of life in the story, that I really connected to when I read it. It was just the most extraordinary script. I connected to it immediately. So when we met, I just said ‘This is amazing. Can I come and do it? Can I please come and do it?’ And yeah, and we had a great time.”
The 1994 film classic The Shawshank Redemption was based on King’s 1982 novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption.
The Life of Chuck is written and directed by Mike Flanagan, who has previously helmed films including Doctor Sleep and Oculus, and recently created the Netflix miniseries The Fall of The House of Usher.
Hiddleston will star in the film alongside Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan.
Earlier this year, Hiddleston’s fiancée Zawe Ashton revealed the piece of advice that he gave her about working in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. She plays Dar-Ben in The Marvels, while he has played Loki in multiple films and shows.
“One of the main takeaways from our conversations was: ‘What you put into Marvel, you get back’”, she said.
“He said, ‘If you go into this with an open heart and a great work ethic and just want to provide an amazing experience for the fans, you’ll have an amazing experience on those sets.’ He really empowered me in that way.”
The Fresh Meat star added: “He also had some very good practical advice, which was: Make sure you have enough zippers to go to the bathroom in your costume. Which is very good advice, I realise now.”
Hiddleston won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his role in the 2016 BBC series The Night Manager.
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