- 14 hours ago
Idris Elba joins GQ as he revisits some of the most iconic characters from his career so far: from his role as DCI John Luther to his portrayal of the all-seeing, all-hearing Norse god Heimdall in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.Credits:Director: Anna ODonohueDirector of Photography: Giles CahalaneEditor: JY ChunProducer: Liam Woolmer-ThompsonProduction Manager: Venita Singh-WarnerProduction Coordinator: Ellena KapposCamera Operator: Nathaniel RodriguezGaffer: Caterina Castro FrigerioSound Mixer: Chris SmithProduction Assistant: Stephen BirdPost Production Supervisor: Jess DunnPost Production Coordinator: Stella ShortinoSupervising Editor: Rob LombardiAssistant Editor: Billy Ward
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00I was auditioning for Avon Barksdale and they were like, we'd love you to play Stringer Bell.
00:03I was like, oh yeah, who's Stringer again? Which one's he?
00:07He's like, you know, his mate.
00:08And I was like, oh, right, the guy who doesn't say much.
00:10Yeah, I think, yeah, I'll take it.
00:18Luther.
00:21There'll be nothing we can use, no forensics, nothing, and he'll wiggle out of this again.
00:26John, you're a police officer and this is a murdered woman.
00:29A family are waiting, they're going out of their minds and you want to lock her back up and walk
00:32away.
00:33This is about the law, not retribution.
00:36I'm not asking for your approval, son.
00:40Just your silence.
00:42I was living in America and they offered the role to me at the BBC, came home and did it.
00:50It was 16 years ago.
00:51So, yeah, John was, John, John was, you know, just this opportunity to, like, get back on British TV and
01:00in a leading role and playing a BBC detective was great.
01:06I think it was, you know, just coming back to the UK and coming back to my culture after living
01:11in the States for so long.
01:12I did some research with these Department of Police detectives in South London.
01:20I sat with them for, you know, a few meetings just to understand the psychology of murder detectives.
01:28It's a grim, grim job.
01:30I mean, just how they deal with their job, you know what I mean, and having to have that balance.
01:34You go to work and you see something really gruesome and you go home to your family, like, and they
01:40have to be normalized by it.
01:42Can't be too, you know, sentimental around it.
01:44That was quite surprising.
01:45It's like, yeah, so he walked in there and chopped off her head.
01:49Her head was over there and her body was there and it was trying to figure out how he did
01:52it.
01:53I was just like, wow, he's just talking about it like it was nothing.
01:56I found them very calm, pragmatic, especially just the idea that, you know, people die and people are bad to
02:03people.
02:03It was so, like, just, like, frank conversation about death.
02:07There's a lot of imagery that you see, which is obviously not real, but, and you're sort of like, my
02:13character in Luther in the beginning, he was very, he was on the edge of depression the whole time.
02:20And I think that's because, you know, he really takes his job very, very serious.
02:24He takes it to his heart, to his chest.
02:26For the acting component of Luther, my body doesn't know I'm acting.
02:30When I go and see this woman dead on the floor, this man dead on the floor, my body's reaction
02:35is an honest one.
02:37And it's like, ah, you feel that in your gut.
02:40But just making sure you don't take that home with you, you know.
02:43I've been playing Luther for a long time.
02:45I'm actually making the second movie right now.
02:46And I do need to get out, you know, and let my hair down when I play Luther.
02:52Otherwise, it gets a lot.
02:53The scripts are so well written and underwritten at the same time.
02:58You know, there's this, it doesn't do too much with John.
03:01John's a good listener.
03:02He sort of calculates things very quickly.
03:05He's quite intelligent.
03:05And the way he's written is very sort of like, you know, matter of fact.
03:10I really enjoy playing that sense of John, which is just this very sort of wise man, if you like,
03:16wise man detective.
03:17Luther and Alice, you know, there's this really ingenious partnership between these weird characters, you know.
03:23I mean, obviously, in the first time we meet Alice, she is a murder suspect.
03:27John can't quite figure her out.
03:29And she intrigues him.
03:32Ruth, Wilson, and I just really enjoy playing the theatrics of these two.
03:38You know, she's very smart.
03:39He's very smart.
03:40They're always playing catch a mouse.
03:42I guess more than with any actor I've ever worked with, Ruth and I always sort of dance around each
03:48other, throw the ball back at each other, randomize it, you know, see what we're going to come up with.
03:53It's almost always really a lot of fun.
03:55I think the first thing we actually did was at the, was the interview.
04:00He yawns and she doesn't yawn and he goes, yeah, she did it.
04:06I says, how do you know that?
04:07Because she didn't yawn.
04:09I remember that scene being so funny.
04:11But I haven't seen much of Luther.
04:13I don't tell you not to watch the stuff I'm in, so I haven't seen a lot of it.
04:16I prefer being there, acting, and then letting the process of watching for someone else, you know what I mean?
04:23I find myself being really overly critical about my performances, so I try not to watch them.
04:29The Wire.
04:34You got Ronnie Moe in the pit.
04:36Ronnie Moe got 851 this morning.
04:40How you gonna put me in the low rises when I had a tower since summer?
04:43Yeah, you had a tower.
04:46You might have a tower again if you can keep your mind to shit.
04:50This is fucked up.
04:52You show us you can run the pit and you'll be back uptown soon enough.
04:56I was living in New York and I was auditioning a lot.
05:00I wasn't working much, but I was auditioning.
05:02I auditioned maybe four times and the fourth audition, they gave me the job.
05:07The casting director said, don't go in there with your English accent.
05:10Make sure you go in with your American accent and just, you know.
05:12I was auditioning for Avon Barksdale and they were like, we'd love you to play Stringer Bell.
05:16I was like, oh yeah, who's Stringer again?
05:19Which one's he?
05:20He's like, you know, his mate.
05:21And I said, oh, right, the guy who doesn't say much.
05:23Yeah, okay, yeah, I'll take it.
05:26On the day, in the room, on the fourth audition, they had a bet.
05:30And one of the producers was like, so we'd love you to play the role.
05:34And just, where are you from?
05:36Oh, what, man?
05:37Like, where are you from, bro?
05:39I was like, oh, man, don't make me lie.
05:41I said, okay, I'm English.
05:43I was told not to do an English accent.
05:45And then we're like, no fucking way, what?
05:48And David Simon was like, wow, great, let's go for it.
05:56You know, you three-tenths of a mile long, dog.
06:00Yo.
06:01And if you followed directions, you wouldn't be.
06:04Yo, String, I did everything like I should, man.
06:06Yo, I swear.
06:08I didn't ever meet the real character, the real Stringer.
06:11I knew a little bit about him.
06:12I took my inspirations for Stringer from people I knew in the UK.
06:18Gangsters that were more suits and smiles than, like, yo.
06:22Of course, the writing was all there.
06:25Like, you know, I got into my character quite easily based on the writing.
06:28But his cadence, his demeanor, his swag was definitely something that I sculpted from people I knew back on.
06:38It was more about being understated, listening, not over-animating stuff.
06:47Being quite still considered a conciliere.
06:53You know, growing up where I grew up, gangsters were nice to you.
07:01Charming.
07:02And, you know, moved with grace as opposed to, like, I'm big and tough all the time.
07:09It seemed like I can't say nothing to change your own minds.
07:34It was a really tough scene to shoot because I didn't know Stringer was going to die.
07:38In that episode, I was like, what?
07:41Wait, weren't he done it?
07:43What do you mean?
07:44It was quite a surprise.
07:45I think it was a good move for the show.
07:48Looking back on the show, how do you think it holds up 20 years later?
07:53Famously, I haven't seen it.
07:55I've seen some parts of it.
07:56I think it holds up.
07:58I think the writing was so good and the perspective of that part of America is crystal clear.
08:10I think if they did it again, you know, it would still resonate in terms of, you know, looking at
08:17the underbelly of American society.
08:19I don't think they'll make the same show, but the ingredients are certainly there.
08:25It's up for the taking and why not?
08:28The Suicide Squad.
08:33Exploding compression bullets.
08:39No one likes to show off.
08:40Unless what they're showing off is dope as fuck.
08:46Fuck.
08:47That's true.
08:49James Gunn called me up.
08:50I was like, James Gunn's calling me up.
08:52Wow.
08:53I really like him as a director.
08:54He's amazing.
08:55And he's like, hey, I'm doing the Suicide Squad.
08:57Can I come and see you?
08:57I said, yeah.
08:58I'm in LA.
08:59Came up.
09:00Shat down.
09:01Had a meeting.
09:02And goes, I think you're great for this role.
09:04I'd love you to take it.
09:05I was like, yeah.
09:08And there was it.
09:09We were on our way to Panama.
09:10It was great.
09:11It was great.
09:11I mean, John is so funny and so amazing at improvising.
09:17You can't keep up with him.
09:18I mean, he's just like off the dome really quick.
09:21And we had a lot of fun.
09:23That partnership with him was definitely one of the standout experiences of my making that film.
09:30It was going back and forth with John.
09:32You can watch TV on it.
09:33Why would you want to watch TV on your watch?
09:35I don't know.
09:37Next time you want to nick something, you take a partner and they can be a lookout.
09:41That's your advice.
09:43Yeah.
09:43We talked about fatherhood, actually, because Bloodsport is a dad who, you know, has a really
09:51rocky relationship with his daughter.
09:52We spoke about that quite a bit and how that influences him.
09:56He is very much a mercenary who happens to be a superhero.
10:00He's not like a superhero.
10:03He's a guy that can fight really well, use machines and weapons really well.
10:08And it was, you know, a lot of training, trying to get that role rolling.
10:13And it was fun.
10:15MCU.
10:16Thor.
10:20What troubles you, gatekeeper?
10:22I turned my gaze upon you in Jotunheim, but could neither see you nor hear you.
10:28You were shrouded from me like the frost giants that entered this realm.
10:32Perhaps your senses have weakened after your many years of service.
10:35Or perhaps someone has found a way to hide that which he does not wish me to see.
10:40Kenneth Branagh called me and said, hey, do you fancy playing Heimdall in Thor?
10:45And I was like, who?
10:46What?
10:47What?
10:47I didn't know much about Thor.
10:49You know, I was more of a Spider-Man guy myself.
10:52But I got to, you know, work with Kenneth Branagh, who directed that first one.
10:57And, you know, that was really fun.
10:59It was really interesting, you know, talking about the Asgardians as a people, as a race.
11:05And Heimdall being the guardian of, you know, the Bifrost.
11:08I mean, it was like, yeah, I want to do this.
11:11I was a bit like, oh, the character in the comics is definitely white.
11:15And he's a god, he's a Norse god.
11:17And I was like, no, I'm not Norse.
11:19And I was like, no, I know.
11:20We want to do something different.
11:22And I really was, I thought I was brave.
11:23You know, the race, that didn't matter to him.
11:26He was like, by the way, this is a mythical character.
11:28It's not real.
11:28So shut up.
11:30Is it true that it was like 24 hours between you coming off the back of the one
11:34and you were like, pretty much, yeah.
11:36Now, I remember coming off Mandela and they were like, you know, Heimdall's an opportunity.
11:42Do you want to play it?
11:42I was like, I wouldn't mind a break.
11:44I was like, no breaks, going straight in.
11:46So I was like, oh, okay.
11:48It was very, very strange.
11:50Very strange.
11:52I remember playing Nelson Mandela and being sort of like, I met a few heads of SAIT while
11:58I was making that movie for various reasons.
12:01And then suddenly I was hanging on a wire with a sword and a big helmet.
12:09It was so bizarre.
12:10You've got some good facts that I've forgotten about.
12:13I totally forgot about that.
12:20I spent the last six months activating everything I can get my hands on.
12:25It's an old Jaeger.
12:27Mark III.
12:28You may know it.
12:30It needs a pilot.
12:31I'm guessing that wasn't your first choice.
12:34You weren't my first choice.
12:36You know, a phone call from a director like Guillermo del Toro is like, what?
12:40Yes, where's the phone?
12:41Give it to me now.
12:41And he had a very specific look feel.
12:45He knew his house stacker should look.
12:47I mean, he, down to the T.
12:49I was like, please, I'd love to flow out to Toronto to make it.
12:53Got this crazy haircut.
12:56It's sharp.
12:57No, no fade.
12:58I mean, it was like, be very specific.
13:00It's just like a cartoon.
13:02I don't want you to do too much.
13:04I want you to be very still.
13:08You know, at first it was a bit of a challenge.
13:11But once I got into it, I understood, you know.
13:13When I got into the flow of who stacker is, I could do it.
13:17Today we face the monsters that are at our door and bring the fight to them.
13:23Today we are canceling the apocalypse.
13:26It was definitely that Braveheart moment.
13:29We spoke about Braveheart.
13:30He said, I want you to rise.
13:32You know, I've got this canceling the apocalypse line, which is like a massive line.
13:38And yeah, I just went at it.
13:41I knew that the moment in the film where he has this speech is the big pinnacle moment
13:45before the ending.
13:46So I had to give it some.
13:49I mean, I watched a couple of movies where the speech is that, you know, are quite motivating
13:53or just powerful.
13:54I remember watching a few good men, Jack Nicholson, who just had this demeanor.
13:59I was like, yeah, I want to get there somewhere.
14:02Confidence, authority, like, you know, move you with words.
14:07It's utopia.
14:12Finally, we have 14 missing mammal cases.
14:16All predators from a giant polar bear to a teensy little otter.
14:21And City Hall is right up my tail to find them.
14:25This is priority number one.
14:28Chief Bogo.
14:29Love Chief Bogo.
14:31That is a film I have seen.
14:32Love playing that guy.
14:34It's just funny.
14:35Big voice.
14:36Silly, you know, I just love playing him.
14:39It's such a big, big film.
14:40Like, people actually love both one and two.
14:42So it feels great.
14:43It feels great.
14:44I remember meeting young kids and they'll be like, parents will be like, do you know
14:49who this is?
14:50And it's like, no.
14:51Well, his name's Idris, but he plays Chief Bogo.
14:54And they're like, no, Chief Bogo.
14:56They know me immediately.
14:58Do you think the mayor asked what I wanted when he assigned you to me?
15:03But sir, if you-
15:03Life isn't some cartoon musical.
15:05Where you sing a little song and your insipid dreams magically come true.
15:11So let it go.
15:13Yeah, Jungle Book, Knuckles, I've done quite a bit.
15:17I enjoy it.
15:18It's weird though.
15:19I can only do sort of three to four hours at the most.
15:22The environment's so quiet until I start to get sleepy and warm.
15:27But I really like the process of making my voice do things.
15:30I don't have to worry about my face.
15:32I can move my face.
15:33You have to move your face and your expressions to get the colors and textures and, you know,
15:40the right intonation on words.
15:42Interesting though, they do record your face so they can show it to the animators to see
15:46how my mouth moves and stuff.
15:49The Office.
15:53So many soccer fans in The Office.
15:56I mean, to be fair, I was the first one to talk about it, but-
15:58What about you, Jim?
15:59You a fan of the game?
16:00Oh, no.
16:01Nope, not really.
16:02No.
16:03It's not for everybody, I suppose.
16:05Charles Minor.
16:06It was so much fun to play, but it was difficult because, you know, all they do is laugh.
16:10Always trying to make me laugh.
16:11And, you know, you rehearse.
16:15You do the writer's room.
16:16You know, you know all the jokes.
16:18But on the day, there's lots of improvising and, you know, keeping a straight face and look at the camera.
16:29I loved it.
16:29It was so funny.
16:30Funny, funny, funny, funny.
16:32You're back.
16:32Yes, I am, Charles.
16:34Except this time, you have no legal right to kick me out because I have started my very own paper
16:39company right here in the building.
16:42I guess it was good because I didn't have to do the comedy.
16:44I mean, I love doing comedies.
16:46I'm goofy, but I don't get to play them much.
16:48But that was fun because I could just, you know, be the straight guy and they do the funny shit.
16:53My funniest moment is when I'm playing football and I kick the ball and it hits one of the characters
16:58in the face and breaks her nose.
17:00It's like, Charles Minor, what have you done?
17:03And he's like, oh, I'm so sorry.
17:07Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom.
17:20I got a call from my agent, Roger, and he was like, hey, listen, are you sitting down?
17:26I was like, no, I'm standing up.
17:28He's like, we should sit down.
17:29I was like, why?
17:29He's like, they're making a film about Mandela and they want you.
17:32I was like, oh, to play who?
17:34To play Nelson.
17:36I was like, me playing Nelson Mandela?
17:38Come on.
17:38I don't look nothing like him.
17:40I was like, no, no, no.
17:40It's not like that.
17:41In fact, Nelson Mandela wants you to play Nelson Mandela.
17:44I was like, what?
17:45At first it was a lot of pressure.
17:47I was like, nah, I can't.
17:48I mean, what?
17:50How do you even approach something like that?
17:52And then once I got to understand, I spoke to Justin Chadwick, director.
17:56I was like, okay, this isn't a, you know, like for like.
17:59I don't want you to look like him.
18:00I want you to body his essence.
18:02And I said, okay, I understand.
18:04And it was based on the book, Long Walk to Freedom, which is a 700 page book.
18:09Big story.
18:10And it was just, you know, going on that history journey to understand how to play him, play
18:16various parts of his life.
18:17I moved to South Africa, obviously, before shooting.
18:22Wanted to understand the culture, especially the Hossa culture and South Africans generally
18:31and their understanding of Nelson Mandela's story.
18:35I just wanted to absorb that because that was really important to me that I didn't do
18:39like an impression of him.
18:41Nelson Mandela is a most polarizing character, you know.
18:46For some people, he's an absolute hero.
18:49And for others, he's less of, you know.
18:52Even if I'm doing an accent or whatever, understanding the culture is the easiest way for me to get
18:58into it, to absorb it.
18:59I learned a lot about South Africa and about the history.
19:02I got to hang with Winnie Mandela a lot.
19:06And she was very helpful in helping construct me as an actor for Nelson.
19:13She always said that, you know, you remind me of him when he was younger.
19:16You remind me of him a lot.
19:17You know, you're very calm and you're very well-spoken and you're forthright and you seem like you've
19:23got conviction.
19:24She used to say that a lot.
19:25She said, he was very handsome.
19:27You're very handsome.
19:29So Firetown is to be bulldozed so they can build houses for the rich.
19:42It was a really amazing experience.
19:45I mean, I remember one of the scenes where I'm playing young Mandela and he's doing a speech
19:51in Soweto.
19:53It's a real, real moment in his life when he was a lawyer.
19:57Stands up in front of like 800 people in Soweto and speaks.
20:00I remember walking out, we rolled, we had 700 extras.
20:05They knew they were making a Nelson Mandela movie, but they didn't know who was playing
20:08Nelson Mandela.
20:09And I stand up on stage and start my speech.
20:13But the first reaction was, isn't that the guy from Daddy's Little Girls?
20:17I literally could hear people saying that.
20:19Isn't that string a bell?
20:20I could hear them saying it.
20:22But then when I started to do the speech and I started getting into it and, you know,
20:26first take, first take, four cameras rolling.
20:29And people in the front row, middle crying, like some were crying.
20:35Some of the older generation were like, wow, what is going on here?
20:39Because it resonated.
20:40Yeah.
20:41And, you know, Nelson was a passionate speaker.
20:43So yeah, that was a fond memory.
20:46It definitely changed my insecurities about not looking like him, not even being South African,
20:54being from West Africa.
20:55It definitely made me, you know, they clapped, stand in ovation, time and time after time,
21:01after each speech.
21:03And yeah, it helped me, helped me a lot.
21:15It was a request.
21:16I wanted to go to Robben Island and see it.
21:20And they do tours there.
21:21You know, you go, part Nelson's cell, you can't go in, but they let me in.
21:28Essentially, it was preserved pretty much how it had it before he left.
21:32And then I said to them, is it possible for me to stay here for a night?
21:36And they were like, no, what are you talking about?
21:38No one sleeps on Robben Island.
21:40No.
21:40And I kept asking, kept asking.
21:42And then eventually they got all the way to the sort of organization.
21:45And they said, you know, Idris would like to stay.
21:47I said, well, okay, but he can't stay in Nelson's thing.
21:51There's another wing, which is empty and has been since the 80s.
21:56And essentially, if that's what he wants to do, we can give him a sense of that.
21:59And he said, okay, but you understand he wants to be there by himself.
22:01He wants to get locked in and he wants the same hours that Nelson did.
22:06So I get there at the end of their day and there's one security guard.
22:12And the producer comes to me and says, like, are you sure you want to do this?
22:15I was like, yeah, yeah, I want to do this.
22:17Okay.
22:18Robben Island's, you know, big island, but the president is set away from the water, well in.
22:24So the security guard walks me down, just empty cell.
22:28They give me a phone and says, okay, for your insurance properties, if anything happens to you, you need a
22:33phone.
22:33Right.
22:34And then you call the security guard and they'll come and let you out.
22:36If anything happens, I was like, fine, no problem.
22:39I don't really want it.
22:40No, no, no, you've got to have it.
22:41The security guard goes back to where he's posted, which is miles away.
22:46I get in the cell, lock me in.
22:47I'm like, okay, well, walk around, blah, blah, blah.
22:50I think, let me just check the phone and see if it's working.
22:53No signal.
22:56I was like, oh, well, you really are stuck in here.
22:58I can tell you this, though, that the cell, it was haunted, 100% haunted.
23:04All night, I could hear distant voices.
23:09I could hear like someone was ratting a cup across the bars.
23:16I was going, hello?
23:19Nothing.
23:20I put the phone on, the torch, and I was like trying to see if I could see anything.
23:25And then I filmed a little bit.
23:27And what came back on the screen was this dust, like the dust in the thing, the lens.
23:34But it was moving.
23:35There was no air in there whatsoever.
23:38All right.
23:38It's really warm.
23:40And the dust was going.
23:44I was like, yo, I was watching this thing.
23:46It was a definite ghost.
23:48And then sort of like in the middle of the night, I'm sitting on the floor and I'm like,
23:51okay.
23:53Hello, let's see.
23:54So I'm sleeping, right?
23:55So it's hot.
23:57Suddenly, you've ever had an ice bath or somebody put ice and water on your face.
24:02Yeah.
24:02Suddenly, from the window, this ice just went right across my face, down my arm,
24:09moved past, and I went, hello, hello?
24:14It was hot, but the ice was on my face, and then it sort of walked out.
24:18It was a ghost, 100%.
24:20This man was a freedom fighter.
24:22He spoke for the rights of his people, and they put him in that room for 19 years every
24:29night, and he slept with the light on, on the floor, bucket to take a piss in.
24:34I mean, I just, I was so angry.
24:37But for me, it just gave me a lot of context.
24:39I took that into my performance, I suppose.
24:41Nelson Mandela himself, when you had the prosthetics on, he saw you and he said,
24:45is that me?
24:46Yeah.
24:47Yeah.
24:48Yeah.
24:48He said, oh, it's got the voice.
24:51It's very good.
24:53During the performance, there was this wave of like,
25:02and Princess Kate was sitting behind me.
25:05She tapped me on the shoulder.
25:06I was like, yes, your majesty.
25:09She gave me the phone and it says Nelson Mandela dies on the BBC News.
25:15I was like, what?
25:17Everyone was like, what?
25:19No, it can't be.
25:20It can't be.
25:20They stopped the film, obviously.
25:22Lights came on.
25:23Producers came down.
25:24I said, Idris, would you come down?
25:26I think we should just explain that.
25:30Really sorry, we have to stop it.
25:31And his daughters were there.
25:33It was heartbreaking, man.
25:35Heartbreaking.
25:37Beast of No Nation.
25:42Seize it.
25:42Yes, sir.
25:43All of you that have never been listened to before and have seen your family killed,
25:50you now have something that stands for you.
25:54You now have something that stands for you.
25:58That is your defense.
26:01I think that was just an offer.
26:03They gave me an offer on it.
26:05I didn't know the book, but when I read the script, I fell over.
26:09I was like, whoa.
26:10I mean, it's a really good script.
26:13It's a great film, but it's just like, wow, it just broke my heart, you know?
26:18I'm typically not into telling just African trauma stories.
26:24I want stories that inspire and perhaps show Africa in an alternate light.
26:31You know, most films are always digging into the trauma.
26:34But this one was just like, man, you know, really touched my heart.
26:39Child soldiers, what they were going through.
26:42I get emotional thinking about it.
26:44It was just heartbreaking.
26:45I've got kids.
26:46Just seeing these kids go through that.
26:48Carrie Fukunaga is an amazing director, in my opinion.
26:50And we dug deep to get there.
26:53Dug deep, deep, deep.
26:55So Commandant was born.
26:57And, you know, it's a very complex, odd character.
27:02I think there was a lot of consideration around sort of, what is it to bring young men to respect
27:11you?
27:11What does that layer look like?
27:13What is it they, what do they see?
27:16You know, Carrie and I talked about the charm of, you know, your favourite uncle, who knows you smoke, but
27:23doesn't let you, doesn't tell your mum, you know, that guy.
27:25And we looked at that and we really sort of peeled the onion back on who that person was, trying
27:30to be a bit more, like, characterful with who he is.
27:33And my uncle was, um, was the guy that taught me how to DJ.
27:39He was very much like that.
27:40He's like, cool guy.
27:41You want to drive my car?
27:43Come on, boy.
27:43Come on.
27:44I'll drive you.
27:45He has the keys.
27:46You know, you're like, yo.
27:48And I sort of mirrored some of that.
27:50It was interesting because, you know, there were so many extras, young actors who never acted before.
27:56They kind of looked up to me as an actor they recognised.
27:58And I became literally like the commander.
28:01I'd walk on set and they'd all stand up.
28:02Come on, that is here.
28:03Come on, that is here.
28:04700 of them.
28:05Standing up.
28:06Come on, that is here.
28:06I'd be like, you know, I'm acting right, boys.
28:09But no, no, sorry.
28:10You're a commandant.
28:11Oh, I love your acting.
28:13And suddenly, reality and character started to sort of merge a little bit.
28:20Is it true that you slipped and had like a bit of a near-miss fall on a waterfall?
28:26It is true, yeah.
28:27We shot this scene in which Carrie was just obsessed that he wanted to shoot it properly.
28:32How it would have been.
28:33We were in Ghana.
28:35We found this waterfall and, you know, we had to shoot the action on the other side of the waterfall
28:41and come back.
28:42So we all traipsed up there.
28:45Going was all right.
28:46On the way back, I mean, I don't know.
28:48We didn't have no safety meeting or nothing about this.
28:50This is crazy.
28:51But literally as I'm, that light is there.
28:54That was the fall.
28:55It was like a 90, 80, 100 foot chop.
28:59Walks cascading.
29:00Whoa, whoa, whoa.
29:01And we did it.
29:02And the whole crew, we did it one time.
29:05Cameraman's walking backwards.
29:07I mean.
29:09I think about it now.
29:10I think like, right.
29:12I don't know if I'll do that again.
29:15Masters of the Universe.
29:19I know how it feels to feel.
29:22Somebody wants to brawl.
29:25First of all, I was a big He-Man fan as a kid.
29:29And I got the call saying, they want to talk to you about He-Man.
29:32Are you interested?
29:33And I was like, oh, wow.
29:34They must want me to play Skeletor.
29:36I was thinking, oh, because Skeletor's got a mask.
29:38They want the voice.
29:39Wicked.
29:40I'm in.
29:41Get there.
29:41He's like, oh, no, no, no.
29:42It's Man at Arms.
29:44I was like, Man at Arms?
29:45You mean the guy with ginger hair and ginger mustache?
29:48The white guy?
29:48I was like, yeah.
29:49What?
29:50Me?
29:50He's like, yeah.
29:51I'm worried about that.
29:52And I was like, OK.
29:54Sounds familiar.
29:55But I've been here before.
29:56But let's go for it.
29:57I really admire Travis.
29:58I think he's an amazing director.
29:59He's really, really, really, really good.
30:01He gave me a sense of the scale and how he wants to approach this.
30:06And it was fun.
30:07It was fun.
30:08It was definitely a great cast, great team, you know, really big movie.
30:14It was fun.
30:15The Harder They Fall.
30:20Who here can drive a train?
30:29That's it.
30:35Everybody but him.
30:36My good friend, James Samuels, who's an amazing director, said, dude, I've got the role for you.
30:41I want you to play this guy, Rufus Buck.
30:43I want you.
30:44I need you for this.
30:45I was like, let's go do it.
30:47And it was like, you know, he's a great director.
30:50This was a big movie for him.
30:51And I was so there to share the experience with him.
30:54You know, it was great.
30:56It was an unbelievable opportunity.
30:58And it's an amazing role.
30:59But weirdly enough, the night before I flew out, I go to this big seminar.
31:04I speak with Lewis Hamilton and the first lady of Canada at the time and speak next day, travel.
31:15And then while I'm in the air, the world is changing beneath us, literally.
31:20There was talk of this outbreak in Wuhan, China.
31:24I land and then I'm like, yo, there's no more planes coming in or out.
31:30They're shutting the world down.
31:30I was like, why is that?
31:31This thing is going.
31:33I'm like, no way.
31:34It's crazy.
31:35So anyway, first thing I do, get there, go to the production office.
31:38I meet everyone.
31:38I'm waving.
31:39I'm saying hi.
31:40I'm hugging everyone.
31:41Blah, blah, blah.
31:41And they're like, okay, great.
31:42We're going to do a COVID test.
31:43We want to make sure that everyone's cool before we start.
31:45Oh, that's, that's important.
31:46It's like, okay, great.
31:47No problem.
31:48Take the COVID test comes up positive.
31:52I mean, because COVID was so new, everyone was like, we're going to die.
31:59Everybody, everyone panicked.
32:01They locked me in a house, literally cornered off the street.
32:04I went, I bought a guitar.
32:06I ended up on the news because it's like, he came to the shop.
32:09He bought a guitar.
32:10They had to shut the shop down.
32:13It was a lot.
32:15I mean, he was in jail for a while and then he comes out and he's like this very stoic
32:20man.
32:21Yeah.
32:21I guess there was that, but I was in Albuquerque for a long time.
32:25They would not let me leave the country.
32:26You will return the money you stole from me by Friday noon, not a moment later.
32:33And you will add $10,000 on top of that.
32:35We'll call that interest.
32:38Something funny?
32:39Oh shit.
32:41How do you reckon I'm going to get that?
32:43You're going to rob a bank.
32:45I mean, cowboys, I was in my element.
32:48I loved it.
32:49I had my hat.
32:50I had my gun.
32:52I had the full beard.
32:54I loved it.
32:55I loved it.
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