Tom Hiddleston On Zawe Ashton Engagement, Why He Loves Playing Loki

Tom Hiddleston's relationship with fiancée Zawe Ashton is going strong.

Months after news broke that the couple had gotten engaged after three years of dating, the "Avengers: Infinity War" star, 41, gave a brief update on his love life during a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times.

"I'm very happy," Hiddleston said.

Hiddleston and Ashton, 37, starred together in the West End production of "Betrayal" in 2019, and they made their red carpet debut as a couple at the Tony Awards back in September 2021.

They sparked engagement rumors in March when the actress and playwright was spotted wearing a giant sparkler at the BAFTAs. Three days after the awards ceremony, TV presenter AJ Odudu posted on Instagram a selfie with the duo from the event that appeared to show a large, oval-shaped diamond ring on Ashton's finger.

Multiple outlets, including People and Us Weekly, later confirmed that the two were engaged.

Hiddleston, whose 2016 romance with Taylor Swift received intense media scrutiny, took his time before going public with Ashton as he is a "very private" person, an unnamed source told Us Weekly.

In his interview with the L.A. Times, the actor also discussed his two recent TV series, "Loki" and "The Essex Serpent."

"I love playing Loki, have loved playing him every time," he said of portraying Thor's shapeshifting brother. "In every story, there’s been a different iteration, a different director, a different spin on the ball, if you like."

Hiddleston explained what he likes about the version of Loki in the Disney+ series, which is set in a divergent timeline before/after he was killed in the last two "Avengers" movies.

"If you take away everything that the character knows and understands, what remains?" he said. "Something will be revealed to us and to Loki about who he is. This idea of him undergoing an almost psychoanalytical interrogation with the TVA’s Mobius, played by Owen Wilson, and being confronted with repetitive patterns of destructive behavior, which only resulted in his loss and loneliness, I found to be extremely exciting."

As for Loki coming out as bisexual, the British actor said he wasn't surprised because "Loki's identity has always been fluid in his gender and sexuality" in the original myths.

"It was a privilege to touch on it this time. I'm aware it’s a small step and there's further to go, but I hope that people felt represented by it," he added.

He plays a very different character in "The Essex Serpent," which stars Claire Danes as recently-widowed amateur paleontologist Cora Seaborne and Hiddleston as married vicar Will Ransome. Set in 1893 England, Cora investigates a superstition in a small village in Essex that a mythical creature known as the Essex Serpent has returned to the area.

Hiddleston said the series "deals with some very resonant themes: uncertainty, fear and how fear of what we don’t understand can sometimes collectively distort reality."

"It felt like with the pandemic, we all had to manage so much uncertainty," the "Thor: Ragnarok" star added. "It’s about that, but of course, there’s a very psychological metaphor about the serpent, things that lie beneath the surface."

Hiddleston has started shooting the second season of "Loki" in England. However, no official release date has been announced yet.