Listen to Tom Hiddleston Do His Best Hank Williams Impression on "Jambalaya"

When I first found out that a Hank Williams film was in the works, I may or may not have squealed just a little bit. Like any other self-respecting country music fan, I worship Hank's slim but incredibly influential discography, and was immediately curious about how British actor Tom Hiddleston planned to emulate Williams' reedy warble and molasses-thick Alabama drawl. His rangy build and burining eyes certainly ticked the physical boxes, but he never had a prayer of fully capturing the aching pathos that soaked through every lyric and downstroke Hank Williams ever played, (only Williams' grandson, Hank Williams III, comes close to pulling that off). Believe it or not, though, Hiddles does a bang-up job.

In addition to working on his accent and phrasing, Hiddleston also spent months taking singing lessons and studying guitar with Rodney Crowell, the Grammy-winning country singer, songwriter and producer who also co-produced the film's accompanying soundtrack album. His frame's too healthy and his voice is too naturally deep to truly convince us we're looking at Hank's ghost, but he does better than any other actor could (especially in the film's darker scenes, when Hiddleston's gaunt face shines with sweat and desperation). It's a truly impressive performance, and it's hard to take your eyes off him—especially onstage, where he really shines (those guitar lessons paid off).

Hiddleston's Hank impression hits hardest when delivering electric lines like, "Everybody's got a little darkness in them: anger misery fear shame. I show it to them, and they don't have to take it home" during an ill-fated interview, or when he desperately asks his doctor for relief, saying, "Cure me or kill me, doc. I can't go on like I've been doing anymore."

Throughout the course of the movie, we're introducted to a young, hungry Hank Williams, a man who grew up poor, married young, was dealt more than a few bad hands, but always kept the faith, in himself and in his religion. Williams doggedly pursued his dreams with near-fanatical resolve—he was unstoppable, no matter what kind of pain and turmoil life threw his way. He started out shilling biscuits on early morning radio segments in Alabama, and rose to nab a spot playing at country music's Mother Church, the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. Though plagued by spina bifida pains and a tumultuous love life (Elizabeth Olsen plays his flinty, power-hungry first wife, Audrey) and dangerously susceptible to pills and alcohol, ol' Hank was immensely successful, landing 33 hit country singles during his life and selling millions of records.

Never satisfied, never content, America's most beloved lonesome cowboy just kept pushing forward—until he couldn't go any further. Everyone knows the ending to this story, but that didn't keep the film's final funeral scene from landing like a punch to the gut. Comparisons to the Johnny Cash's Walk the Line are inevitable, but I Saw the Light presents us with a hero we never feel bad rooting for—a sympathetic (and occasionally downright pathetic) figure who wants to succeed as badly as we want to see him do it.

I Saw the Light hits theaters nationwide on April 1, and the soundtrack will be available digitally on March 25 (preorder it here). Dig into our exclusive stream of the Hank classic, "Jambalaya," as interpreted by an extremely attractive British man (spolier: it's pretty damn good!).

Kim Kelly is gonna go see her chers amis on Twitter.