In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Loki, the trickster god so charismatically embodied by Tom Hiddleston, had somehow eluded the clutches of a canonical love interest until Sophia Di Martino came along.
It was as if the Marvel overlords ascribed to the age-old romantic advice: Before you love another, you must first love yourself. Conveniently, then, the scrappy Di Martino would play Sylvie, a variant of Loki himself. When the duo would encounter some inconvenient sexual tension between them over the course of the Disney+ series Loki, it’d mingle with the baffling reality that they were two sides of the same coin. In essence, they'd learn the frustrating art of self-love.
Di Martino is just as confused and delighted by this development as her audience. But, then again, she dances in the Venn Diagram of unpredictability and joy; it’s where she spends most of her days as an actress. She became an almost immediate fan-favorite as soon as she first popped up in Loki as the smart-mouthed, trauma-ridden Sylvie, no small feat given audiences’ rabid devotion to her co-star. Matching Hiddleston’s wit and tact would be a challenge for any actress, let alone one who’d yet to accumulate Hiddleston’s level of mainstream attention. But Di Martino possessed an interiority few Marvel heroes—and, unfortunately, even fewer Marvel women—have had the opportunity to explore in depth.
Now a few months out from the extraordinary Loki finale, in which Sylvie unleashed the multiverse (and, in the process, set the scene for a number of upcoming MCU films), Di Martino hasn't given herself much time to rest. She was nursing a new baby while filming the first season, and now she’s excited to be welcoming another addition to the household ahead of season 2. To celebrate the occasion—and infuse her time at home with a little Hollywood glamour—she partnered with her photographer friend Joseph Lynn, who helped her coordinate a maternity photoshoot that didn’t fall into stereotypes. It wouldn’t be “me in a lovely ballgown running through a field of wheat,” Di Martino teases, but rather the actress draped in glitter and gold, hanging around an east London studio popular with drag performers. The result is a perfect encapsulation of Di Martino as a person, as a mother, and as a star—warm, witty, and bursting with charisma.
That doesn’t mean she’s prepared for what’s coming, though. A new baby brings its own unpredictability, but even Di Martino’s work schedule remains up in the air: Loki has yet to set a filming date for season 2. As she attempts to brace herself for another explosive year, Di Martino revealed what she makes of Sylvie's decision in the finale—and why she’s not convinced stability is in the cards for Loki’s new partner.
I’d love to know what’s been the biggest joy for you as a working mother in Hollywood. With all the pressures around you, is being a working mom ever something you’ve questioned?
I love my job and I love being a parent, and I guess the biggest joy for me is being able to do both. It’s really hard, even for me who’s very fortunate with support I’ve gotten.
I never question whether I want to keep working because my job is so important to me. I probably put a lot on it; I always feel like it’s important to be creating something and to be, I guess, earning money and paying my bills. I probably put a lot of pressure on myself to keep doing that.
I’ve got a lot of respect for people who decide to stay at home and that be their full-time job, because it is a full-time job. Being a parent is unpaid labor, which is really unfair in a lot of ways. But yeah, I kind of need [my job]. I think I need it to be my best self and to be a well-rounded version of me. Strangely, having the opportunity to go out and work helps me be a better parent—because I get to fulfill some of that need within myself and then I can come back home and play a different role.
You’ve talked previously about how starring in Loki launched what's become one of the most magical years of your life. When Kate Herron, the director, first reached out to you about this secret script, did you have any inkling at all what it might be?
No. I knew that Kate was working on something secret and exciting, and that it was probably a big deal. But I had no idea what it was back then. I was actually really busy at the time and heavily pregnant. So I did my best [audition], sent it off and forgot about it because that’s the way I deal with self-tapes. If you hear back, it’s a bonus. If not, forget it ever happened.
Were you familiar with the lore around Loki when you eventually got the part?
I was familiar with Loki and the Thor films, but I definitely had to do some homework to brush up on exactly what I was getting myself into. Tom [Hiddleston] was really helpful because he’s been doing his character for 10 years, and he’s quite a boffin when it comes to that world.
I heard he gave a presentation to the cast. With a white board.
Oh yeah, his lecture.
When Loki came out, was the fan reaction—especially around that momentous finale—what you’d expected? Were you prepared for it?
I think it’s impossible to prepare for something like that. So it’s been both amazing and slightly overwhelming—because it just keeps coming! Like, with Halloween, it’s been so incredible to see all the people dressed up as Sylvie and Loki and people from the TVA and Alligator Loki. It’s kind of insane. I don't think I was prepared for that at all, no.
Because it could have gone either way. It could have been a compete flop, and no one would know who Sylvie was. So you don’t want to build something up and then be disappointed. I try to just keep an open mind and not expect too much.
I’d say that’s worked out pretty well for you so far. Now that you’re about to go to work on season 2, this time with another new baby in the house, do you feel more prepared to return both to the role of Sylvie but also as a working parent on set?
On the one hand, yes. I feel like I've done it once, so I can do it again. I know a few hacks now; I’ve made a few shortcuts that I can lean on. I know what to ask for. I know what to prepare the producers for, if they haven't worked with a pumping mom before. I definitely feel like I’m armed with some knowledge and some practice. But it's still nerve-wracking, and I'm still thinking, How the hell am I going to do it again? But I will.
What was the hardest part the first time around?
I mean, not many people I know have gone back to work on a film or TV set with such a young baby. So I couldn’t really ask for advice from anyone. My child was three months old when I moved over to the U.S. to shoot, and that is very young. That was really hard. And also the guilt. The mom guilt starts from the minute you get pregnant, I think, and never goes away, unfortunately. So that’s something that I’m really trying to work on because dads definitely don’t suffer from the same amount. We [as women] put a lot of pressure on ourselves, and we feel a lot of guilt when we’re not excelling in every single area.
You were only four months postpartum when you started the physical stunt training for this role. Was that a challenge or a blessing?
It was a great opportunity to slowly try and get in shape again, with some of the best stunt performers in the world looking out for me and making sure I didn’t injure myself. We took it really slowly. I didn’t push myself too much. Being pregnant and having a baby is a huge strain on your body, so you have to build yourself back up really slowly. But what a fantastic opportunity to have [the training]. If it wasn’t for that, I would just be sat on the sofa eating biscuits. Like I am now.
Do you get the sense the Sylvie we’ll meet at the beginning of season 2 will be different from the one we met in season 1?
I’m not sure. I don’t know, because I don’t know anything about series 2. I don’t know how far it’s going to be removed from what happened at the end of series 1. I don’t know if she will have changed again by the time we see her again. I don’t know where she’ll be, what headspace she’ll be in. I assume she’ll fundamentally still be the same character, but the multiverse makes even [that] a little bit complicated. We can meet anyone.
You could be playing any version of Sylvie.
Exactly. I hope [the writers] give me enough chance to figure it out before they want me to start.
When will you start filming?
I’m not sure. It obviously won’t be this year, so I hope it’s next year.
With your schedule so up in the air, is that a struggle to build a life around, especially as a parent?
I’m getting used to it. It can be a little bit tricky when people are asking me, “Do you want to go on vacation next summer?” But, to be honest, that’s just the life of an actor. As soon as you book a holiday, you get a job. You usually have to cancel it. That’s the rule. So I’m used to the spontaneity of it, and I kind of love it. I’m not the kind of person that would do well sort of working a 9-to-5. I thrive on the unpredictability.
We see so much happen between Loki and Sylvie in those dramatic few seconds in the finale, right before she decides to kill He Who Remains and, inadvertently, launch the multiverse. Do you think, at this point, Sylvie has fallen in love with Loki? Is that what's happening here?
It’s a really tricky one. I think she definitely cares about Loki; it’s the closest she has ever been to loving another being. The fact that he cares about her, too, is probably wildly uncomfortable for her. She’s never been close to another person her whole life. So it’s super complicated. Obviously, she’s a variant of him, too, so I see it is about a sort of self-acceptance and self-love. Unfortunately, it’s happening at the same time she’s having to make a huge decision to fight for free will.
Ultimately, she chooses her revenge, and she chooses the path that she’s been planning to go down for her whole life—to kill He Who Remains. [To do that], she has to sort of get rid of Loki. I like to think of it as, she’s making sure he’s okay by getting him out of the way. He doesn’t stop her from doing what she needs to do, but she’s able to put him somewhere safe for a minute.
She definitely cares about him. I don’t know if she's in love with him. It’s such a complicated thing because he’s a sort of variant of her, too. There’s so many interpretations of it; you can find them if you Google it.
Speaking of theories: I know you don’t know anything about season 2, but for you, personally, is there anything in particular you want for Sylvie in the next chapter?
It would be easy for me to say I want her to be happy. I want her to find some peace, but I don’t know how interesting that would be to watch or play.
She’s so fun when she’s pissed-off and out for revenge! She’s such a strong, badass character that’s so empowering to play, and hopefully empowering to watch. I don’t know if I want that to be sorted. So who knows? I mean, it’d be nice to try on some new outfits.
You could take a page from your photo shoot and put on that gold dress.
Maybe we could sprinkle her with some glitter.
As we head into a new year, how are you preparing for this next chapter of motherhood?
I’m completely ignoring it. [Laughs] Nothing prepares you for having a child. I tried to prepare the first time, and it didn’t really work.
It’s always a hugely exciting surprise and a leap into the unknown. The first time around, you go from being a woman and you emerge a mother, which is a huge transformation that doesn’t happen overnight. It didn’t happen overnight for me. It took a while to get my head round. This time, I’m obviously already a parent, so I kind of know what to expect, but I also know it will be completely different. I'm in ignorant bliss. I'm going to ignore it until I can’t ignore it anymore, and then deal with it and enjoy it and try and be in the moment. That seems to work.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.