Thomas William "Tom" Hiddleston is an English actor. He is known for playing the character of Loki in the Marvel Studios films Thor , The Avengers , and Thor: The Dark World . He has also appeared in Steven Spielberg's First World War film War Horse , The Deep Blue Sea , Woody Allen's romantic comedy Midnight in Paris , the 2012 BBC series Henry IV, Henry V, and the romantic vampire film Only Lovers Left Alive . In theatre, he has been in the productions of Cymbeline and Ivanov . In December 2013 he starred as the title character in the Donmar Warehouse production of Coriolanus which played until February 2014.