Brace yourselves. Tom Hiddleston made a “surprise appearance” at the Wheatland Music Festival in Remus, Michigan on Saturday. And when I say “surprise appearance,” I’m not saying that Tommy just went to a music festival and took in some heartland music. He actually went on stage. To perform. A Hank Williams song.
Seriously. Tom will be playing Hank Williams in the film I Saw the Light, which begins filming in Louisiana in October. Tommy completed filming on High Rise a few weeks ago, and according to an interviewTommy did shortly after his Williams casting was announced, he’s obviously spending this “down-time” doing research on Williams, plus learning how to sing and perform like Williams. At the Wheatland Music Festival, Tommy showed his progress, I guess. He performed Williams’ “Move It On Over”:If you’d like to do a side-by-side comparison between Tommy and the original version, here’s a recording of Hank’s song:
I tend to think that what Tommy lacks in genuine vocal talent, he makes up for with mimicry. Tom is not a great singer, but he is a gifted mimic. So, while I have faith that Tommy will probably do a decent portrait of Williams, I do think the musical part of this equation needs some work. And Tommy has time for a crash course. There’s a lot of room for improvement. And I will give him credit for having the stones to get up there, on stage, and sing and play the guitar. Good for him. I wouldn’t have been that brave. But it feels like he’s still in the process of workshopping the character though.
