‘Loki’ Director Kate Herron on Tom Hiddleston + Why You Can’t ‘Wait for Permission’

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston, more than lives up to his God of Mischief title. You can never be sure what the character will do next. For director Kate Herron, though, rehearsal and planning ahead are actually a key component of her process, even for the Disney+ series named for the mercurial character, “Loki.” But, she adds, as important is allowing for a little mischief on set.

“I do a lot of rehearsal. When we actually get to set, particularly on ‘Loki,’ we’re really on a fast schedule. We filmed it like a six-hour sort of extravaganza, but we were on a TV schedule. That was very ambitious for what we were trying to achieve,” Herron says. “Rehearsal was so key in that, and it’s working out in rehearsal, not to the point that you can’t discover fresh things about the script on the day, but just so we were all kind of on the same page by the time we got to set and we knew what we were going for. Then it was really just discovering new things on set, to be honest.” 

The Disney+ show answers a question set up in “Avengers: Endgame”: What happened to the Loki that managed to get away when the Avengers went back in time to the events of the first film? It turns out, that’s when the Time Variance Authority (TVA) and Agent Mobius, played by Owen Wilson, stepped in. In the series, Loki—along with the viewers—learns more about the TVA monitoring timelines and the variants, including other Lokis, that the organization deals with.

Generally, Herron writes and directs her projects, and what draws her to them is typically an idea she’s had herself, and then “following that through from script to screen.” But for “Loki,” it was a love of the character more than anything.

“I think he has one of the best arcs in the MCU and I love the comics,” she says. “I was just excited to see where they were taking the character and then obviously, they sent me what they were going to do with the character and I thought, I want to be a part of this.”

For Herron, working on a Marvel project was very different from her previous outings behind the camera (she’s directed episodes of “Sex Education,” among other projects), particularly as far as how the production was run. She likens the experience to working on a big-budget film opposed to a typical TV show, which also impacted her initial approach to the material.

“The first thing was just working with Michael [Waldron] and some of the writers. They’d already done their main write-through and then we did like a second mini kind of writers’ room with Michael, Elissa Karasik, and my executive producer, Kevin Wright, from Marvel,” she explains. “We just kind of spoke through some of the other story elements, just fresh thoughts that I had coming in and stuff that they also really wanted to keep working on.”

The Loki that we meet in this series is the character from the very first “Avengers” film, but having Hiddleston get back into the spirit of the character, luckily, wasn’t difficult given how long he’s been playing the role.

“No one knows Loki better than Tom. I think for me, it was really just about having his back. We’d chat while we filmed that first episode a lot about making sure that he was ‘ Avengers’ Loki, and bringing that presence,” Herron says. “We actually would talk a lot about scenes from ‘The Avengers’  in terms of where [Loki] is emotionally, because he was only there hours before. I think that’s generally how we both kind of kept in check with each other and made sure it was the Loki from 2012.”

Despite her diverse credits, Herron’s advice for aspiring directors is tinged with what could be seen as a very Loki sentiment: Don’t wait for permission. “When I got ‘Sex Education,’ I was working at a fire extinguisher company,” she says. “I’ve worked in so many offices, which in a way actually helped a lot with the TVA and it feeling like a real office, because I’ve worked in so many. Honestly, just go out and make something, even if it’s on your phone or just whatever means you have. A friend of mine made a film just using a desktop computer and it was great.” 

In a similarly resourceful spirit, when working as a waitress, Herron would attend comedy nights in order to persuade comedians to work with her. And while working on her shorts, she listed everything she had access to and recommends aspiring directors do the same.

“It was like, wherever I was living or the street outside my friend’s house, and also interesting stuff, like my friend had a boat or if your friend has a cool car or something. I think it’s a kind of trying to find things that are strange, maybe a friend has a weird pet or something,” Herron says. “Things you can build into a story, with what you have access to, so you’re not hindered by budget. Just go out and make something. That’s the best advice I can give. I did my short for probably about $150. That was just me using not the latest technology, but whatever I could get my hands on.”