15 Unlikely British TV Shows To Spawn Hollywood Stars

9. Suburban Shootout €“ Tom Hiddleston

I remember watching a couple of episodes of Suburban Shootout €“ but it was on Channel 5, which meant that probably a great number of viewers didn't. I remember vaguely a young chap being in it, but certainly when I later saw him in Thor I didn't turn and go "oh, that's the bloke from Suburban Shootout!" or anything. I've got to admit, Suburban Shootout has an interesting premise and one that could possibly be re-worked for an American audience. Basically two families on a middle-class estate form gangs, with one side dealing in racketeering and extortion, while the other gang works against them. Of course the big thing that made this series unlikely to spawn a Hollywood star is that it was on Channel 5. Even with the increasing viewers on cable and satellite channels, Channel 5 is still the unloved red-headed step child of British TV. Even when it buys top quality programming from the United States, it still simply cannot generate viewers. So for the most part Shootout went unnoticed. I would expect that Shootout also had no baring whatsoever on Huddleston's career. From what he's described in interviews is that the producers of Thor auditioned every British actor they could for the part of Thor, including himself. Of course he made such an impression that they ended up keeping him on as Loki instead, and made such an impression as Loki that he ended up playing the main villain in one of the biggest film hits of all time. As with a number of actors on this list, he had a few guest appearances in his CV before gaining his first main cast part in Shootout, which was four years before Thor was released. In the meanwhile he also appeared in the British version of the series Wallander. Of course, who also appeared in that series? Kenneth Branagh, who of course then directed Thor. Which I suspect may have been beneficial in getting Hiddleston's foot in the door! Oh, and yes €“ Hiddleston did appear in Casualty in 2007.