Tom Hiddleston Gives First Impression of Hank Williams Role
UPDATE: Hank3 to Tom Hiddleston: “You Got No Soul or Moan In Your Voice”
When movie actor Tom Hiddleston was first cast in the role to play Hank Williams in the upcoming biopic I Saw The Light, there was concern of whether a British actor could pull off the part of the Southern born and bred Hillbilly Shakespeare. Hank’s grandson, Hank Williams III, or Hank3, spoke out about the matter, saying that a Southern man should be cast in the role. Though Hank3 gave respect to Hiddleston who was taught at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he was concerned he couldn’t evoke the pain Hank Williams felt as a Southerner. This concern has also been expressed by other Hank Williams and country music fans.
Now we have received our first taste of Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams, and some are applauding, and some have started the furor over the casting anew. Though Hiddleston seemed to do a fine job singing, some Hank Williams fans are not feeling the similarities in the style.
Hiddleston made a surprise appearance at the Wheatland Music Festival in Michigan on Saturday (9-7) and performed a rendition of the Hank Williams classic “Move It On Over.” On Sunday, Hiddleston returned to Wheatland with mentor Rodney Crowell—who has been personally working with Hiddleston—to sing a version of “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”
The production for I Saw The Light has already secured the rights to Hank’s songs from publishing company Sony ATV, and have said that along with Hank’s original recordings, Hiddleston will be performing certain songs in the movie live.
Far from some of the dated and shoestring budget productions centered around the life of country music’s first superstar, I Saw The Light is set to be a full budget feature film in the same vein of the Johnny Cash biopic I Walk The Line. The movie is based off of the biography from Colin Escott, and is written and directed by Marc Abraham. Production is set to begin in October in Louisiana. The ambition and expanse of the film is one of the reasons many Hank Williams fans are showing so much interest in the casting of the iconic country music figure.
Tom Hiddleston has said about the role,
“The film is about the man behind the myth, the power of his music, the sheer voltage of his talent and charisma, and his formidable demons,” Hiddleston says. “He worked hard, played hard, lived hard there were women, there was whiskey but when he sang about being in the doghouse in ‘Move It On Over’, or about his heartbreak in ‘I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry’, it came from an honest place. Hank’s life has a tragic arc, but in simple truth, he was a genius: a star that burned twice as bright and lived half as long. It’s a huge role for me and a huge responsibility. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.”
Though there is still a month before production begins, this video below is an early sign of what people might expect of Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams.
UPDATE: Hank3 to Tom Hiddleston: “You Got No Soul or Moan In Your Voice”
Another Wheatland Music Fest pic for you @twhiddleston fans. He sang “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” w/@RodneyJCrowell: pic.twitter.com/GsGYaITX2f
Elisabeth Waldon (@elisabethwaldon) September 7, 2014
September 7, 2014 @ 7:11 pm
I don’t wanna judge too quickly. Although the live rendition (above) is rough there may be room for growth. I’ll wait till the film is released. ..
September 7, 2014 @ 7:19 pm
Tom still has much to learn…
September 7, 2014 @ 7:33 pm
Not impressed
September 7, 2014 @ 7:34 pm
I really like Tom Hiddleston a lot, and so I want to like this. Right now I’m…… a little underwhelmed. (Exacerbated by my acquaintance with a guy who does a smack-dead-on Hank Williams tribute show.) But am willing to stay calm and wait and see.
September 7, 2014 @ 7:37 pm
He doesn’t sound bad at all, but he sure as hell doesn’t sound like Hiram Hank Williams.
September 7, 2014 @ 7:41 pm
I’m grateful for any big budget productions focusing on the life of Hank Sr. I didn’t know what to think about Joaquin Phoenix playing Johnny Cash but he did alright.
September 7, 2014 @ 8:49 pm
This is a live performance, not a touched up snippet of a film. Folks should relax, a bit.
September 8, 2014 @ 5:11 am
Dang, that’s horrible.
September 8, 2014 @ 5:49 am
he needs to dial in that head voice…
September 8, 2014 @ 6:40 am
I realize it is still early in the process and they were looking for someone who could act and perhaps capture some of Williams’ mannerisms or bits and pieces of his vocal technique. But this…. From a performance standpoint, I’ve heard much better at open mics, frankly. That said, Crowell ‘s involvement is reassuring so I’ll reserve judgment until the thing comes out.
September 8, 2014 @ 6:42 am
I’d say it’s passable if he was playing a struggling honky tonker. Way, way short of Hank Williams. If it doesn’t get much better than this, I think I might find the vocals to be distracting when watching the movie.
September 8, 2014 @ 7:16 pm
From what it sounds like from your comment you’ll still watch it though. That’s all the studio cares about. They don’t care if you like it or don’t, but that you’ll watch it is what matters.
September 8, 2014 @ 7:07 am
In my opinion, what made Hank Williams great was the substance of the material, and not his voice (which, in my opinion, wasn’t great at all. I don’t think any of the 3 Hanks are great singers, and obviously Hank3 isn’t a great singer. While I despise Jr. he’s probably got the most tolerable voice of all 3), so if Hiddleston doesn’t develop a great voice, but does a wonderful job capturing the demons, habits, and mannerisms of Hank Williams, I think he’s done one hell of a job.
September 8, 2014 @ 7:48 am
I believe tom will capture the drama that surrounded Hank, but he definitely needs to work on the singing. But then again phoenix did not sound exactly like johnny cash. Face it no one is ever going to sound like those legends because they were one of a kind.
September 8, 2014 @ 8:15 am
They didn’t hire a professional singer or Hank’s kin to do this so it’s probably not fair to expect him to sound anything like Hank Williams. Tom Hiddleston might not have the voice but it sounds like from this and other articles that he’s taking this role seriously and putting a lot of effort into it. I’m not a big fan of biopics in general but If he can pull off the acting and has a good onscreen presence, it could help introduce younger fans to Hank Williams like the Johnny Cash biopic did for him.
September 8, 2014 @ 8:37 am
He sounds pretty good, and nothing like Hank.
Guess we’ll see. I’m interested in the film, if not overly optimistic.
September 8, 2014 @ 8:42 am
It doesn’t sound as if he’ll be able to get the accent. I hear a lot of Brit, and that is in the sung word, which is more easily masked than the spoken word.
September 8, 2014 @ 9:25 am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQuZ2O49oQQ THAT’s all I got to say
September 8, 2014 @ 10:20 am
Thank you Hank3 for showing everybody exactly how it is done. And I absolutely agreed with your original post. Your instinct was apparently right on the money. What
you just did on this performance, and what your grandfather did, cannot be learned at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. This music comes straight from the soul and the heart, and not from the head.
Mr. Hiddleston’s singing is, in a word, dreadful. Rodney Crowell is a fine songwriter, and he may be able to improve the actors phrasing and accent, but only a miracle can make Hiddleston into a shitkickin’ Alabama hillbilly singer surrounded by ghosts and the blues out there on that Lost Highway.
They should use Hank Sr.’s original cuts and let the actor sync to them. Even Hollywood can’t make chicken salad out of chicken guano….
Thanks for being the real deal!
Ben “Cooter” Jones
October 28, 2014 @ 9:01 am
I first have to say that my day would not be complete if I did not at least tell you how so wrong you are. It is people like you who said Heath Ledger would destroy the role of Batman’s Joker and he did the exact opposite making it a classic. While it is true Tom Hiddleston is not this country singer how the hell can he be? He is doing his own interpretation and that is what an actor does. If you knew what acting was about, which you obviously have a hard time understanding. The exact definition of acting is taking on your own close interpretation of something or someone. Just because he is not a Southerner he is a man passionate about the life and career of the man he is going to be portraying. And for your information, where he studied is one of the best acting schools in the world and he certainly does have soul. Don’t judge him because he’s a wonderful actor and British. You Americans may have Hollywood, but Britain birthed Shakespeare which is where theatre and acting began. Please tell me you know who Shakespeare is. No he is not American, but Americans have starred in many of his stories brought to Hollywood. If that’s fair, why isn’t this?
September 8, 2014 @ 4:37 pm
How about this?
http://youtu.be/XLqaeoUEqSw
September 8, 2014 @ 10:20 am
Well… This sucks! Doesn’t sound country and sure as hell doesn’t sound like old Hank!!
September 8, 2014 @ 12:31 pm
Great pedal steel gutarist and fiddle..Who are they?
September 8, 2014 @ 12:37 pm
Maybe we should see the movie before we judge the casting decision. And let’s be honest, the performance above — a snippet of a song filmed on what looks like a smartphone — isn’t that bad. My guess is that Mr. Hiddleston sings much better than most singers act.
September 8, 2014 @ 2:39 pm
THIS. We have the recordings & know what Hank sounded like. I’d much rather watch a guy who can act the part but doesn’t necessarily nail the singing than the other way around. That said, syncing to the original recordings seems like the best of all worlds.
September 8, 2014 @ 6:24 pm
Well, there are a lot of very fine Southern actors available. Hank III had mentioned somebody like Matthew McCanaughey.
Hiddleston might be a fine actor, but you can’t expect genuine, deep Alabama authenticity from a Brit, anymore than McCanaughey could play an authentic English cockney.
And my hound dog Junior can sing better than Hiddleston.
September 9, 2014 @ 4:51 am
It’s not even that bad. People are just greatly over reacting because the dude is british. He’s a fine actor and I’m sure he’ll do a great job bringing Hank Sr. to life. I really don’t understand why they just don’t have him lip sync to the original recordings though. No matter how good Tom does he’s never going to sound exactly like Sr.
September 9, 2014 @ 9:24 am
I’m really looking forward to this. Lets be real here, its not like his singing is going to be the focal point of the movie. Also Tom Hiddleston won’t really be singing live, the studios will manipulate the hell out of his voice to make it sound a whole lot better than it does here. You know just like they do with all the current pop country stars
September 10, 2014 @ 4:04 pm
Gotta give him an A for effort at least. Kind of reminds me of how Clooney wanted to sing sing Man Of Constant Sorrow and the director wisely went with Dan Tyminski’s recordings instead. Hiddleston may be able to pull of the acting, but hopefully the director will leave the singing to those who can do it right.
If they need some new recordings done, seems to me like III’s the man for the job.
September 12, 2014 @ 2:12 pm
Damn every where I look it says “video removed by user.” Any site you know of where I can still view the video of Tom singing Hank??
September 14, 2014 @ 3:17 pm
Still good as of 3 pm PST 9/14/14: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zz8ENbEiiic&list=PLKWwCjGnCSRBJEhAxGcDAvxfNjkPW4euJ
September 14, 2014 @ 3:25 pm
Thanks dude! That link worked. I was not impressed with his cover of Hank, however. Not that he’s a terrible vocalist, but if they are looking for someone that sounds close to Hank then they Prob should have searched harder.
September 13, 2014 @ 11:42 am
Oh my. Tim’s not even close. I think he has the face for the role, but the singing voice… nope. The script, the acting and the directing are gonna have to be stellar to overcome a singing voice that dissimilar, to make us believe that we’re watching Hank.
This link of Tim singing was still working at the time of my post: http://youtu.be/1CRyLLOR6kU
September 13, 2014 @ 6:29 pm
Rodney Crowell is working with him, so hopefully, he will get the twangy, moaning sound that Hank Williams had better. They can also add some sound effects as well.
I’m not going to judge too much until the movie comes out. I do love Tom Hiddleston though.
As far as someone saying they didn’t think any of the Hanks can sing, well, that is just opinion. Hank Sr. is real, good old classic country, not none of this new stuff, that you can’t even really classify as country music. Young people are going to judge classic country by the new stuff. What we have now would actually be pop music back then.
Listening to Hank Sr. is comforting, and his sound was all his own. Not everyone wants to hear all the vocal gymnastics that is so popular today, where everyone sounds the same.
I’m hoping Tom Hiddleston gets better at the singing before the movie, and I can’t wait to see it.
November 16, 2014 @ 12:39 pm
I guess I’ll have to wait until the version with subtitles comes out ..the vocals SUCK!
Hank’s voice was the key to his success…please don’t ruin the movie by letting this dude sing..
March 30, 2015 @ 3:52 pm
I’m very excited to see they are making this movie. This will introduce Hank’s music to a whole new generation. Check out David Church as Hank Williams https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFGC_KMJFjI
April 1, 2015 @ 2:44 pm
This guy sucks he should not play hank at all he sounds nothing like him.
June 30, 2016 @ 8:27 am
Tom’s singing sucks, it is an insult to Hank Williams!