The world was robbed of Hank Williams on New Year’s Day in 1953. Dead at the age of twenty-nine, Williams left behind quite possibly the greatest body of work in the history of country music (not to mention having set the gold standard for badass performance suits). Several attempts have been made in the past to capture Williams’s life on film, but so far none of those projects are definitive, and perhaps his greatest moments on the silver screen have come from well-executed soundtracks.
Tom Hiddleston is attempting to change all that. The British star of Beware of Crimson Peak has taken on the demanding role—singing and all—for I Saw the Light, the saga of Williams’ rise and fall. His Avengers: Age of Ultron costar Elizabeth Olson is playing Hank’s wife, Audrey Mae Williams, and Marc Abraham, who is known as a producer for big projects like Children of Men and the 2011 remake of The Thing, is directing.
No trailers just yet, but you can get a look at Hiddleston as Williams in a few photos from set, and to get a sense of his singing voice, below you can watch Hiddleston and Rodney Crowell, the film’s music supervisor, performing “Move It on Over” at a festival last year (Hank Williams III did not enjoy it).
I Saw the Light is out November 27.
(via Rolling Stone)
