Tom Hiddleston As Hank Williams In Picture Released By Sony Pictures

Tom Hiddleston has traded the garb of an alien god to play the part of a more down-to-earth subject of worship, and Sony Pictures has now shown his visage.

Entertainment Weekly has reported that the Sony Pictures Classics movie, I Saw The Light, will recount the story of the short life of Country Western legend Hank Williams, which has Tom Hiddleston portraying the celebrated musician in the lead role. The part Hiddleston plays in the movie shows him in a look that fans of his are not used to seeing, as Tom is totally clean cut, wearing a ten gallon hat over a high and tight hairstyle, and he is clean shaven. I Saw The Light will hit theaters in limited release on November 27 of this year, and will be released nationwide at a later date.

Last year, Tom Hiddleston released a picture of himself on set in a shot of the film on his Twitter account, but it is hard to see how close Hiddleston comes to Williams’ signature look.

I Saw The Light. pic.twitter.com/LBSiP5tBVb

— Tom Hiddleston (@twhiddleston) June 13, 2014

The author, Colin Escott, wrote a biography that was released in 1994 on Williams, aptly titled Hank Williams: The Biography, on which the Tom Hiddleston film is based. The book tells of Hank Williams’ rise to fame and the issues of alcoholism, prescription drug abuse, and back problems that haunted him before his unfortunate death of heart failure at the young age of 29-years-old.

Tom Hiddleston was excited to share his very positive experience making the film with E! Entertainment News.

“Everything about it was challenging, I’m obviously not from the American South, not born in [1923] and I’m not a country singer. But it was thrilling. It was a really thrilling role to play … I think it’s completely different from anything I’ve ever done.”

The film is directed by Marc Abraham, who also is the writer of the film. Starring in the movie with Tom Hiddleston is Elizabeth Olson, who plays Audrey Mae, the wife of Hank Williams. Also appearing in the film are Cherry Jones, Bradley Whitford, Maddie Hasson, and Wren Schmidt.

In a separate report, Entertainment Weekly said to prepare for the film, Tom Hiddleston did the logical thing and performed on stage at Michigan’s Wheatland Music Festival last year, at which Tom performed Williams’ hit “Move It On Over,” and a fan recorded Hiddleston singing “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” on video, but that video has since been taken down from YouTube. He performed these songs with guitarist Rodney Crowell, who spent time with Tom to prepare for the role.

[Image by Alan Markfield]