Tom Hiddleston "dating" his Broadway co-star Zawe Ashton

[quote] Tom Hiddleston has been "dating" co-star Zawe Ashton for over SIX months but is determined to keep their relationship low-key

The explanation for him keeping it "low-key" is funny. Most people don't even know who Zawe Ashton is. She's not Taylor Swift (with millions of teenage fans around the world following her every move). Swift is one of the most popular mainstream pop singers around today. Her insane, gigantic fanbase made Hiddleston's fanbase look small and sane by comparison. So by "dating" a near unknown, he has no need to keep it "low-key" - it's "low-key" by definition. He's a fine actor, but he's a B-level celeb "dating" an actress who most people don't even know or care about.

And I must say I'm surprised - because on stage they had very little chemistry. But then again the whole play lacked chemistry.

Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton attended the Harold Pinter birthday gala in October, 2018.

Did anyone else see "Betrayal? They may have some real-life chemistry (who knows), but it sure doesn't parlay on stage.

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Well, we did learn from Friends that if actors have chemistry on-stage, they AREN'T fucking in real life, but if they are fucking in real life, the on-stage chemistry goes away.

That's a MAN, baby!

They attended the Opening Night Party for Betrayal Broadway at The Pool at the Seagram Building on September 5, 2019.

R6 forgot to sign his post: "The More You Know!"

What's with the weird poses at R3? So contrived. Yes, I know who we're talking about, but still...

They were spotted enjoying a casual night out in NYC on August 12, 2019.

She's a Lesbian. Take it from a pro.

He's gross. Who cares who he's dating? Bleccchhh.

Yes, sure. We got it hun, you are the king of heterosexuals! Congratulations for your heterosexuality!!!!!!

Oh god,not again. Listen Hiddles ,no one on planet earth believes your straight. Worse yet,no one cares either way.

R11, I’ll take your word for it

Sorry. But my first thought was: “poor man’s Meghan Markle”. Second thought: “I know all there is to know about the crying game...”

I am sorry. She may well be a wonderful person.

R13, grow up man

I hope she is, R15, with that face.

THIS is fake news. x

How convenient that the news of the low key relationship broke 2 days after their play opened on Broadway.

Loved her on Fresh Meat as Vodka, funny as fuck

I thought we knew that since The Picture of Dorian Gray, R6.

I thought we knew that since The Picture of Dorian Gray, R6.

She does look like Jaye Davidson from Neil Jordan's "Crying Game," which is interesting, considering Zawe was actually in Neil Jordan's recent film, "Greta". We're not the only ones who see the similarities...

Tom seems nice. Why can't he just come out already? I swear, no one will bat an eyelash. Can't be any worse than those cringey Swift photos, can it?

In the following clip, back in 2013, he did seem smitten with the interviewer, Rachel Smith, Miss USA 2007, but she friend-zoned him.

It's possible that he might be bisexual.

Boring....

She looks like a child in the green dress picture.

Women's bodies are stunted.

She is a really plain gal with greasy, culturally appropriated hair who is trying to kick her career up a notch.

He's a big old closet queen.

A perfect match.

Let's block all the racists who show their ugly faces. :-))

Good move for him to date a mixed race chick. It makes him seem slightly less boring.

Mark my words. This is just the beginning, first he dates her, next an asian woman, then he comes out as bi/queer/no lables and then in 20 years or so he finally comes out as gay Joel Grey style.

R30 made me LOL. I get Joel Grey and Bob Balaban mixed up in my head.

That photo at r10 made me double-take. Looks like Markle, even has the fedora.

He is losing his hair so quickly.

She looks like OctoMom.

Zawe Ashton is the poor man's Meghan Markle.

The green dress is ill fitting. She has no bra on and her boobs look saggy like an old lady breast.

Velvet Buzzsaw was excruciatingly bad but she was probably the worst of everyone in the cast.

I thought that the timing is rather strange especially after numerous photos of Tom and Laurence Spellman were posted on social media showing them at the Wimbledon 2019 Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 14, 2019 in London, England. Tom had arrived at Wimbledon with Spellman who was walking a few steps behind him to avoid the paparazzi. The DL thread,"Is there not a Tom Hiddleston and Laurence Spellman yet?" was made "subscribers only" after the Wimbledon incident.

Spellman is the bald guy with sunglasses in the below clip.

R30 Hiddleston and Joel Grey do have similar weasel-like faces. Maybe Hiddleston could play the MC in a Cabaret play since he's good at portraying the fey Loki.

R15 - Took the words right out of my mouth - especially in the photo of her with the Dreaded Fedora in one hand and him in the baseball cap.

Actually, I'd say Meghan Markle is the poor man's Zawe Ashton - who at least seems to be a genuine theatre creature with talent.

Whether Hiddleton is a poor woman's Prince Harry or not is a different kettle of fish.

It all looks like PR to me, for both of them (again).

For what it's worth, I saw this last night in New York. Workmanlike, competent, and lacking, as every stage production of this I've ever seen has (I've seen three) the punch in the gut that the iconic film with Ben Kingsley, Jeremy Irons, and Patricia Hodge delivered. As for sexual chemistry: it was non-existent between Cox and Ashton, Hiddleston and Ashton, and Hiddleston and Cox.

Charlie Cox was forgettable (sorry to his fans here, but he was), Ashton showed well but I wouldn't say she was loaded with charisma and she has a peculiarly masculine, smoky voice, and Hiddleston was wry, intelligent, mocking and clearly the actor with the most charisma of the three, but he also failed to deliver the dark bitter edge that Kingsley did in the film. In the end, you never quite figure out whether Emma just fell into temptation in a bored moment, or whether she hated her husband already when Jerry seduces her - the only clue you get is Robert admitting he slapped her around a couple of times, but that's much later on. That's on the playwright, of course, not the actors.

I don't think this play is meaty enough for this kind of pared down production. I think it worked better as a film.

The house was packed, by the way, from bottom to top (I was first row mezzanine, my preferred spot in these small theaters, I don't know why people want to sit in Row A up front and look up the actors' nostrils). It's obviously a hit, and there were big crowds by the stage door exit waiting for Hiddleston (anyone who thinks the twittering was for Cox and/or Ashton is in denial), but still the success is nice for all three actors, and for Hiddleston especially, in London and now New York, after the HiddleSwift debacle.

He's not stupid - he did the right thing: shut up about it, put it behind him, went underground, and emerged in Serious Actor mode after the obligatory turn in the last of the Marvel Big Hit Avengers film.

I wonder if he'll go on doing the sensible thing now given the state of his hairline and stop trying to be a Major Leading Man and do more stage work, return to Shakespeare as he did with the well-received Hamlet fundraiser for RADA, and take decent film roles with interesting characters.

R30 Here's a picture of Joel Grey with his masculine looking wife in 1979.

He seems fond of children. Maybe, he wants to settle down.

Her live in boyfriend is going to be surprised.

I believe those are Hemsworth's twins, probably visiting on set. And, yes, I have seen affectionate photos of Hiddleston with his little niece, daughter of his sister who either does or used to live in India with her Indian husband.

He should do what Prince Harry should have done: find himself a sweet English rose only too thrilled to Mrs Hiddleston, grateful to have landed herself such a catch, who will give him a couple of kids, keep the home fires burning, and turn a blind eye to the, er, rest.

Someone needs to start a gofundme to buy that poor guy a comb.

R39 Joel Grey came out @ age 82. What age do you Hiddleston will come out?

He seems fond of everyone R42

He was stupid for not coming out once his Loki days were done. He’s not getting any younger, and his looks and star power are beginning to fade. I’m surprised more closeted actors don’t look at Kevin Spacey or John Travolta as a cautionary tale of what happens when you stay in the closet for too long, and by the time you’re out your looks and celebrity are gone, so your dating and career prospects are at an end.

Seriously, this guy ain't gay....

Well the SUN is running it but according to their PR reps, the two are just "very close friends".

Sure Jan at R49.

Will somebody, somewhere PLEASE tell me who this fucking Jan is?!

She really, really needs to up her skin game. No excuse for someone in the public eye in 2019 to have such patchy, muddy-looking facial skin.

He's so pathetic. I hope his show tanks.

R54 - Sold out run in London and when I saw it Saturday in New York the house was full and there were lines three deep behind police tape outside the alley exiting from the stage door waiting. There were two mounted police (lord those horses are BIG) right there. Anyone who thinks that theater was packed and those lines outside were for Cox of Ashton is in denial.

He may be pathetic personally, but professionally, this was a win.

Better luck next time.

R48....

R48 Hiddleston is already starting to give Cumberbatch that creepy John Travolta look.

Do gay men find Cumberbatch sexy?

IT'S VOD!! HE'S DATING VOD!!

Actors just all love each other to death.

The only differences they really care about are billing position, and awards.

I’d love a baby.

Men can't have babies, Tom.

Oh, did you mean she'd carry it? Like I said...

Have I already mentioned how heterosexual I am today? R61

Odd that despite PR representatives denying the relationship last week, the media are still treating it as fact.

"A cynic might wonder just how much time he’s spending wandering around Hampstead Heath. As a straight man. Obviously."

(Hampstead Heath is regarded as one of the safest night-time gay cruising grounds in London.) Just come out!

R65 - LOL. Remembering when King's Cross was slily referred to as Queen's Cross.

Doesn't Cumberbatch live in the Hampstead Heath area? And I do believe Hiddleston's home in Belsize Park is technically in Hampstead, as well.

Tom Hiddleston will be on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" tonight.

R67 Yeah, my fav show LOL

It's so low key the paps are there for every date! It's MAGICAL!

R69 - "It's so low key the paps are there for every date! It's MAGICAL!"

They're actually doppelgangers of us. The paps always fall for it.

How do you pronounce "Zawe"?

I think that it's funny that Ken Branagh is so involved in Tom's career.

In the clip below at 6:40, Tom mentioned that Branagh was in the audience while he was performing Coriolanus.

At a recent interview...

It’s pronounced “Bye Girl”

Stop ! Please stop with this ugly man already !

R71 - The way Joe E. Brown pronounced "Zowie!" in "Some Like it Hot", only Zah instead of Zow.

Does anyone have a good read on his character? My vague understanding is that he’s a closeted gay man who’s posh/well educated, and will never live down the I❤️TS debacle (it was jaw-droppingly pathetic). Is he kind? Thoughtful? Interested in anything other than pursuit of fame? Do he say anything in interviews that’s worth hearing?

I wonder how long his career will last.

He certainly likes to hear himself talk.

My friend lives in the same building he’s renting out, and there’s definite flirting between them. My friend has a job and a life, so does Tom. My friend never saw Zawe in the building.

Is your friend male or female R79?

She look-a like-a man.

R80 He’s male. He owns several properties, most are rented out on part time basis. They’re ideal for actors doing residency.

My guess is that the Zawe Ashton story was put out there to help PR for the play, only it was done much more cautiously than the HiddleSwift debacle, and the reps hastened to make a quiet announcement that the two were just close friends so no one would end up with egg all over his face at some point. The reps knew the tabs and industry gossip lines would keep it going for a little while, anyway, and that's all that was necessary.

Sooner or later, Hiddleston is either going to have to get married and have a kid, or come out. At 38, he's teetering on the edge of "Everyone knows, anyway, you may as well."

Frankly, he strikes me as almost clinically narcissistic so I'm not sure lifelong bachelorhood isn't the best thing he could for humanity of either persuasion.

Lots of actors never grow up, too. Classically trained dancers, too. Too much time in front of mirrors from too young an age, and too much time spent in fantasy-land. It's why the divorce rate is so high amongst them.

I mentioned this once (generally about actors, not particularly about this actor) to a friend who is a internist, and he said he could say the same thing about surgeons. It's a peculiarity of people working in a highly specialised, highly rewarded field in which only the few succeed.

Well, one way or another, like his friend Cumberbatch, I expect a wedding announcement in the TIMES by the age of 40 of Hiddleston to some nice girl who turns out to have been an old friend for years and suddenly they looked at each other and said, "Hey! This could really work out for both of us! I need hetero creds and you're nobody and want to be Mrs Somebody - how do you feel about a couple of kids in quick succession?!"

Hiddlestons PR is driving his career into the ground. As soon as he steps on American soil, he’s in a relationship, maybe? No matter about Zawe’s actual private life. It’s all about Tom.

R84 - Of course it's all about Tom - he's the marquee name, without which this play wouldn't be running again barely three years after the Craig-Weisz-Spall production. This play's been done to death. Do you think people queued up 3 years ago when it last ran on Broadway because Rafe Spall was playing Jerry?! It sold out because Daniel Craig was playing Robert.

No one outside British insider-theatre knew Cox and Ashton from holes in the ground.

I saw it three weeks ago. The house was sold out to the rafters. People were lined up three deep at the stage door exit and not to see Charlie Cox or Zawe Ashton, minor virtual unknowns over here. Every time the door opened, they screamed with excitement. It wasn't for Charlie Cox, amigo.

This just in: in the entertainment industry, especially theatre, the first consideration is, How do we get butts in seats?

Hiddleston, whether you like it or not, put those butts in the seats in the West End and then on Broadway.

Ergo, his career ain't dead yet. For some reason, this seems to annoy you, but hey, it's an unfair world.

r83 Cumberbatch doesn't strike me as gay at all.

Cumberbatch is one of the few actors the DL pretty much agrees on being straight.

Hiddleston used to flirt with Chris Hemsworth while ignoring his beard, Kat Dennings. He also used to talk incessantly about Chris's muscles in interviews. But their 'bromance' ended when Taika Waititi came into the picture.

Ken Branagh came to see him in Coriolanus. He's a big Shakespeare fan.

Tom, call me! We can double date while you're in New York.

I don't think Dennings was a real beard for Hiddleston. That relationship was so nothing if you blinked you'd have missed it. I don't think they were ever once seen off the red carpet together. The same rumours went around about him and Elizabeth Wilson when they made "I Saw the Light" together. Nothing in it.

R91 Hiddleston and Dennings held hands during a movie promotion.

Because bearding always works out so well for him

'Rather disturbing' bearding involving Tom Hiddleston, who DM claims is 'secretly dating' 'Betrayal' co-star, Zawe Ashton

Ewan looks so good there !

To be fair, the beard club on twitter is worse than datalounge when it comes to celebs being gay (EVERYONE!!!!!). Although in Tom's case they are right.

Zawe as Vod in "Fresh Meat"

Tom seems more interested in Charlie Cox.

Well, at least Hiddleston's suit seems to fit properly in that photo, which Cox's doesn't. As noted above, I saw the production three weeks ago, and Cox was, I thought the least interesting actor onstage. It's also true that he has the least interesting part, so that may be it. The cagey, bitter husband and the mourning wife have the better parts. Jerry comes off sometimes as just a prop and a somewhat familiar one: the married lover who indulges himself in a juice affair and when he gets tired of it goes back to the marriage he was careful not to damage, whilst the married woman's marriage goes off the cliff. Robert's and Emma's relationship, and Robert's and Jerry's relationship, are far more interesting than Emma's and Jerry's relationship.

There's a small bit of sexual interaction in the play when Robert tries to embrace his wife with the obvious intention of going to bed, and it was all I could do not to lean over the balcony rail and yell, "Now, THAT's ACTING! Bravo!"

R87 - "Cumberbatch is one of the few actors the DL pretty much agrees on being straight."

I think that's a recent development. Initially, I remember quite a few comments here jeering at the notion. In fact, because the comment was funny, I remember one poster who said a friend of his had been waitstaff at an event Cumberbatch attended (this is long before BC "rediscovered" his old friend Sophie Hunter) and reported, "He was gayer than a goose."

Of course, there's a certain variety, with which I am unsurprisingly familiar, of fey Brit boys who can be deceiving to gaydar and the British acting profession is chock-full of them. It's certainly possible Cumberbatch is one of these.

Hiddleston . . . . mmmm, not so sure. He might just be the real thing. Cumberbatch had a string of GFs.

Cumberbatch is an upper-class Brit, so it can be very hard to tell. Those men can appear to be gay but in fact are totally straight.

R101. I don't think cumberbatch is straight. He pings to me and the Sophie chick he married looks like the classic faghag beard wife. If cumberbatch is straight then so is hiddleston. Cumberbatch love scenes with women are laughable and he can't project straight male energy on screen. He is good at playing damaged or tortured upper class weirdos.

R102 - He always pinged to me, too, ditto Hunter as the on the make brood mare, having failed to get anywhere in the business on her own by her late thirties. I will say Cumberbatch's relationship with Olivia Poulet looked more real than the one with his wife.

Only once did I see something approaching real connection pass between Hiddleston and a woman onscreen, and that was with Tilda Swinton in Only Lovers Left Alive. My friends hated the film to bits, but I found their relationship oddly touching. He actually sounded like he meant it when he said, "Eve, I love you so much," and the scene where she pulls him out of his doldrums and makes him get up and dance with her in that ridiculous house was genuinely tender - the two vampires looked like two old lovers dancing around happily.

But just the one time. Frankly, I can't think of any such scene with Cumberbatch, who strikes me as insufferable twat. But everyone knew he wanted kids badly, so there it is. She was pregnant a third time, but the third child never appeared; something must have gone wrong.

Cumberbatch is straight, Hiddleston is too even if I think he was bearding for lez Taylor.

I thought we sorted Cumberbatch into the straight pile when it came to light that his peen is the size of a baby carrot (according to fans who saw his nude scene in the Frankenstein play).

Cumby was never sexy enough to be DL-Gay.

DL has poor standards, but has standards.

R105 - Well, I didn't see it or a photo of it and I must have missed the snorts of "and they're welcome to him!"

Given the glimpses of Hiddles' cock both in and out of clothes and its reputation, I suppose "we" made the right decision.

A few days ago, Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton have been spotted hanging out together again, this time heading to an auction in New York during downtime from their play. The pair, who are rumoured to be dating, auctioned off a pair of VIP tickets to their play Betrayal for The 32nd Annual Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market on Broadway.

Tom, 38, and Zawe, 35, were then seen grabbing lunch together, with Tom carrying her canvas bag for Zawe, while they took his dog for a walk on the way.

Zawe was also seen earlier in the week, carrying boxes from her apartment to where Tom has been living during their run on Broadway, starting rumours that they’re also moving in together.

Tom and Zawe spent Easter together renovating his house in England. They now spend most weekends together and going for long walks with his dog. He thinks this could be the love of his life — he’s ready to settle down.

I figured him going to Johanna Konta’s matches at Wimbledon he was maybe after her.

[quote]A few days ago, Tom Hiddleston and Zawe Ashton have been spotted hanging out together again,

WERE spotted hanging out together. Native English speakers used to intuitively get this right.

This must be a surprise for his live-in boyfriend R108.

Didn't we hear that "ready to settle down" re Elizabeth Wilson and then Tay-Tay?

The love of Tom HIddleston's life is Tom Hiddleston, Actor.

But, hey, this time he probably figures he's the one bestowing the STAR name on the girl rather than the other way round.

I had no idea Hiddleston was gay until he outed himself by dating uber lesbo Taylor Swift

also this:

R113 - You can watch that with the sound off and tell he's gayer than the flowers in spring. In fact, it's rather more obvious with the sound off.

He dances like most other Brits (e.g. Jack Whitehall). Whitehall is reportedly straight. Go figure.

Most Brits are camp and love camping it up at every opportunity. Trying to tell a British male's sexuality by his dancing skills is an impossible task.

His "girlfriend" has some SERIOUS lesbian jawline!

R115 - It's not his dancing. It's his affect.

R116 - As mentioned previously, I saw the production a few weeks ago, and Ashton also has a serious lesbian voice.

Hell, they may be perfectly happy together!

So does this mean that Joe Alwyn is also gay? He and Swift have been together for a year now - he pings to high Heaven to me, he's just this side of a twink.

R119 Yes of course.

I remember Zach Quinto looking all stunned and awkward when Tom Hiddleston and the rest of the Avengers's cast members came on stage to receive their MTV award in 2013. His co-presenter, Zoe, did most of the work of handing out the awards while Quinto just mainly stood there looking out into space like a zombie.

I think Quinto and Hiddleston would make a cute couple. Quinto seems to like tall, thin men.

Jesus - Styles, Hiddleston, Alwyn. What a lineup, Swiftie.

He looks gayer than ever! He works with marvel so he will never come out.

It's amazing how pr stunts are still working in HW.

I don't even go if he is gay or straight (i didn't follow his career or himself at all) but you don't have a low key relationship for six months only to go public when you have something to promote

R124 - "you don't have a low key relationship for six months only to go public when you have something to promote"

Welcome to show biz.

R125: The sad thing is HW didn't change a bit since the 50's, still using fake relationships to promote movies with the complicity of the magazines that sell that fake relationships like fairy tales. And curiously the fever for celebrity couples didn't go down at all

R126 - Yes, I agree. If anything, the fever's been fed by social media and the Internet. And, I think coming out is still problematic, perhaps not morally the way it was once seen, but in terms of career. An actor who wants to be seen as a leading man cannot afford to come out. It's all right for someone like Ben Whishaw (an actor I cherish), who was never leading man material in the first place, but for men like Hiddleston and Cumberbatch, who were bent on big careers and leading man roles, it still wasn't feasible. In that sense, I don't think anything's changed since the days of Rock Hudson.

And whilst it's still harder for men than women, the women aren't inclined either to endanger their chances at romantic leads, or Sandra Bullock and Jessica Chastain wouldn't still be in the closet.

And last, I think Hiddleston has some real emotional problems (the disapproving father, the parents' bitter divorce, the narcissism, the immaturity) but they, too, will be overlooked as relationship and career issues because he's obviously closeted, and everything else being reduced to that.

That's the thing about bigotry, of whatever kind, sexual, political, racial - it reduces people to the sum of only one part of them.

Since when is Cumberbatch gay?

Sandra Bullock and Jessica Chastain are gonna pretend that they are straight until they are 90+, right?

Sorry for the derail, carry on....

R128: He is not gay, but very gay friendly

Thoughtful post, r127. Thank you.

He seems like an intelligent guy.

Anyone remember the guy who lived near Tom in London? He talked about seeing Tom and his then beard at their local wine bar. Apparently Tom ignored her constantly and made her pay for their drinks. I think she was the one who posted about him on Twitter. So not only is he closeted but stingy too. Unforgivable!

R133 He was also rude to his beard, Kat Dennings, at the San Diego Comic-Con 2010 when they were seen holding hands at R92.

At the panel, he kept on ignoring her or looking at her with disdain.

In the clip below from 9:45 to 10:30, he kept on asking her to pour him a glass of water when he could have done it himself. The water pitcher was within his reach and right beside him.

Tom is back at Comic Con at NYC, posing with fans to promote his new series with Marvel.

Here he is again, posing with another gay fan.

R136 - Looks like the fan asked Tom to strike the "Get help!" pose from Ragnarok.

where is laurence tho

Laurence is waiting for him back in London. In a large walk-in closet filled with blue t-shirts, jeans and grey boots.

R139 - What size grey boots?

Officially not on - Telegraph carrying interview with Ashton today, who, somewhat rhetorically, pretty much denied that she and Hiddleston were involved, was interviewed in her own "digs", and cheerfully said when asked that she bloody well hoped the rumours were selling tickets, they had to be good for something.

So there you are.

She is also from the photos quite unattractive, with chipmunk cheeks and sparse hair, and long and thin.

Hiddleston's (public) type runs to buxom, pretty brunettes.

Update: Tom Hiddleston moves in with Zawe Ashton.

Ooh the bitchy Sun's "I'd like to hear them deny that they're dating NOW!" headline is hilarious.

After the Taylor Swift debacle, of course he's going to deny dating anyone. Ever again.

are we to assume she is lez like taylor? she much cuter than taylor....

Well, the UK has decriminalised homosexuality so I guess neither felt they had much of a choice.

He wants kids. He'll have some beautiful biracial ones and will continue his same-sex dalliances on the side.

R79 R82

Maybe it's best for actors to just date non-actors sometimes

Well those are usually people who aren’t closeted homosexuals R148. Hiddleston has nearly only ever been linked to costars and women who attended the same drama school. I believe Jane Arthy also had something to sell as she has connections to the publicist world. It’s all business. Literally.

I don't think Hiddles is really into sex, and thus, this is where the problem lies. If he does get his kink on, he would much rather watch the action instead of participate. Not many partners are going to put up with that for long.

I get a bit of an asexual vibe from Tom

As someone who knows for definite that Hiddles penis has gone into a vagina, I would say if he is anything, it would be closeted bi. However, if Zawe is with Tom romantically, her fire will not be getting poked very often.