Tom Hiddleston Will Face The White Darkness For Apple TV+

Tom Hiddleston can do just about anything. He can play an Asgardian god who started his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as a villain before becoming one of the franchise's most beloved anti-heroes. He can play a man haunted by the past, trapped in a crumbling Victorian mansion, like in Guillermo del Toro's "Crimson Peak." He can even play the world's coolest punk-rock vampire, as evidenced by his turn in Jim Jarmusch's "Only Lovers Left Alive." Now, for Apple TV+, he'll take on one of his most challenging but surprisingly down-to-earth roles yet, starring in the true story of a man who trekked across the Antarctic on foot.

Apple TV+ announced via a press release that the streamer has given a series order to "The White Darkness," a new limited series based on the non-fiction book of the same name by journalist David Grann. The series is inspired by the true life tale of Henry Worsley, a husband, father, and former British special forces officer who was obsessed with Ernest Shackleton, a 19th-century polar explorer who became the first person to reach the South Pole. He later attempted to cross Antarctica on foot, but was never able to complete the trek. Worsley, descended from one of Shackleton's fellow explorers, decided to attempt the journey himself with two other descendants of Shackleton's original crew. Then, in 2015, he attempted something even scarier: He set out to walk across Antarctica alone. 

Hiddleston will star as Worsley in the limited series, and he will also executive produce. The series will be co-showrun and executive produced by Soo Hugh ("Pachinko") and Mark Heyman ("Black Swan"). This is Hiddleston's second time pairing up with Apple TV+, as he will also be starring in the Apple Original series "The Essex Serpent," premiering on May 13, 2022. 

Few actors have the gravitas to carry any entire film by themselves, let alone an entire series, but Hiddleston could be one of the ones to do it. If the series sticks closely to Worsley's travels, Hiddleston might be the only one on screen for most of its runtime. Stories about polar explorations are experiencing a bit of a resurgence between this and Nikolaj Calder-Waldau's recent "Against the Ice," so keep your eyes peeled for more polar peril in the near future. There's no release date for "The White Darkness" just yet, but you can bet that the Hiddlestans will be ready whenever it arrives.