Tom Hiddleston and Cast Reflect on Life’s Meaning in The Life of Chuck: ‘Live with Love’

In the new film The Life of Chuck, actor Tom Hiddleston, alongside co-stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Karen Gillan, and director Mike Flanagan, open up about the profound themes woven throughout the movie—a heartfelt meditation on the meaning of life, love, and connection.

Speaking with Movieguide®, Hiddleston shared that the film encourages viewers to reflect deeply on their own lives. “It will make you reflect on the meaning in your life,” he said, emphasizing that living life fully means dedicating yourself to people and ideas that will outlast you.

“Live with joy, live with love, live with courage,” Hiddleston advised. “It’s not easy. But it’s a practice and the more you practice the easier it gets.” Echoing this sentiment in an interview with Reuters, he highlighted the importance of holding on to loved ones and having the courage to embrace life’s fleeting nature. “You never know when it’ll all end, and to have the courage to live as fully as you can with what you have,” he said.

The Life of Chuck centers on the seemingly ordinary life of Charles Krantz, whose story celebrates the beauty in life’s everyday moments. Director and writer Mike Flanagan was drawn to the project’s uncynical tone, noting that the film embraces the joy found in small connections while honestly confronting mortality.

“It celebrated the joy in the little moments of life and our connections to each other while not shying away from our mortality,” Flanagan said. “From the loss of a world and of a universe that we’re all going to go through one at a time individually at some point. All of that was there.”

Hiddleston described his own reaction to the script as deeply moving and sincere. “It took seriously the idea that our lives really matter to us and to the people we love, and that every ordinary life, however seemingly ordinary on the surface, is magic,” he said. He acknowledged life’s challenges—loss, grief, and struggle—but also its richness in love, joy, and connection. He appreciated how the film highlights the profound reflections on love and joy that fill the last hours of life.

For Karen Gillan, the film provoked personal questions about how she’s living her own life. “Am I doing it the way that I could look back on my life and be proud of what I did?” she asked. “I wanted to be a part of something that might spark that conversation in other people.”

Chiwetel Ejiofor praised the film’s emotional tone and existential questions. He found the story compelling, captivated by its mysterious exploration of the apocalypse and the sense that something greater is unfolding beyond the visible world.

The Life of Chuck invites audiences to ponder the extraordinary within the ordinary and to embrace life’s preciousness with love and courage. The film is now playing in theaters nationwide starting June 6.