Tom Hiddleston Fashion: Summer TCA: The Hollow Crown (2013)

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Summer TCA: The Hollow Crown (2013)

August 5, 2013:

Tom Hiddleston was joined by executive producers David Horn and Gareth Neame for the PBS panel at the 2013 Summer Television Critics Association press tour held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. They were there to discuss the upcoming PBS Great Performances presentation of The Hollow Crown. The Hollow Crown is an adaption of Shakespeare's The Henriad (Richard II, Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2, and Henry V). The series had already aired in the UK a full year previously.

The films – chronicling a bloody tale of family, politics and power — tell the rise and fall of three Kings and how their destiny shaped English history. Richard II (Ben Whishaw) is a vain, self-indulgent man who rules with little regard for his people’s welfare. He is ultimately overthrown by his cousin Bolingbroke (Rory Kinnear), who ascends the throne as Henry IV (Jeremy Irons). Henry IV’s reign is marred by his own guilt over Richard’s death, civil war, and the gnawing fear that his son Hal (Tom Hiddleston) is a total wastrel unworthy of the throne. When Hal comes to the throne as Henry V he is left to bury the ghosts of his father’s past while fighting both the French forces as well as his own inner demons.

Unfortunately the panel wasn't recorded but here are some of Tom's quotes:

"Reading this material, you see that the author of the plays understood everything about human nature, relationships and what drives people toward power, love and revenge."

"Whoever wrote these plays has just such a depth of compassion and understanding for all of human nature that I find dizzying... He understands everybody, and that's what I think distinguishes him from pretty much every other dramatic writer I can think of."

"I always come away feeling more alive than I did before."

Tom recorded several videos for PBS to use in advertising for the show. We chose our title, The Hollow Crown, because a theme that runs through these plays is this idea of the weight of responsibility that is borne by the man who wears the crown...