From Decider · · 2m
Tom Hiddleston and Genden Phuntsok on real mountain climbs
Tom Hiddleston and Genden Phuntsok share real mountain climbs in Tenzing film.
In brief
Tom Hiddleston and Genden Phuntsok share real mountain climbs in Tenzing film. Tom Hiddleston and Genden Phuntsok climbed real 40-foot ridges and ice crevasses for Tenzing movie. Originally reported by Decider.
Tenzing film stars
Tenzing, a new biographical drama streaming on Apple TV, stars Genden Phuntsok as Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa mountaineer who with Edmund Hillary became the first to summit Mount Everest in 1953.
Real mountain climbs
Hiddleston and Phuntsok climbed real 40-foot ridges and ice crevasses in the Himalayas and New Zealand without sound stages or green screens.
Tenzing’s story
The film re-centers the 1953 Everest climb to highlight Tenzing Norgay’s role as a Sherpa mountaineer and his spiritual connection to the mountain.
Phuntsok’s training
Phuntsok learned English and Sherpa for the role and spent 10 days living with a Sherpa sirdar to understand mountain traditions.
Climbing the Hillary Step
Hiddleston and Phuntsok climbed a 40-foot ridge of rock and ice in New Zealand, mirroring the real Hillary Step on Everest.
Real crevasse scene
Phuntsok filmed a crevasse scene where he climbed out of a crevasse while pulling Hiddleston up, working for two days without rest.
Climbing risks
Hiddleston described climbing Everest as an act of worship that requires intense focus and awareness of the mountain’s dangers.
Phuntsok’s mountain love
Phuntsok loves nature and the sounds of the mountains, hoping to climb Everest one day but admitting he’s unlikely to succeed.
British perspective
Hiddleston noted the British climbers’ military approach contrasted with Tenzing’s spiritual reverence for Everest as a goddess.
Shared achievement
Hiddleston emphasized that the 1953 Everest climb was a shared achievement between Tenzing, Hillary, and John Hunt, not a British victory.
Climbing philosophy
Both actors described climbing as a way to enjoy nature’s beauty and sounds, not for ego or conquest.
What happens next
Phuntsok hopes to climb Everest’s base camp or higher one day, but Hiddleston says his Everest expeditions end with this experience.
The main idea
Tom Hiddleston and Genden Phuntsok climbed real 40-foot ridges and ice crevasses for Tenzing movie.
