Two weeks after Tom Hiddleston confirmed that he proposed to Zawe Ashton in March 2022 (“I’m very happy,” he told the Los Angeles Times), the Only Lovers Left Alive star dropped another bombshell. He and Zawe, 37, are expecting! The Fresh Meat star (and villain in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movie, The Marvels) debuted her baby bump at the June 29 premiere of her new film, Mr. Malcolm’s List.
The two have been going strong since they first met while working in a West End revival of a time-bending play. “I love what I do, and I dedicate myself with absolute commitment to making great art and great entertainment, and in my mind, I don’t conflict the two,” Tom told The Telegraph in 2017 when discussing his professional and personal affairs. “My work is in the public sphere, and I have a private life. And those two things are separate.” With that said, here’s the scoop on his pregnant fiancee.
1. Zawe is an actress
While Tom may be a household name globally, Zawe is a star of the stage and screen (both big and small). She made her TV debut in 1995 with a small part in the British sitcom Game On, but she’s gone on to plenty of recurring characters as she’s gotten older. She was Violet “Vod” Nordstrom in the English show Fresh Meat from 2011 to 2013. She also played Claire Pascal in the Netflix mini-series Wanderlust, via IMDb. She also played Oona in the most recent season of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
Her film roles include Josephina in the Netflix horror satire Velvet Buzzsaw, for which she was awarded the “Brit to Watch” award at the Newport Beach Film Festival. In 2011, she was nominated for the “Most Promising Newcomer” award at the British Independent Film Awards for her performance in Dreams of a Life. She’s also had parts in movies like Greta, Nocturnal Animals, and Blitz.
2. She’s a writer and poet
Zawe revealed that her writing career began when she was 17 and entered poetry slams in a 2009 interview with Afridiziak. Other than poetry, she’s written numerous plays, including For All Those Women Who Thought They Were Mad, which was performed at the Royal Court Playwriting Festival in 2009. “Everyone on their little journeys is trying to find some kind of family. Find connections and find their place,” she told Afridiziak, when asked what the play was about. In 2019, Zawe released her first book, Character Breakdown, which the description says chronicles “a version of her life,” and it received a blurb from Lena Dunham, who called it “very great.”
3. Tom and Zawe seem to have gotten together in 2019
News of Tom and Zawe’s relationship first broke in 2019, when it was reported that they had been dating since February of that year, by The Sun. The pair were spotted out and about in New York City, as they co-starred in the Broadway revival of Harold Pinter’s 1978 play Betrayal, which debuted in London’s West End before coming across the pond, via Variety.
4. She’s joining the MCU
While Tom has charmed audiences for a decade as Loki in several Marvel movies, his girlfriend will make her MCU debut in 2023 with The Marvels. Zawe was revealed as the main villain of the Captain Marvel sequel in February 2021, according to Deadline. She also has the upcoming movie, which will star both Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson, listed on her IMDb. Even though her character has yet to be announced, she’s sure to win over audiences when she makes her debut in the superhero franchise.
5. Her grandfather was the President of Uganda
While Zawe grew up in London, her grandfather Paulo Muwanga was a political figure in Uganda. Paulo, who died in 1991 at age 67, was her mother Victoria’s father, via The Guardian. His term as president was incredibly brief, lasting only ten days, from May 10, 1980, to May 22. He was the vice president of the country from December 1980 until July 1985, and he also very briefly served as the Prime Minister, with a similarly short term from August 1, 1985, until August 25 of that same year.