The Thor and Night Manager actor plays Hillary in Tenzing, directed by Jennifer Peedom, which tells the story of the 1953 Everest expedition through the eyes of Sherpa-turned-summit-partner Norgay.
In the film, Hiddleston bears a striking resemblance to the then-33-year-old Hillary: the facial expressions, the posture and the iconic blue-and-white striped flap hat.
Tenzin Dalha, Willem Dafoe, Genden Phuntsok, Harry Greenwood, Tom Hiddleston and Pasang Arya Sherpa in Tenzing. Photo / Supplied
The 45-year-old spent months researching the mountaineer, reading extensively, talking to his family and following in his footsteps, trekking through Nepal and Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park, where they filmed.
“I learned that he was an extraordinarily good man,” he tells the Herald.
“I learned that he loved the outdoors, he loved nature, he loved the mountains, and it was very deep for him. He had a natural humility.”
The role marked Hiddleston’s first visit to New Zealand.
“I’m aware of the extraordinary privilege and good fortune that my first visit to New Zealand was to play Sir Ed. I was really aware that I was playing a great legend.”
Genden Phuntsok and Tom Hiddleston star in Tenzing. Photo / Image courtesy of Apple
During his preparation, Hiddleston also met Kanchhq Sherpa, the last surviving member of the 1953 expedition, who told him stories from that historic trip.
“He told me that Hillary was always laughing. He always loved to eat and drink with the Sherpas, no airs or graces, no sense of status, just a really decent, kind, good man.”
But Hiddleston says Hillary’s understated reputation often obscures how formidable he was.
“I think at the time of 1953 he was at the peak of his powers as an athlete,” Hiddleston explains.
While expedition leader Colonel John Hunt (played by William Dafoe) and Tenzing both recognised Hillary’s immense strength, Hiddleston says Hillary saw the greatness in his climbing partner.
“He had this engine, this force. He was competent and capable and fast and strong, and he recognised that in Tenzing.
“I learned that the brotherhood he felt with Tenzing was something very special and lasted the length of his life.”
Tom Hiddleston spent a month filming in the South Island in 2025. Photo / Supplied
Alongside co-star Genden Phuntsok, who plays Tenzing Norgay, the actor trekked 65km from Lukla to Everest Base Camp while preparing for the role.
Liz Watts, head of film and television for production company See-Saw Films, says both actors were committed to being in the environment and climbing.
“Genden really climbed up the crevasse, as did Tom – he did the fall and climb out. Their dedication and sort of delight in working on the mountain and in Nepal is part of the storytelling that has really affected the audience’s love for the film.”
New Zealand mountaineers helped recreate some of the expedition’s most famous moments.
“We were surrounded by the extraordinary mountaineering community of New Zealand,” Hiddleston says, singling out legendary Kiwi Everest climbers and guides Guy Cotter, Hugh Barnard and Mike Roberts, alongside stunt co-ordinator Augie Davis and his climbing team.
“I just want to publicly thank and extend my gratitude to all those people who were so incredibly generous, kind, big-hearted and open-hearted to me.”
It was in Nepal where the actors saw the impact Hillary still has across the Khumbu region.
“Ed Hillary dedicated his whole life to improving the lives of the Sherpas and the people who live and work in the Khumbu Valley in the foothills of Everest. He built a school; he built a hospital,” Hiddleston explains.
Despite his achievements, the actor believes Hillary, who died in 2008, embodied a particularly Kiwi quality: an unwillingness to see himself as extraordinary.
“He just never sought fame or glory. And then it was a great surprise to him that fame followed him for the rest of his life, and there was a great light shining on him.
“But he chose to use that light to help other people and to improve their lives, and I think that speaks to the heart of the man.”
The film aims to give Norgay’s contribution greater recognition alongside Hillary’s. Photo / Apple TV
Those sentiments are shared by Phuntsok. The Chinese actor of Tibetan descent becomes emotional talking about the pair’s legacy.
“When I go to the Himalaya Valley, I see Hillary,” Phuntsok says. “Hillary and Tenzing, especially Hillary, are like god[s] there.
“Hillary has already passed, but if heaven exists, I think Hillary will be there. If Hillary is not in heaven, heaven doesn’t exist.”
To prepare for the role, Phuntsok spent time with Tenzing Norgay’s children; his son Norbu Tenzing was an executive producer on the film.
“They told me many stories that other people don’t know, or I cannot find from a book and that was a really special moment for me because I had prepared many things about Tenzing Norgay, reading books or watching documentaries for research, gathering many details about his life.
“But I was moved [when speaking to the family] and happy, excited, but there was also sadness, something emotional happened in my mind,” Phuntsok says.
For Hiddleston, some of the most revealing insights also came from family stories.
Hillary’s son, Peter Hillary, told Hiddleston about a time his father’s climbing group was caught in appalling weather during a later expedition. The team finally made it to shelter in their tents, soaked, exhausted and miserable.
“Entering like drowned rats, soaked to the skin and completely silent, miserable, they made a brew of tea and tried to get settled, and Ed Hillary was the first to speak, and he looked up with a twinkle in his eye and said to the team, ‘You know folks, some people wouldn’t think this was much fun’,” Hiddleston retells the story with a laugh.
“Suddenly he had transformed the misery of the experience into a great adventure, and they felt like the luckiest people on Earth.”
For Hiddleston, the anecdote captured Hillary perfectly.
“He had this magic about him, of a true adventurer.
“I thought that was a testament to the spirit of the man.”
Tom Hiddleston, Genden Phuntsok and Willem Dafoe. Photo / Supplied
Peter also told Hiddleston that his father had a habit of whistling and singing whenever he was happy.
“So I tried to pay tribute to that in the film,” says the actor. In one scene, Hiddleston’s Hillary is seen singing while descending the mountain, a small moment inspired by those family memories.
Then there was the voice of Hillary.
“I was not short of inspiration on the South Island,” says Hiddleston.
That quintessentially Kiwi accent in the film required months of work, and while he’s proud of it, Hiddleston knows the final verdict isn’t his to give, so he asks me what I think.
After spending two hours immersed in the accent while watching the film, I confessed that, after decades of hearing Hollywood actors butcher the Kiwi twang, I felt he’d done it justice. Maybe even nailed it. The actor grins ear to ear at the revelation.
“I really appreciate that coming from you, Jenni,” he says.
For the man entrusted to portray one of New Zealand’s most revered figures, the praise that meant the most hasn’t come from a critic or a director; it comes from New Zealanders.
Hiddleston pauses before sharing one final story from the set.
“Finlay Pardington, our key grip, on the last day of filming gave me a $5 bill with Hillary on the front and said, ‘You did it mate. This one’s for you’.”
Tenzing is out now on Apple TV and in select theatres.