Tom Hiddleston is "always open" to starring in a musical.

The 44-year-old actor has a number of dance sequences in his latest film 'The Life of Chuck' - in which he plays the adult Charles Krantz - and though it took a lot of work to hone his footwork, he admitted he has long admired movies that feature big musical numbers and he'd be happy to be approached about starring in one himself.

He told The Hollywood Reporter: "I've never danced quite like this before and I had some steps to dance, some miles to go before I felt skilled enough and practiced enough to pull off some of the techniques and styles that Chuck pulls off.

"I have a great affection for movie musicals, I really was thinking about them a lot in making this -- thinking about 'Swing Time' and 'Singin' in the Rain' and 'Cover Girl'.

"I've always loved dance in movies and it's not actually just those, if you think about Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in 'Dirty Dancing' or Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz in 'The Mask' or Joseph Gordon-Levitt in '500 Days of Summer' or 'Little Miss Sunshine', dance is a part of the DNA of movies."

Asked if he'd star in a musical himself, he added: "No one's knocking on the door yet but I'm always open."

Director Mike Flanagan revealed he cast Tom after seeing him dancing on a late-night talk show.

He said: "It wasn't the dancing that made me say, 'That's him,' it was the joy on his face. It's that regardless of if he was nailing the steps, he was feeling and channeling this incredible happiness. I said, 'That is exactly what this movie needs,' and he's perfect in it."

Co-star Karen Gillan had seen the 'Night Manager' actor dance before she she knew he had skills, but found his footwork in the movie "a whole other level".

She added: "I was blown away by what he did in this film."

'The Life of Chuck' is adapted from a Stephen King novella and follows an ordinary guy in three stages of his life, before his death coincides with the end of the world.

The uplifting story is a change from the horror tales the writer is known for, and Mike felt "so grateful" to make it into a film.

He said: "I think Steve, kind of at his heart, he's an optimistic humanist. Even in the darker stories, that's always there for him.

"This feels more Stephen King to me than a departure, this is who he really is.

"This was a really special thing to work on together. I'm so grateful he trusted me with it and if it makes people a fraction as happy as his short story made me when I read it then we're onto something."