Tom Hiddleston feels "more alive" since becoming a dad.
The 45-year-old actor and his 42-year-old fiancee, actress-and-playwright Zawe Ashton, welcomed their first child in October 2022 and their second last November, and parenthood has been life-changing for Tom.
In the November/December issue of Esquire UK, he explained: "Becoming a father has completely changed my life. It’s changed the centre of meaning in my life.
"It’s the most important thing I’ll ever do, the most important role I’ll ever play. And to be there for them, alongside them. It’s… it’s… heaven.
"I don’t think I could have ever been prepared for how your heart expands, becoming a parent.
"You just feel more of everything. You feel more deeply… It’s a love like no other…You’re just more alive. This [parenthood] is the best room in the house, and I didn’t know that. I was quite happy before, but this is the whole point of living here."
Last month, the Loki star, who has not publicly shared the names or genders of his and Zawe's children, insisted it is a "privilege" to be a dad.
Tom told Men’s Health magazine: "I want to be fit and strong for my children. I’m so aware that they are watching me and I’m a model for them. It’s such a privilege to be someone’s father. And I mean that humbly.
"It’s such an honour to live up to what that means. And both my children, to introduce them to the joy of movement and the joy of their bodies…I want to keep up with them. I want to play with them.
"I want to carry them and run with them, play football with them. To swim and chase and throw them up in the air. And so, that now is the motivation. Trying to hold on to it for as long as I can."
Zawe previously declared motherhood as the "most unparalleled and important role" she will ever have.
In October 2023, she told The Sunday Times Style magazine: "The place that I’m at right now is the past, present and future working in a really special alignment.
"It’s the most unparalleled and important role I will ever have, and I look forward to being in dialogue about it when the moment is right.
"Listening is serving my energy best as a mother right now. I’m brand new to this and absorbing all the knowledge and stories I can."