Tom Hiddleston is thrilled to be playing a hero in 'Kong: Skull Island'.

Tom Hiddleston

Tom Hiddleston

The 36-year-old actor has portrayed Thor's villainous brother Loki in the Marvel movies 'Captain America: Civil War' and 'Thor' but admitted it was lovely to be asked to play the good guy in the new action film.

He told USA Today: "Action has always been a part of me. In the Marvel films, it's hidden in the playfulness and mischief of that character. But actually, there's several one-to-ones with 'Captain America' and 'Thor' where the action requires choreography. But 'Kong' puts all of that centre stage.

"It's like, this (Tom's character former SAS tracker Captain James Conrad] is the guy you want on the ground in a jungle. It's lovely to be a hero."

Tom's 'Kong' character is introduced to viewers with a bar fight scene but the actor admitted he would probably run from trouble in a similar situation.

Explaining that he was trained by former members of Britain's Special Air Service and a retired Navy SEAL for the film, he said a paratrooper advised him: "If you get into a bar fight, the best thing to do is to pretend you don't know what you're doing and run, get the hell out of there. That's what he said. You don't want to get yourself in trouble."

Meanwhile, Tom - who co-stars alongside Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson - recently admitted he was impressed by the "truly monstrous size and scale" of Kong in the movie.

He said: "He is truly monstrous in size and scale and scope. He's 90 feet tall. We're captivated by Kong's power and majesty. He is the mystery of the unknown, he is a terrifying force of nature with an intelligence we don't understand."