SEATTLE — Award-winning actor Idris Elba is facing his toughest foe yet in new movie “Beast” — a vengeful lion.
Elba plays a widower on a trip with his two daughters, hoping to reconnect with them by visiting their mother’s homeland. During a safari-like outing with a family friend, they’re confronted by a ferocious lion trying to avenge the death of his pride at the hands of poachers.
Filmed on location in South Africa, many of the scenes were shot in single takes and challenged both cast and crew to nail their lines and movements.
Entertainment reporter Kim Holcomb talked to Elba about making "Beast," and the last time he visited the Northwest for a concert in his other successful career, DJing.
HOLCOMB: "Idris, we miss you here. I don't think you've been here since 2019?”
ELBA: “I miss Seattle, I really miss it. It's been a while you know and I'm going to come back though."
HOLCOMB: "Given what poachers do, is it okay that I rooted for the lion? Sometimes?”
ELBA: “You know what, that is a great, great reaction to the film because I felt for the lion as well. I felt actually that the lion and the man are pretty similar."
HOLCOMB: "I have to tell you, I've been a fan of yours from day one. I know you as Stringer Bell ("The Wire,") I know you as Luther, my daughter loves you from "The Office." In all of these roles, you are very unflappable. What's it like playing flappable?”
Elba: (laughs) “It's a bit difficult. No, the truth is I was like, ‘What's the reality of this film?’ There's two versions: there's the dad who can't hold a gun but when you see him, he looks cool holding a gun. And there's a dad who can't fight, but is fighting a lion. Or, let's just play the reality. Let's play I'm scared, I'm not good at this, I don't know what to do in this situation. This version is better. But to my hardcore fans, they're like 'Yeah but Stringer Bell would've been like BOOM, you know.'"
HOLCOMB: "And then he would have convinced someone else to sell something from it to make him more money, so — ever the businessman.”
Elba: “He would have struck a deal with the poachers.”
Holcomb: “Or with the lion, I mean he could convince anyone to do anything.”
Elba: “This is true."
HOLCOMB: “These one-shot scenes — does it spur you on or does it freak you out?”
ELBA: “It definitely spurs you on because you know it's one shot, you know the camera's following you. It's actually a really clever trick in films of this genre because you're building anxiety."
HOLCOMB: "You're a tall man and you're in these very confined spaces for much of the film. Did you have to take contortion classes ahead of time?”
ELBA: "Obviously there's a film crew, there's a camera in there, there's lots more bodies than you can actually see on film but yeah — it wasn't the most comfortable movie. The next movie I make is going to be about a massage parlor and I'm just going to be lying down talking the whole time."
HOLCOMB: "Where do you feel the most comfortable and at home, and where would be the place you feel the least?”
ELBA: “Actually when I'm in Africa, I really feel comfortable. I've made a few films in South Africa and Africa especially. I feel most out of place? Mmm... there aren't that many places. I'm a bit of a chameleon, I just fit in."
“Beast” is rated R and opens in theaters Aug. 19.
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