Don't Punch Tom Hiddleston in the Face

Why you shouldn't actually get your actors to punch each other in the face. It's called #stagecombat for a reason, you guys.
This video is dedicated to a very lovely actress who I met at stage combat classes, who has also had her ability to appreciate funny stories about Tom Hiddleston ruined. She shall remain nameless to protect the innocent. :D
Theatrical combat

[@NWolfsson]

"If the actor is OK with that, it's fine, no?" Makeup crew: No. No it is not.

[@gillpop]

Lol. I felt that😅

[@tammyt3434]

"Just hit him in the face." It'll be fine. After that, we'll just make our own blanks for a gunfight scene. I'm sure the amateur method won't kill anyone.

[@JillBearup]

Exactly!

[@KerbalFacile]

RIP Brandon Lee...

[@Grim_Beard]

@@KerbalFacile He's still remembered and missed - such great potential, lost to a stupid failure in safety protocols.

[@deborahhanna9126]

Sort of ties in to Jon Erik Hexum as well.

[@fan9775]

I miss Brandon...

[@Micetticat]

Now I suspect that they really made him fall for 30 minutes.

[@galaxyboy1431]

Phahahaha, ya made me laugh out loud, good job pal.

[@robertnett9793]

Imagine the poor guys who had to construct the set pieces... that much work for that little screentime.

[@geneyounkin6789]

Tom Hiddleston’s comments shouldn’t be taken as evidence. It was an interview where he’s probably promoting something. What’s he going to say? “Natalie’s a mean girl that hurt me to be funny and you lot laughed!” No. Whatever he felt at the time, he’s going to put a positive face on things so everyone leaves the interview feeling good and thinking he’s a cheerful, delightful guy.

[@JillBearup]

Excellent point. And another good reason not to punch people in the face *even if they say it’s ok*. 😁

[@MortMe0430]

I feel like it's the more likely case that he was saving face on behalf of the directors / stunt coordinators / whoever told her to go ahead and hit him. It wouldn't look good for the studio if he up and publicly said, "yeah they ignored safety regulations for the sake of authenticity and I went along with it to not cause a fuss."

[@jaimeduncan6167]

Basically, Natalie is a multimillion-dollar action actor and she is so incompetent that she needs to punch someone? Some people are grossly overpaid. It could also be that it's a marketing lie.

[@tammyt3434]

@@jaimeduncan6167 Everyone has something they can't do. I know highly competent doctors who can't bandage a hand, the voice actor who read the Harry Potter series hates the phrase "pocketed it" and the original Lassie would do absolutely any trick they gave her EXCEPT snarl. Just because she hasn't had fight choreography training doesn't mean she isn't a capable actress.

[@jaimeduncan6167]

@@tammyt3434 I agree with you 100% but she is an actor, and if she can't learn to do convincing punches she should not be an action actor, you know is about the punches and kicks. She can be an extraordinary dramatic actor etc.

[@randomwerewolf1099]

This is why I get frustrated when there's some article praising some actor for losing a dangerous amount of weight or going through some terrible experience for "realism". It seems the more the actor suffers the more Hollywood (and the Oscars) love it.

[@overlorde7526]

cough cough les mis

[@elenafahmi9955]

@@overlorde7526 Tom Hooper should never be allowed to touch a musical again.

[@overlorde7526]

@@elenafahmi9955 I was thinking more towards Hugh Jackman’s stuff

[@elenafahmi9955]

@@overlorde7526 I know, but Tom Hooper was the director of the movie, who also made them sing live on set, including Jackman who didn’t drink water for three days before a scene to have a particular look.

[@adabethsimpson2326]

How did no one mention christian bale yet?

[@MusicalHell]

During filming of The Princess Bride, Cary Elwes was knocked unconscious when Chris Sarandon (at Elwes' insistence) really clonked him on the head with his sword hilt. So yeah, not the best of ideas in general.

[@JillBearup]

O.o yikes.

[@AranelEnMirkwood]

Yeah Cary talks about that in his book, the whole sequence of events is awful. They didn't have a stunt sword for the scene so it's a real, metal sword being used. Sarandon was naturally being careful not to actually hit Elwes because real sword and all. But everyone felt the takes where he was being fake hit didn't look good so in a moment of dumb bravado Cary was like "Oh actually hit me, it'll be fine". Not only did he get knocked unconscious, he needed stitches and to make matters worse, that's the take they used in the movie...

[@rodrikforrester6989]

@@AranelEnMirkwood Well, *not* using it would mean he got hurt for no reason.

[@Wajeeba]

A few years back I was put in charge of teaching two actors how to give and how to sell a stage punch and one of them was having trouble with the sell. His solution? ‘Just hit me.’ I told him no, we weren’t doing that. He was like ‘I’ll be fine,’ and I had to explain to them that I didn’t care if he’d be okay, a broken jaw would put him out of the show and we’d have to find a replacement with little to no notice and we weren’t going to risk the production just because he didn’t know how to act. It was blunt but he understood my concerns after that :P

[@DeathBringerBecky]

@@AranelEnMirkwood I dont think using it makes matters worse. a lot of productions and crews have a policy of "if someone actually gets fucking hurt, you use that shot", typically reserved for serious injuries. Its out of respect for the actor. they actually got hurt, no one was supposed to but they did. i forget what movie it was, but someones was supposed to make a jump on like an atv or bike or something, like the script called for it to work. but something went wrong and the guy doing it crumpled against the other ramp and got seriously fucked up. so thats the take they used in the movie. there are shots of people being stunned in there too, and theats the actors real reactions to the event as the watched. The guy almost died and i dont think they could continue their stunt career, and so that it wasnt for nothing it got put in the movie despite not even being what was to happen in the script. they changed it just for that. I dont think its a bad policy.

[@KR-ue1gd]

I watched a documentary about the making of Gone with the Wind, where Butterfly McQueen, the actress who played the slave girl Prissy, said that every time they rehearsed the slap scene, Vivienne Leah would hit her for real, and it freaking hurt! Finally, Butterfly put her foot down, saying that if it was a fake slap, she'd play it for real, with crying and hysterics, but if it was a real slap she'd just stand there and ruin the scene. The final cut has a fake slap and the sound of someone clapping off stage. Good for her for standing up for herself, but just imagine how crazy and hard it would be work in an environment where you getting abused is the default setting, and you have to risk your job to change things!

[@mylesfrost335]

that takes balls, good on her, you can almost just imagine the tension after that scene was done

[@ShiningCatProductions]

In my experience, real punches don't read on camera well anyway. When we're shooting fights and one of us will accidently actually kick or punch the other, it's rarely visible and when it is it looks fake and underwhelming.

[@JillBearup]

Strange but true. 😁

[@Carewolf]

Only because viewers are given to expect unrealistic physically consequences. But yeah, a realistic punch with realistic weight behind it would look out of place in an action move.

[@hansakkerman2611]

file it under the trope, "reality is unrealistic"

[@slashandbones13]

Ya, there is no sound to it.

[@hansajpandya]

@@hansakkerman2611 I see you are a man of culture as well, fellow troper.

[@BouncingTribbles]

This sounds like a "didn't listen to their stunt coordinator" decision

[@arthurvelwest5481]

Another thing about this that is my first reaction when I hear this story is you shouldn't do this because just because Tom says it's okay, doesn't mean he believes it, or it is. Like not at all in the same way, but the patriarchy does cut both ways. So it causes men to feel like have to "take a punch, it's just a woman" when that woman is 1. An athlete, and 2. A person with a fist. Hearing Tom talk about it in that interview I felt the vibes of all the times I've done something I wasn't comfortable with because I was "worried about my man card" or some other disgusting excuse. By all that I mean, great video, thank you for bringing up this important topic that isn't discussed enough. Safety first!

[@arthurvelwest5481]

@@kawaii33366 exactly

[@LusiaEyre]

My vibe was that he was too polite to badmouth the situation and probably agreed to it in the first place to help Natalie out (when she was not getting the fake punch right) even if he really didn't fancy being punched.

[@geraltrivia6148]

@@LusiaEyre Tom Hiddleston is absurdly polite; he won't even tell anecdotes about the slobbering maniacs that constitute his fan-base because it might be rude to them. We may never truly know how he legitimately feels about this incident, but you're probably right in that he was willing, in order to help out his cast mate.

[@arthurvelwest5481]

@Niek Vels hi, please read my comment again, I am not in favor of man card bullshit. I am saying that one reason we have these rules is so people can't be pressured into doing something stupid like he did in this movie. But men are susceptible to this through fear of showing weakness. Something I wish to dismantle in our society

[@geraltrivia6148]

@Niek Vels Hi incel!

[@KayKay-cu6xg]

I mean it’s called acting isn’t it? Where’s the acting talent in reacting painfully to being hit in the face?

[@SuperDeadzombeh]

It's in pretending your not In pain when you are

[@reganator5000]

As said by Laurence Olivier on the 1976 film Marathon Man. Upon being asked by his co-star how a previous scene had gone, one in which Hoffmann’s character had supposedly stayed up for three days, Hoffmann admitted that he too had not slept for 72 hours to achieve emotional verisimilitude. “My dear boy,” replied Olivier smoothly, “why don’t you just try acting?”

[@mistertea603]

@@reganator5000 in the version I heard he was running before the scene to get the effective breathlessness... Then after Mr Lawrence said that he flipped him off...

[@mareiker.998]

It also kind of bothers me that they told her that it's ok because she's a woman... as if women punching men is somehow not a problem and totally safe.

[@DrewLSsix]

I imagine it had more to do with her actual strength stature and capabilities, there are several women in the MCU that wouldnt get that pass.

[@jaimeduncan6167]

The point is not that is totally safe, but that people don't care that much if he gets hurt. People laugh or celebrate when a woman hurts a man, in general, for any reason.

[@francesbadger3401]

It's not totally safe, but it's much safer than Hiddleston punching Portman.

[@wynngwynn]

@@jaimeduncan6167 that's not true it's just that she won't do as much damage as men tend to be able to punch WAY FUCKING HARDER

[@its_k_goddamnit]

I'm guessing, too, that they told Hiddleston he should be ok with the 'little girl's punch' because he's a man --and that's a bothersome thought as well.

[@TheSylda]

There's a pretty recent episode of the Buffering the Vampire Slayer podcast in which they interview the stunt coordinator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and there was a question about when you can be certain that the stunt double is there and the answer came down to "if someone's getting hit on the face: the face getting hit is the stunt double, because if one of the main cast got a bruised face that would have ruined the shooting schedule." Also had some terrifying stories about doing stunts in heels by Sarah Michelle Gellar's stunt double, I'll never look at heels in movies the same way again.

[@JillBearup]

Ooh. Do you have a link?

[@TheSylda]

@@JillBearupwww.bufferingthevampireslayer.com It's episode 0.16: Interview with Sophia Crawford & Jeff Pruitt

[@PirateArr]

I’d like to hear that too, I’m watching through the series for the first time

[@TheSylda]

@@PirateArr www.bufferingthevampireslayer.com/ They are spoilerfree for the specific episodes but the seperate interviews not necessarily, IIRC they do warn but especially the James Marsters interview has some pretty heavy season 6 spoilers.

[@JillBearup]

I mean, Sarah Michelle Gellar is basically five feet tall, which (I'm assuming) is why they put her in heels, but...boy I would not like to fight in stilettos. Or do gymnastics. Or walk, really, but that may just be me.

[@licittofficial]

What people dont get is, a solid punch to the face is still a solid punch to the face, that shit hurts. It dosent matter how tough the person taking it or how weak the person throwing it is, that still gonna hurt.

[@FunSizeSpamberguesa]

This. Small people can also be stronger than they look (or realize); it's not hard to accidentally do real damage, especially if a blow lands wrong.

[@ThirdLawPair]

No it doesn't. In all my time kickboxing, the most consistent experience that new fighters have is that they are surprised at how much it doesn't hurt to get punched in the face. There's this eye-opening moment where they realize that they are not made of glass. (Now one important exception is with a well-trained fighter who can throw huge power behind their punches. That can hurt, but most people don't have that kind of power and those that do are usually smart enough not to commit to every punch they throw).

[@Cthulhus_Mum]

I'm really glad you drew the parallels to intimate scenes, here. My first thought at that intro was "Whoa, holy dodgy consent, batman!" - because, well, Tom Hiddleston might be a big name and all, but if he gets a rep for being difficult to work with because of something like, y'know, *not wanting to be punched in the face for real*, that could be his livelihood gone. So how could anyone involved with the making of the movie take his consent at face value? How would they know the difference between true and coerced consent in that circumstance? It's the whole reason why power imbalance relationships are dodgy. If the less powerful person couldn't safely say no, how can the more powerful person trust their yes to be genuine?

[@EthalaRide]

Funny thing is, I thought you were going to talk about The Avengers (2012) Where Tom and Chris H. both were getting tired after constantly doing that fight scene on Stark Tower and had such padded costumes (Tom with that helmet especially) they would just straight up hit each other. Tom made comments in interviews where he basically told Chris to just punch him in the face because his helmet would take it. (which it only *kinda* did) CHRIS HEMSWORTH. To punch you in the face. *THOR.* Tom... Why. Why are you a glutton for punishment? This sets a weird precedent. I'm a newer actor and I was recently in a superhero student film. I'm really not good at combat (they hired me because I can act/cry, not because I can kick at all convincingly, which was fine because I was playing a day1 hero-in-training) and at one point there was an arrangement of a fight scene (they kept changing it based on what worked and what didn't, which was good) where an option was I get backhanded, and I'm still learning (aka not very good at) being convincing when getting fake hit in the face appropriately for camera... so my mind thought back to Tom and went "eh, maybe let him make contact at least once" Since this was the stunt coordinator himself throwing the hit as the bad guy beating up me (22yr girl small enough to play 16) and another girl (18yr also playing 16). It was *a stupid thought* and I didn't do it. I didn't even mention it. We actually changed it so he just grabbed my face (in that stage-combat way where I'm holding his wrist and actually controlling everything), which was still contact and looked convincing and gave me something to work with, but... You're right. I need to take combat classes...

[@JillBearup]

Oh Tom, why. The weird precedent is also disturbing. But you guys, by contrast, did exactly the right thing. If the choreography isn't working, you change it till it serves the story *and* keeps everyone safe. I mean...it's not exactly rocket surgery :D And you definitely should take combat classes, not least because they are the Funnest Thing.

[@beckyginger3432]

@@kawaii33366 not so secretly if he's asking people publicly to do it

[@BlazingOwnager]

I wouldn't want Portman to punch me in the face and I ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY do not Hemsworth to punch me in the face. I mean I don't doubt she has a good right hook but that guy has like 150 pounds of weight on her.

[@Anachronismgorl]

Yay more stage combat stuff and yeah don't punch Tom Hiddleston in the face.

[@inkypunk]

This assumption that small women can't hit very hard is so out of line. I've heard a few stories from large male actor played off as funny anecdotes of "Haha! She hit me so hard I nearly burst into tears, I didn't expect it to hurt that much! Hilarious!" like ??? WHAT WERE YOU ALL THINKING?! And I don't mean to catastrophise but this mindset is why male DV victims aren't believed. "She's tiny, she couldn't have hurt you."

[@dclark142002]

Same thing in sports... Coed soccer...the only time I was seriously afraid was when a young woman tried to kick the ball away from my grasp when I, as the goalkeeper went down to smother the ball. I smothered the ball, she kicked my arms...the ball skittered free...she kicked my torso, the ball headed away towards the corner and my teammate collected it...she tried to kick my face. At which point I grabbed her leg and pulled her down. Ref called the foul on her. So yeah...gone up against plenty of big guys...but the one moment of true fear was seeing that 'little' girl's foot coming at my face with the intent of wrecking me.

[@RatOfTheWoods]

@@dclark142002 my mother is in coed soccer rn, her team just won second place in a tournament. I wouldn't say she's small by any means but she doesn't look that aggressive until she's about to wreck your shut

[@thegardenofeatin5965]

I was in my mid-20's when I realized I wasn't okay with women hitting me. I was going through a bit of a dry spell and I sat down and thought about all the girlfriends I'd had up to that time, how and where I met them, and how the relationships and outcomes were, and I realized that more than half of them were casually violent with me, and that the longer and more serious the relationship, the more willing she was to hit. That put it in my head that the flings and one night stands I had didn't feel comfortable enough hitting me *yet*. Things have changed since then. Edit to add, because of television and pop culture, I actually thought it was normal behavior. Women hit men on television all the time.

[@markfergerson2145]

@@thegardenofeatin5965 Yeah, pop culture is really good at promulgating absolutely toxic BS in the name of "edgy". I've never had that "girls get used to hitting me" thing happen but I think some of it is body language. Since childhood I learned to project "don't hit me, it WILL go badly for you" and no, I don't hit others except as a last resort. If I'm going to be in an intimate relationship with someone it isn't going to hurt at any time. I get that pain-type"kinky" is a thing for some people, I'm just not one of them.

[@firefly4f4]

I was in a stage production a couple of weeks ago, and during one scene another actor is supposed to back me up and then push me down onto a block that was set up. This was something we'd done a few times in rehearsal -- I'd just back up until I could feel the box with my foot so I'd know where it was, and then "fall" back onto it as she gave me a slight shove, resulting in me sitting on the box as if she'd pushed me onto it. It's a simple stage stunt I've done quite often. As it happens, we didn't get the positioning quite right, so rather than coming down square on the box as we'd rehearsed, I came down on the corner instead. I felt this, so rather than hurt myself my trying to stay on the box, I essentially turned it into quite a spectacular backwards somersault. Freaked out the director who thought I had hurt myself. Worked out well visually though, because just as I did the fall the other actor had a line about how I'd take a tumble.... happy little accident that way :) Going forward for the other performances, I tried to work that fall into the routine. Only worked one other time, though.

[@JillBearup]

Serendipitous tumbling, I love it :)

[@adams3627]

Hiddleston is such a mush, he'd have told her it was fine even if she'd broken his jaw

[@AllyCraig]

There’s a shot in the film Gilda where Rita Hayworth slaps Glenn Ford in the face, and she reputedly broke two of his teeth in the process. Not worth it!

[@torfinnzempel6123]

I saw an interview with Jackie Chan where he said he didn't like working with actors who had come straight from competative matial arts because they had a hard time adjusting to pulling their punches when doing a fight scene in a movie. If it is bad to take a hit from someone who knows what they are doing, it can be worse from someone who doesn't know what they are doing, because the lack of coordination and aim may cause them to hit something they didn't intend; and of course the lack of experience means they have no way of telling how hard they actually hit someone, or how much their hit should hurt. I am glad you brought up the potential for abuse in the industry and people really have gotten seriously hurt when directors and producera want extra realism at the expense of safety to get it. The actress Taylor Hickson was very badly injured and left with permanent scars on her face when a director ordered her to bang on a glass window harder than she had been upto that point while filming a scene. Actors rely on the directors and producers to ensure their safety in any scene that they could get hurt in. It is an incredible abuse when the issue of safety is ignored by those in positions of power over the actors futures.

[@mrsnismo]

I was in a stage production a couple of years ago (we were about 18 years old), and a girl had to slap one of the guys across the face. Our director told her throughout rehearsals to just hit him and not to worry because "he'll be fine," and he was pretty chill about it too. Fast forward to opening night - the time comes for her to slap him, her adrenaline kicks in, and she smacks him so hard across the face and ear that an awful sharp sound echoes through the theatre. He stumbles off and FAINTS backstage with a bright red handprint on his face. I constantly wonder why our director, a woman, thought that was okay, and what would have happened were the genders swapped. Also, I love Tom Hiddleston with all my heart, so it pains me that he's so dedicated to his job that he'd willingly let someone punch him for a quick laugh

[@OhNoTheFace]

You can also really hurt your hand throwing a real punch :O

[@6Kubik]

For real. My mum broke her finger when she slapped my brother as a child. She always told me thats the reason she does not beat us anymore (that was a lie).

[@choreomaniac]

Came looking for this. If Portman is so untrained and or uncoordinated to be unable to fake a convincing punch, then she is likely going to break her hand or poke an eye or otherwise do something harmful. They train doe months for fight scenes in these movies. This is a trainable skill. It feels like they just didn’t want to “waste time” training her.

[@karenkleiner4945]

Exactly! Hiddleston wasn't the only one that they were endangering with this carelessness, she could have hurt herself too (granted the possible injuries were more varied and likely to be more severe on his end, but still she could have broken bones in her hand/wrist, and I doubt they told her that)

[@amandaschweiger6241]

Yeah, hitting your fellow actors for realsies ON PURPOSE is not so much funny as facepalm-inducing. The funnier (still facepalm-inducing, but less so) story like this is the one from the filming of the Star Trek TOS episode Journey to Babel. In the scene where Amanda slaps the crap out of Spock for refusing to give blood to save Sarek, Jane Wyatt accidentally slapped Leonard Nimoy for real. Their budget was so tiny at the time that they couldn't afford to reshoot it, so they rolled with it and kept going. She was extremely apologetic afterwards, and Nimoy wasn't hurt, just surprised.

[@emilypeterson2266]

She really slapped Chris Hemsworth in that movie too. It’s in the bloopers.

[@biazacha]

For an Oscar winning actress Natalie seriously needs to step up her game before someone gets hurt.

[@irisbutterfield5340]

@@biazacha everyone is bad at something if she is that bad at punching people and the director knows this change the scene so she doesn’t punch people.

[@Ailieorz]

@@biazacha Like before they start filming the next movie where she'll be punching a lot of things... yes.

[@Ailieorz]

Her entire next movie is about punching or hitting people, she's playing Thor... THOR! It's going to look ridiculous

[@its_k_goddamnit]

Is this the film she didn't want to do anymore but couldn't get out of because of her contract? Maybe Tom's right. She was letting out rage.😕

[@captjames19]

Love your shout out to intimacy coordinators! Thank you! The thing everyone forgets is that it’s all playacting, it’s ALL pretend, and so all aspects should be safely and consciously choreographed.

[@irondragonmaiden]

Plus, well, they're basically taking advantage of another actor's goodwill and willingness to accommodate everyone. It's great that Tom Hiddleston is a sweet man who is all for helping a fellow professional out and is willing to go the extra mile to make the project work and make things easier for his coworkers... but there's a limit and no one should abuse of that trust and goodwill. Also that bullshit about how Natalie Portman is tiny and a girl and obviously can't hurt him is horrible. Of COURSE she can hurt him if she puts her back to it!

[@Legman688]

Also completely unmentioned in the video: the very real possibility of someone who may not be trained how to make a fist properly, or throw a punch properly, breaking their hand on someone else's jaw.

[@lloroshastar6347]

Though these aren't comparable instances (like, at all), the instance of recklessness in a movie that really bothers me a lot is John Landis' handling of safety in the Twilight Zone movie. If you're not aware of the incident in question, it involved a rushed helicopter stunt in which 3 people, two of which were very young children, died. I won't go into details of the tragedy itself, but the handling can be summarised as lots of people saying it was a bad idea, but other more important people saying it should be done anyway because 'movies'. In some ways it's incredible Landis was ever allowed to work again, but in his defence I'm sure if he could go back and change things he would do, the pressures of the job lead people to do stupid things, and he was not the only guilty party. The tendency for people to say 'just suck it up and deal with it' seems to be making a comeback, with health and safety being lauded up there with 'political correctness' as something wholly undesirable, but I'm pretty sure there are people who wish there had been a lot more safety checks in place where there were none, no amount of saying 'accidents happen' will ever convince a person that their loved one's death was not in vain, x10 if the loved one they lost was their child.

[@lloroshastar6347]

@Niek Vels This does sound plausible. But John Landis was recommended against it but went ahead with it anyway, so I'm willing to put more of the blame on him and the producers than the stunt team who were probably making the best out of a bad situation and afraid they might lose their jobs, which is sadly how this industry goes

[@MorganMalfoy13]

I don't know what's going on in your life, but it looks AMAZING. I am very jealous. Also you should never punch Tom Hiddleston in the face. Bad Natalie Portman. If for no other reason than he still has a fangirl army who mostly didn't care for you to begin with. Many of them loved Darcy though. She'd probably be safe. But yes, precedent, decency, he could have gotten seriously hurt and don't punch people? All good reasons not to do that.

[@Takumi_Did_Nothing_Wrong]

To be fair, Natalie Portman was just doing what she's told. In this case, I'd blame the director.

[@JillBearup]

Indeed, I read 'they told me to...' and went, hold on, where was the fight director? And the actual director? What was going on? Most actors don't have much in the way of fight training and if you don't, how would you know how bad it can go? "You're just a little girl, you can't really hurt him", for serious?

[@bobblehobbit3931]

I find it strange that Tom didn’t speak up about it. He’s an experienced actor and I’m pretty sure he specialized in stage combat at RADA. He should have known better.

[@andyrebelo]

I thought this was about how a normal human would break her hand punching an Asgardian/Jotunn but this was more entertaining

[@no_nameyouknow]

Tom has the clout to say no, some actors might fear for their jobs if they say no and now we are promoting directors to be allowed to by proxy beat on their actors. See how that is a problem?

[@lydiasteinebendiksen4269]

It's quite simple; Tom Hiddleston's consent is invalid because he's working, and under preassure. When there are power dynamics, people can't be trusted to be honest, since their career hinges on it. It also sets a president for making it common to use real punches, which is much harder to say no too if you are a smaller actor who's not 100% sure your job is safe if you say no. We must follow principles because otherwise we øeave room for abuse of power, basically.

[@Little_Lotta]

This is just sexist on so many levels. The fact that whoever gave the order thought that Tom, as a man, would just be okay with being actually punched because men are tough or something, and the fact that they said “You’re just a little girl, you can’t really hurt him” to Natalie, because I guess women are incapable of causing pain. Plus, just imagine if the gender roles were reversed, how angry everyone would be. Even if it was a small man punching Natalie Portman, people would be outraged. So why is it ok for a woman to do it to a man? All around, terrible direction.

[@ThirdLawPair]

One counter point that you may consider that most men actually CAN take hits to the jaw without much pain or risk of injury. I know this from my years as a kickboxer. Even unathletic guys who had a hard time thinking of themselves as "tough" would have no trouble taking solid hits to the jaw in their first full-contact sparring session. The ability to take a hit was pretty universal among all of them regardless of if they even realized it beforehand. I also trained with a lot of amazing, badass, tough women. I'm not sure if this observation is appreciated, but even the most powerful punchers among them required a fair bit of practice before they could hit nearly as hard as the men their size. So based off of that, I would say that if you take a random woman and have her punch a random man, the concern is more a philosophical concern about their comfort with the situation rather than a practical concern about his safety. The most likely injury when you have an untrained actor punching anything barehanded is the risk of hand injuries. Bones of the hand are quite brittle. Even minor hand injuries take a long time to heal and can severely interfere with day-to-day life.

[@Little_Lotta]

@@ThirdLawPair While that may be true, she’s not a boxer, and could have horrible aim. She could have landed a hit on his eye or nose, both of which would be painful to anyone, and in the worst case scenario, cause vision damage or break his nose.

[@ThirdLawPair]

@@Little_Lotta I never thought about the possibility of someone having such terrible aim. Now that you mention it, I suppose that is a possibility worth considering. Good point.

[@Little_Lotta]

@@ThirdLawPair All around, it was just a stupid idea. They should have brought in an expert to teach her how to throw a stage punch. Sure, it would have taken a little extra time and money, but if they wanted that punch so bad, they should have done the responsible thing.

[@BlazingOwnager]

You could argue body weight being a factor in it but.. let's face it, Hiddleston is a sort of tall, lanky slender build and isn't exactly built to shrug off punches. Not to rip on him or anything, he's perfect as Loki, a character that uses guile and misdirection not brute force.

[@turtle4llama]

The shot didn't work because the line was bad. No one would expect a 5 foot tall scientist to have a good punch, so making the punch "look convincing" was never the issue. The character is a voracious academic, she isn't going to rain down justice for justice's sake with a vengeful "this is for New York"; she'd whack him several times, growing in confidence with each strike, while listing his crimes or chastise him by describing why he was a failure without ever striking out physically. Also it's just badly framed. Having it be a wide shot deprives the scene of any genuine emotion, whether they wanted to play it for laughs or not.

[@VidkunQL]

Good point. Also, he's an Asgardian (sort of... _ost-fray iant-jay_ to be precise), so a punch in the face from a Midgardian, whether a little slip of a girl or John L. Sullivan in his prime, isn't going to cause him physical discomfort. I think she ought to have punched him hard, but obviously with no skill, then hopped around a little, cradling her hand and hissing opprobrium at him through clenched teeth.

[@Ailieorz]

I mean, she could have a decent punch against someone else similar in size to her but yes, not against someone that much bigger.

[@kindoflame]

I feel like it could have worked if they sold it as punching him was something she had been day-dreaming about. If Loki was like "Been waiting to do that, have we?" and she just slightly nodded while looking a little stunned that she actually punched someone, then I think it would work quite well.

[@mylesfrost335]

also if loki didnt react or the camara cut to a reaction shot of thor wincing at the bunch, the scen would have been more visceral AND more funny

[@evergreen4103]

I think LOTR had the most consistent safety hazards that played into a movie. Famous ones are unintentional like Viggo Mortensen's (Aragorn) genuine yell when he kicked a helmet and broke his toe or the time he had to deflect a knife with his sword by pure accident. My all time favorite is the final battle in mordor that was filmed on part of a decommissioned BOMB RANGE in the area where "we are pretty sure nothing is still live" and "the knowledge of where everyone was fighting added to the chaos". On a final note in an interview its said that John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) was told "you have a prop weapon and we are big guys wearing lots of padding so it's okay if you hit us but try not too" and he proceeded to hit every last one of them and only payed attention to the order he needed to hit them. No one got hurt from that so I still enjoy him smacking around orc actors with them knowing he was just gonna swing away and move on like nothing happened.

[@42roadsforman44]

In 1979's ALIEN, one of the characters slaps Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) across the face. This was an actual slap to an unknowing, unsuspecting Sigourney Weaver prompted by Director Ridley Scott. Ridley Scott wanted a genuine reaction from her. He pulled the actor (can't remember which one ) aside before the take and secretly told them to slap her for real. Sylvester Stalone reportedly told Antonio Tarver not to pull his punches in the 'Rocky Balboa' boxing scene and to actually hit him with real full force punches.

[@Poldovico]

Stallone apparently had a habit of wanting to get punched for real in Rocky movies. He asked Dolph Lundgren the same, and after pestering him enough Lundgren eventually agreed. Unsurprisingly, the colossal professional boxer knocked the actor out cold, sending him to the hospital with one punch. EDIT: My bad. Stallone was ok for the rest of the day, then the day after he was in an ICU, in which he remained for 9 days.

[@RoTaylorsVersion]

Tom shouldn't ever be punched in his face! 😍❤️

[@IanMcGarrett]

I was in a play once where I was supposed to get punched in the face by a fellow actor and go down like a sack of potatoes. My partner in the scene never quite got the idea of how stage punches work. He felt that if he didn't make some sort of contact that the punch would look fake. The punch and its consequences have to be sold to audience members in the back row as well as the front row so it has to be broad and the task of selling that punch is part and parcel with acting. And it is very hard to act when your bell has just been rung. Christ... it's hard to remember your lines when your bell has just been rung.

[@kimmycup2704]

Imagine coming to work, certain you're in a safe environment of pretending and the director suddenly tells your co-star to punch you and you can't even really protest..

[@inigomontyas7478]

I am reminded of an incident I was in. Action is: woman is on phone, I come up behind her, she pulls the receiver away from her ear, I throw a scarf(?) over her head and 'choke' her from behind - we struggle, she stabs me with scissors, I die. This is in rehearsals, just as we are "speeding up" our fight scenes, and either a) she did not pull the receiver far enough away in front of her, b) I was too quick on the throw and/or had too much loop, or c) all of the above, BUT I caught the receiver with the loop of scarf and pulled it (quite unexpectedly) into her mouth. Result: She got a chipped tooth, which she is still very happy to remind me about even now, some 30ish years later..... Be safe, and be convincing.... and ALWAYS in that order.

[@j.schuette2575]

Also being hit in the face means being hit in the head. The place where your brain is. I hope you're all familiar with Dementia Pugulistica (according to Wikipedia also called: Traumatic encephalopathy syndrome, punch drunk syndrome), the disease faced by athletes (e.g. American Football) when there is repeated head trauma. Sure, this is associated with lots of head trauma. But as of yet the theory behind it is (according to my understanding) that smaller injuries accumulate and in some way lead to degenerative processes. Meaning each head injury on its own has (small) adverse consequences, that are just not that noticable on their own. I for one won't risk any more head trauma than necessary in my life.

[@Bongobert]

I don‘t know why but I went into this video fully expecting this to be about not punching him because you could hurt your hand on his cheekbones

[@AnastasiaCooper]

Three thoughts... 1) Anybody else remembering that outtake where the stunt double of Valkyrie actually kicked Tom in the crotch during Ragnarok? At least that was an accident... (I HOPE) 2) Tom seems a little too kind for his own good... 3) Man I really wanna learn stage combat... it has always fascinated me... alas, I'm studying the wrong subjects...

[@curiousKuro16]

Very late but there was a story of Hemsworth on the set of the first Thor giving himself a black eye with a whip Hiddleston had been told to use. I am starting to think that they don't value certain actors much.

[@bluebird1045]

I think you're absolutely right! It sets a dangerous precedent and is a slippery slope. On top of that it's also quite sexist to say to a man he'll be able to handle it, because she's just a woman 😄

[@Arkylie]

Y'know, the extra sad thing, from my perspective, is that that slap is only in the movie because the writers/director thought it would be fitting to have every single character that Loki interacts with in the entire film either assault him or threaten his life (or both). Well. Except for his mom (who merely discounts his outrage over his dad's lies) and Fandral (who merely mocks him for not being graceful... after being unexpectedly pushed out of a flying vehicle while shackled). And, y'know, the villains. Who are the only characters who actually seem to treat him fairly until they're actually in combat. Is it a bad thing when the villains treat Loki more fairly than the heroes treat Loki? Kinda think it's a bad thing.

[@derangel9143]

It’s not entirely unfair of the heroes to treat Loki like shit sometimes. Let’s not forget that in Thor 1 he was responsible for the Frost Giant invasion and basically forced Thor to destroy the Rainbow Bridge. Then in Avengers he lead an alien invasion on New York and killed A LOT of people. Loki didn’t redeem himself in the eyes of anyone until his “death” in Dark World.

[@coldstuff9784]

Loki was a dick who lead an foreign invasion on a city. And for some reason, the entire internet said it was the Avenger's fault? I never got that.

[@thepinkestpigglet7529]

I mean if you were some kid from New York would you care about the tragic backstory of the guy who helped a plot to try and enslave you

[@Corviidei]

OP isn’t saying that Loki’s never done anything wrong though. They’re just pointing out that it’s like, not cool to physically assault people, even if they piss you off.

[@amaurystengel]

We tend to think about the person being punched first (for obvious reasons), but can you imagine if the actress or actor punching really hurt their hands in the process? Another comment here talked about Chris Hemsworth also punching Tom. Imagine if they injured themselves really early on production! That would've been hell for a movie and all the people involved! So irresponsible!

[@Corviidei]

Ok this is a year late but did Chris Hemsworth actually punch Tom for a scene? I just wanna know which person in charge looked at Chris and then looked at Tom and said “yeah just deck him, it’ll be fine”

[@jordynbyers6053]

Also a year late, but I recall reading that during the shoot of Blade Runner 2049, Harrison Ford ended up punching Ryan Gosling in the face for a scene (whether by accident or on purpose, I can’t remember), and when a bucket of ice was brought for Ryan’s face, Harrison ran to stick his fist in it first. So yes, that’s a very valid point!

[@elizabethlevesque6978]

My brother-in-law attends Mary Baldwin and is getting his MFA. Fight choreo is so so particular, you need to be so careful. I’m part of a Shakespeare troupe on my campus and any time we do fight choreo our actors are told to be careful all the time. My friend played Young Siward in Macbeth and Macbeth chokes Siward to death and obviously the actor playing Macbeth didn’t hurt her, but my friend played the death so convincingly people thought she’d actually been hurt. She was obviously fine, the two had been working for weeks on getting it to look right, but that’s the whole point of acting. To make things look real that aren’t.

[@jasondads9509]

"Librarian"! thats the type cast word i was looking for thinking all the others weren't quite right

[@George_M_]

Reminds me of the story of when they were filming Rocky 3 - Stallone told Lundgren to hit him for real. He had to be taken to the hospital.

[@FirstNameLastName-lq1ou]

Lundgren was in Rocky IV.

[@jc-kj8yc]

Yeah... The absolute hybris 😅 hey, you have a 2nd degree blackbelt in a martial art that specializes in punching people in the body and you're a beefy giant. Punch me in the ribs. I can take it...

[@MaraK_dialmformara]

Question that’s occurred to me after watching most of this playlist: is it easier to learn stage combat if you already know a similar style of real combat? Or not, because it screws up your muscle memory?

[@jc-kj8yc]

Yes and no. The moves mostly are about the same, so the muscle memory helps. But in actual fighting you try not to "telegraph" your attacks, while in stage combat you tend to give your partner a tell, so they can react in time. Also you obviously need to miss on purpose or stop a strike before it makes impact, while in actual fighting you want to inflict actual damage. I personally think it helps tremendously to have a martial arts background, but you need to "unlearn" a few habits

[@hunterlawrence3573]

It helps a lot, but you have to remember the end goal is the opposite. In a fake fight the object is to avoid hurting your opponent.

[@tereziamarkova2822]

Have you seen that part of Game Of Thrones where Jon Snow after Battle Of The Bastards beat the shit out of Ramsay Bolton? Kit Harrington allegedly got so caught up in the moment he actually punched Iwan Rheon once or twice. Iwan was good sport about it and let Kit buy him a drink as an apology, but still.

[@BlazingOwnager]

I want to see Iwan Rheon in more stuff. He seems like such a nice person when he's not playing Ramsey, lol

[@lillianpilon8003]

Why you shouldn’t: His face is too beautiful

[@kkelseym]

Reminds me of Tarantino actually choking one of his female actresses to get a convincing shot...

[@frantiskablazkova415]

I don't really know why the punch was in there. Cause it didn't even make sense... I mean, what is the first thing you do when you see a god who almost destroyed New York? Surely not punch him...

[@Itsolaskancke]

I love how into stage combat you've gotten! How bout a video about some of your favorite fight scenes, and if you see them differently now that you've been to a few rodeos?

Kind of the same happens with slaps: I think writers/directors underestimate how dangerous for the face/neck can be an average slap

[@ashleejones1690]

As someone who's been knocked unconscious by a slap to the face, and seen it happen to someone else as well, I can confirm the truth of this.

[@cynicalgold9992]

This makes me wonder about how you feel about the interrogation scene in The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger wanted Christian Bale to actually punch him multiple times in the face, and he did

[@Duiker36]

This was also my first thought. This Thor scene has the disadvantage that it's kinda nothing? I don't remember it at all. But the TDK interrogation scene is iconic. IIRC, even though Batman is masked and the hits could have been performed by someone with fight training, Bale said that it was him. And I could more believe that Bale has done more stunt training than Portman, if for no other reason than that Bale takes jobs as an action hero. I hope Portman is getting some training as preparation for Thor 4 at least, because I hope she has an actual fight scene.

[@VidkunQL]

I think I read the quote somewhere, _"I want you to hit me as hard as Batman would."_

[@carolynv8979]

When you put someone on the spot like that it’s nearly impossible to be sure that consent is authentic. There’s a great deal of social pressure at play. The fact of the matter is that neither actor should have been asked at all.

[@DarkPock]

This reminds me of a mexican soap opera saying (don't know if it still holds up) where face slaps are kinda common. "It's better to do it once well than 10 times badly" this was said to encourage the female actress to slap with enough force to make it look good the first time.

[@sevencats4964]

Oof.

[@melissaharris3389]

This is a saying among stunt professionals as well. Sell it the first time so you don't have to do it again.

[@QuirkyView]

The way Tom phrased his answer makes me think... It probably is fine specifically for him, but not for the reasons most people think lol

[@IAmTheAce5]

I just know that if Natalie Portman walloped me in the face, I'd be utterly infatuated... in between counting all the birds, stars, and bird-stars circling overhead...

[@euansmith3699]

The "pulling out the sword" at the end of the video was great.

[@DavidFMayerPhD]

Did you see the time that Cate Blanchett (as Hela) was fake fighting Chris Hemsworth (as Thor) when both were wearing "motion capture" outfits? She accidentally ACTUALLY hit him on the left side of his neck and he dropped as if he had been pole axed. Of course, she was terrified that she hurt him seriously and apologized instantly. My point is that Cate Blanchett weighs about HALF as much as Chris Hemsworth, but floored him quite unintentionally, showing that even a much smaller and weaker person can overcome a larger and stronger person with a lucky hit. She might well have put him in the hospital.

[@MstrCorrin]

Why does everything he says sound inappropriate. "It's good to have given pleasure, even as a target for her unprocessed rage." is far better than anything in a cornball BDSM fic.

[@beth7935]

ikr, he's a shocker! 🤣Like, another interviewer asked "was that the 1st time you've been hit by a woman?", & Tom's like "no" ~smirk~ "I'm pleased to say, no" 👀🤣

[@henryholden4052]

Love the shout out to Intimacy Coordinators👏🏻👏🏻

[@fatcoyote2]

I actually know how to hit someone quite convincingly, complete with bodily contact, without really hitting them. I've made friends with a few of the local wrestlers and they showed me a few of their tricks. It's an art.

[@JillBearup]

I have a few friends who do pro wrestling. It really is 😁

[@slashandbones13]

Pro wrestling really is being a stuntman who has talk sometimes.

[@Aarzu]

Seeing videos you make about subject matter like this is very enlightening in regards to your personal views on certain things. It's fun and interesting to listen to your thoughts here, most of which I agree on. As for the subject itself, I understand that actors and actresses will often go to some surprising lengths to make things look convincing. This includes things like drastic weight gain/loss, physical scenes like what you're discussing here, and various stunts. I think there are middle grounds that are doable, but I can see how this kind of stuff can escalate and get dangerous. There's been times at various jobs I've worked where management toyed with the idea of having me or another employee do something that went against OSHA and/or other worker safety laws and I had to tell them flat out "no" and that they were not to ask/tell any other employee to do it either. Was asked why in one instance and I said "Because it's illegal, I know it's illegal, some other employees likely know it's illegal, but some of them might not and if you get them, you screw us all if something happens." I'm actually surprised that argument worked, in retrospect. The problem also comes with people who allow that sort of thing to happen or do it on their own initiative sets a standard. People in charge start to expect others to do it, if they refuse then various types of retribution can occur.

[@wilcosmash]

I saw in a Stunt Actors React in some older martial arts movies Donnie Yen used to pay the stunt guys a bonus if he could knock them out. Also in a lot of those older Hong-Kong action movies, if they didn't use you in a scene that day, you didn't get paid. So there was more insentive to take a hit. Pretty crazy.

[@FunSizeSpamberguesa]

Apart from the fact that it's still possible for a small person to injure someone by punching them (there really is no such thing as a safe way to hit someone in the face), there's also a decent chance that someone who doesn't know how to properly throw a punch will break their own hand.

[@samliedtke]

most people don't realize how easily you can break your hand on someone's head

[@andrewxc1335]

You all need to see what happened to Travis Willingham on the set of "Second-Hand Lions." Apparently, Robert Duvall "didn't need" the stunt double who was hired for him.

[@sevencats4964]

Here's the video where he talks about it: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4DWhXh7p9itgsU

[@wilfchapman-gandy8120]

I remember ol' batman actually punched Heath in the face in The Dark Knight.

[@ZeNatoto]

I worked on set with Chris Eyre who told this story about the time he directed an episode of Law and Order SVU. Apparently, Mariska Hargitay was so bored with how standard things were she went up and asked him if he would tell the other actor to slap her in the face during the scene just to make thing a little less boring (which I can empathize with. Life of a PA). No idea if that is actually how it went down, but no reason to think he was lying either. Safety is important, I agree with you there, but I think there should be an asterisk, mainly for situations like all actors consenting and aren’t coerced into it for the sake of a shot, and understand the risks. On the (extreme) opposite end, if something isn’t working or believable and the director forces numerous reshoots until it does, you get a situation like Shelley Duvall in The Shining being forced to do retakes for hours without a break because Kubrick wasn’t satisfied. That’s my viewpoint from the sets I’ve worked on, love your videos! :)

[@celinak5062]

+

[@JillBearup]

I mean, the line I draw is based very pragmatically on the risk vs. the reward. So if Mariska Hargitay wants to be stage slapped to liven up the scene, then sure, great, work out your blocking, make sure everyone is happy, go for it. But if she wants someone to *actually* slap her in the face repeatedly...that's just a terrible idea. Even if we ignore the precedent it then sets, if the other actor hits her wrong they could do permanent damage. Even if they don't, something as minor as a split lip or a big bruise is going to cause everyone else trouble because you have to cover it with makeup, maybe you need to change camera setup or blocking to disguise the fact that one of your actresses has a black eye or a swollen cheek. That hurts the production, that slows down the day, that costs money and time for all of the people involved. Stage slaps are some of the easiest things to learn, and they're even easier to cheat on camera than they are on stage because the depth is compressed. I just can't see any good reason to do the dangerous thing when a safer thing is easily available and looks just as good. I mean, not even if you're really bored.

[@ZeNatoto]

Jill Bearup right, exactly! I wish I was better at explaining my position...sorry about that.

[@JillBearup]

No worries, it’s always nice to find you’re on the same page 😁 Are you a PA as well?

[@dahveed284]

Allowing this to happen at all creates an incentive for actors to be forced to let this happen. So even if Tom was ok with this, was he really or was he told "do it or we'll get another Loki'? You really can't know. And if she's not good at faking a hit, how good will she be at placing one in a harmless manner?

[@travisjohnson6676]

Sylvester Stallone told Dolph Lundgren to REALLY punch him in the chest in Rocky III. He regained consciousness the next day with a bruised heart muscle.

[@Poldovico]

From my cursory research, he didn't get knocked out. He went on with the rest of his day, then started feeling unwell the day after and spent the following nine in an ICU.

[@jc-kj8yc]

I'm a bit torn on this. There are examples of consensually landed strikes in movies that make the movies better imo. Tony Jaa's or Donnie Yen's team for example hit each other for real and it often shows. They can frame the hits and overall fights way better and actually put emphasis on the impacts, because they are real. Tbf everyone involved there is a trained martial artist and they all know how to take a hit, but it obviously is still very unhealthy. I've personally been knocked out two times and the day after is not fun! And the risk of brain damage is always there. Where I'm even more conflicted are the Rocky movies. There's an actual KO in every movie and especially the one in Creed 1 is horrifying! Jordan takes a full swing to the chin by a professional boxer, goes unconscious on his feet, with his limbs losing all of their function and then smashes face first into the canvas. You can see how they filmed this in the making of and it's gut wrenching. But (!) it allowed an amazing shot of Adonis getting knocked down in the movie. They show the impact on his face in slow motion and it's incredibly painful and real, which does make the scene better imo. That's a shot you can't fake and it's a great shot. It's still irresponsible, especially if you consider that Sly Stallone was on set who went to the hospital after taking a body shot by Dolph Lundgren and who has a broken disk in his neck from being thrown into a pile of rocks by Steve Austin. He should know better 😅 so I do agree with you that safety should always be the first priority, but I also see the benefit of real hits during filming as long as the people involved know what they are doing. It's unhealthy, but in the end it's their choice.

[@dorkangel1076]

Might also be worth adding that it's quite possible to break your hand punching someone in the face so the safety factor comes in for both the puncher and the punchee...

[@Nanenna]

Even if someone says "You want her to hit me in the face? Okay." doesn't mean it's okay. It's not like Tom said "Just hit me in the face" it was someone else saying "Just hit him in the face" and he went along with it. How uncomfortable Tom was in that interview I really get the feeling he was coerced by the crew. It's a point you made with the "But Tom did it, why won't you just [fill in the blank]" because that's just more coercion. It sets a bad precedent, and it's unsafe no matter what. Just about anyone that can go through with a punching motion easily can put a lot of power into a punch, even accidentally. I also can't help worrying he didn't have even the basic safety measures for a real punch, like a mouth guard. For someone who makes a living off how pretty his face is that man just put his money maker at a huge risk letting anyone punch it.

[@mariposahorribilis]

Apart from the example to other filmmakers, how about the example to fans? Is it really responsible to go around suggesting that punching people in the face or encouraging other people to hit you in the face is somehow cool?

[@coldnova]

So having sparred several smaller ladies, they can still generate plenty of power and he cuold have walked away with a broken bone if she didnt clearly pull the punch on contact there. Aside, I've just discovered your channel and find your videos super interesting.

[@Skatche]

This isn't a cut and dry case. Mixed martial artists willingly endanger themselves far, far more severely than these actors will ever do (though the likes of Buster Keaton might rival their track records) and that's not because they feel any pressure to do so -- they do it willingly and even eagerly as a means of self-expression and self-fulfillment. Actors instructed (by the other actor) to throw a real strike should in some cases be instructed or even trained on what kinds of strikes can be performed relatively safely for both parties -- palm heel strikes and that sort of thing. But I see no problem otherwise with actually going for it.

[@Blokewood3]

Once I was rehearsing a scene where I got punched and I got punched for real. It was April Fools' day, and everyone thought i was joking...until they saw my lips were bleeding.

[@garrick3727]

I'm sure this punch is just overblown. There is no way she put all her strength into the punch, so it wasn't much more than a contact punch. She's not going to risk breaking her hand. If you watch the clip, you can see Tom turn his head like he would with a fake punch. The instruction Natalie was given was probably, do a stage punch but aim to hit and Tom will do the rest. The fact that they shot it from behind Tom so that we have the least chance of seeing whether she hit or missed just makes me feel this was all some overblown thing for the press.

[@joemacleod-iredale2888]

It’s really easy to hurt your hand punching someone’s head- heads are hard and hands are delicate.

[@rileyernst9086]

Tom Hiddleston said it was ok and laughed it off, but he also said she had a pretty good arm and was an athlete. He can't not say what he did. But its clear it wasn't pleasant. Such an admirably clear communicator.

[@Nightly97]

I feel like the same can be said about a certain foot-fetishly-inclined director actually choking out actrices himself for the sake of “added realism” in his film, even if it was with their expressed (albeit likely pressured) consent. (For those who don’t know, it’s Tarantino in Kill Bill and Inglorious Bastards.)

[@NyJoanzy]

During Guilda, the Male lead had two of his molars broken during one scene when he got slapped in the face.

[@aquabluerose7734]

Definitely a directing fail! Both for endangering Hiddleston and for being sexist.

[@KatKomodo]

The birds in the background give me peace and comfort

[@luckywithpaint7773]

There is an old movie where a girl actor actualy gets strangled in her role. I mean that has been glanced over for centuries. Its just not okay regardless. I also have the same feelings about the overly visual sex scenes we are now being subjected to. I mean when is real to real when it comes to actors. We dont need an overly visual porno to show a few actors being pasionate and in love.

[@Poldovico]

@Niek Vels You say anything, but you don't really mean anything. If instead of reducing the violence on men, you increase it on women, you just have more people getting hurt. That's just more of the bad.

[@ladykatie3958]

Can I just say, I can’t remember them off the top of my head, but I remember like 2 or 3 other times when Tom Hiddleston was supposed to be fake punched and he told them to go ahead and hit him and I’m just like, “Tom, honey, sweetie, your brain, your brain is so fragile, all our brains are”

[@Caitydid561]

Yeah...this is a point where they should've just swapped Natalie out with her stunt double (who is actually trained to fake a punch realistically) and cg'ed her face onto it, like they do with a lot of other action scenes. Would've been a lot smarter. Edit: As I'm sure Jill will corroborate, in stage combat we're taught that the only time you'll actually get punched in the face during a scene is if you anticipate it and try to meet your scene partner halfway. In other words, if you lean towards the oncoming punch. The scene we're talking about here could also have been filmed maybe a couple degrees more towards Tom's back (or an over-the-shoulder shot), so it would've been less obvious that Natalie wasn't making contact. I feel really bad for both of them, having to deal with shit like this.

[@thephoenixsystem6765]

*sigh* Jeeves, fetch my bucket list and my eraser. Naw but seriously, good video :)

[@strangebird5974]

Hmm. I haven't done much stage fighting, but I've been doing some martial arts. And I know something about the brain. I would generally be very cautious with force to the head. Concussions or worse can happen.

[@jazzsax357]

4:00 answer: Jackie Chan In the Medallion, Jackie Chan got slapped in the face by an actress. She stopped because she slapped him really hard. He laughingly says to her,"Why did you stop?!? You should have kept going! Now I have to get another one!"

[@grogery1570]

Errol Flynn had a story about being slapped in the face, the actress had so much jewelry on he claimed it was like getting hit in the head with a sledgehammer, worse he forgot his line after being hit so he had to do it again! He then spoke to the actress who seemed determined to hit him again because it was the only way she could do the scene! It was only when he questioned her acting that he avoided another blow!

[@A._is_for]

'Finger wagging librarian'... 😯